Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

If you can only read three things about health policy this week, I suggest...

The Top Three...

The New York Times: U.S. Health Workers Recalled From Shutdown Furlough For Medicare, A.C.A. Enrollments The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it would temporarily call back all of its furloughed employees on Monday to handle open enrollment for both Medicare and health plans available under the Affordable Care Act. The decision was made “to best serve the American people amid the Medicare and marketplace open enrollment seasons,” according to an agency spokeswoman. The employees have been furloughed for three weeks since the government shutdown began. (Abelson, 10/23)

The Hill: Moderate Republicans Push For Extension Of Health Subsidies A group of front-line House Republicans on Tuesday called on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to “immediately” address the expiring enhanced ObamaCare tax credits once the government shutdown ends. Led by Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), 13 lawmakers told Johnson that millions of their constituents would face a massive spike in health premiums without an extension of the subsidies before their expiration at the end of the year. (Weixel, 10/21)

The Hill: Casey Means, Trump's Surgeon General Pick, Set For Virtual Confirmation Hearing The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) will hold a virtual confirmation hearing over the nomination of Casey Means to be U.S. surgeon general next week, five months after she was nominated. The HELP Committee said in an announcement that Means would appear before the panel virtually, calling in from Kilauea, Hawaii. (Choi, 10/23)

For a Deeper Dive...

The Hill: Trump Pollster: ObamaCare Subsidy Extension Key For GOP Ahead Of Midterms New findings from a Trump-aligned pollster released Wednesday show a majority of voters want Congress to extend enhanced ObamaCare tax credits and would be less likely to vote for a candidate who lets those tax credits expire. The poll from John McLaughlin, commissioned by the conservative group Americans for a Balanced Budget, highlights the political importance of the tax credits ahead of the midterm elections and the peril facing Republicans who oppose an extension. (Weixel, 10/22)

The Hill: Senate GOP Chatter Rises On Filibuster Reform To End Shutdown Senate Republicans are increasingly chattering about changing the filibuster’s rules if Democrats do not end the shutdown, even though Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) says he opposes weakening a tool safeguarding the minority’s power. Initially, there was no discussion about filibuster reform when it came to the shutdown, but the idea is getting more attention in Republican circles as the stalemate drags on. (Bolton, 10/22)

The New York Times: Higher Obamacare Prices Become Public In A Dozen States Health insurance prices for next year under the Affordable Care Act are now available in about a dozen states, giving Americans their first look at the sharp increases many will pay for coverage if Congress does not extend subsidies that have made some plans more affordable. The annual enrollment period for Obamacare is expected to begin Nov. 1, but the costs for some Americans are becoming publicly available piecemeal through some state marketplaces. The federal website healthcare.gov, which includes 28 other state marketplaces, is slated to post prices before the end of October. (Abelson and Sanger-Katz, 10/17)

Politico: At Least 25 States Plan To Cut Off Food Aid Benefits In November Millions of low-income Americans will lose access to food aid on Nov. 1, when half of states plan to cut off benefits due to the government shutdown. Twenty-five states told POLITICO that they are issuing notices informing participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — the nation’s largest anti-hunger initiative — that they won’t receive checks next month. Those states include California, Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi and New Jersey. Others didn’t respond to requests for comment in time for publication. (Yarrow, 10/23)

ABC News: Some Americans Fear High Health Insurance Premiums If ACA Enhanced Subsidies Expire: 'Very Much A Worry' As the federal government shutdown enters its third week, some Americans are worried about the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. The subsidies, or premium tax credits, help lower or eliminate the out-of-pocket cost of monthly premiums for those who purchase insurance through the health insurance marketplace. They were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic and are currently set to expire at the end of 2025. (Kekatos, 10/21)

The Washington Post: Here’s Who Pays When Undocumented Immigrants Get Health Care In America Republicans have attacked Democratic health care demands in shutdown debate as funding medical care for undocumented immigrants. The reality is more complicated. Immigrants living in the United States illegally are ineligible for federal health plans, including Medicaid and Medicare, as well as insurance sold through Affordable Care Act marketplaces. But federal money can indirectly help those immigrants by reimbursing hospitals that are required to provide emergency care to all patients and by supporting state Medicaid programs that use their own money to offer coverage to patients without legal status. (Ovalle, 10/20)

MedPage Today: 'Alternative' To CDC's Flagship Journal In The Works A public health group and a top-tier journal will partner to publish an alternative to the CDC's flagship weekly publication that has been diminished under the Trump administration. The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, and NEJM Evidence, will establish a field notes-style publication, CIDRAP director Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, announced at the IDWeek conference in Atlanta. (Fiore, 10/22)

NBC News: Oz Says Trump Has A Plan To Replace Obamacare Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, suggested Wednesday that President Donald Trump has a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act — but provided no specifics about the proposal. “I fully believe the president has a plan,” Oz told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “We’ve been talking about it quite a bit. There’s all kinds of ideas.” (Lovelace Jr., 10/22)

AP: California Union Floats Idea Of Taxing Billionaires To Offset Medicaid Cuts A major union announced a proposal Thursday to impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires in California to address federal funding cuts to health care for low-income people. Proponents, including the Service Employees International Union, hope to place the statewide measure before voters next year. The tax would be on the net worth of California’s richest residents. A small portion of the money would also help fund K-12 education since the federal government has threatened to withhold grant money from public schools. (Austin, 10/23)

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A few years ago I started a weekly e-mail for friends and colleagues who want to keep up on major federal health policy developments but did not have time to plod through all the minutiae--they were busy doing important things like running organizations and taking care of patients! Much to my surprise, it became pretty popular. I have now converted to a weekly newsletter format so you can manage your own subscription preferences and forward to others that might be interested.

These summaries represent my judgement on health policy issues that may not on the front pages, but are relevant to clinicians, administrators, and educators. I monitor many news sources and clipping services to identify content for this newsletter and I try hard to be as factual, balanced, and non-partisan as possible. While the articles are written by others (with credit attributed), the choice of what to include is entirely mine. If you are interested in receiving a daily summary of health policy news, you might consider signing up for the KHN Morning Briefing. If you enjoy podcasts, I suggest What the Health? and Tradeoffs.

-Gregg S. Margolis, PhD