With Congress having given up on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, at least for now, President Donald Trump stepped in to try to make some changes himself.
On Thursday, he signed an executive order aimed at making insurance cheaper for some people, but in ways that could make it more expensive for others.
And late Thursday night, the White House announced it would no longer pay insurance companies money they are owed for providing discounts to policyholders who earn less than 250 percent of the poverty level. Those 鈥渃ost-sharing reductions鈥� have been the subject of a long-running lawsuit filed by the U.S. House of Representatives against the Obama administration.
In this episode of 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥� Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Sarah Kliff of Vox.com, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News discuss these issues, as well as the recent rules making it easier for employers with religious or moral objections to stop offering birth control as part of their employee health plans.
Among their observations:
- More than half of people buying insurance through the federal health law鈥檚 marketplaces get the cost-sharing subsidies. But they will still get the subsidies 鈥� it鈥檚 their insurance companies that will feel the pain.
- Consumers should carefully consider any insurance options that come out of the president鈥檚 earlier announcement Thursday to expand the types of policies available. Some of them may not offer the kinds of protection that consumers have come to expect after the passage of the federal health law.
- And the administration鈥檚 effort to offer more exemptions to employers who do not want to offer birth control at no cost to women is unlikely to lead to a lot of companies reinstating copayments, but some may cut back on the number of contraceptive options they cover.
Plus, for 鈥渆xtra credit,鈥� the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.
Julie Rovner: Statnews.com鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Erin Mershon; and Statnews.com鈥檚, 鈥�,鈥� by Erin Mershon.
Sarah Kliff: Vox.com鈥檚 podcast, 鈥�,鈥� hosted by Sarah Kliff.
Margot Sanger-Katz: 鈥�,鈥� by Chris Jacobs.
Julie Appleby: Vox.com鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Eliza Barclay and Alexia Fern谩ndez Campbell; and Vice.com鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� by Alexa Liautaud.
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