This week, two very different proposals related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and federal health insurance marketplaces were introduced by members of Congress. Washington continues to debate and discuss potential options to health care reforms, and we highlight some of this week’s activities below. Graham-Cassidy Proposal Led by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and…
Read More »Harris to Co-Sponsor “Medicare for All” Bill During a town hall event this week in Oakland, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris announced her intention to co-sponsor the single-payer “Medicare for All” bill that U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders will introduce in September. Stating that “it’s just the right thing to do,” Harris departed from the position of…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report this week of health insurance coverage estimates from the first quarter of the 2017 National Health Interview Survey. The results have indicated that 8.8 percent of the population—28.1 million Americans of all ages—were uninsured between January and March 2017. Prior to the Affordable…
Read More »On Tuesday this week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report requested by House Democrats analyzing the potential impact of terminating payments for cost-sharing reductions (CSRs) on the federal budget, health insurance coverage, market stability, and health insurance premiums. Under current law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires insurers to offer plans with reduced…
Read More »After a dramatic week, Senate Republicans were unable to garner enough votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Below, we detail the series of events: Procedural Motion to Begin Debate: On Tuesday, the Senate held a vote on a motion to begin debate on the proposed options to repeal the ACA; the motion passed 51-50…
Read More »This week featured a flurry of activities around the Senate’s attempt to strike consensus on how to proceed with repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had initially hoped to hold a procedural vote to begin debate on the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) this week but was forced to…
Read More »Upon returning from their Independence Day Recess this week, Senate Republicans unveiled their revised version of the ‘Better Care Reconciliation Act’ to repeal-and-replace the Affordable Care Act. Senate Republicans experienced intense turmoil from within their party and stiff opposition from the general public after releasing their initial discussion draft of the BCRA on June 22….
Read More »Senate Republicans Postpone Vote on ‘Better Care Reconciliation Act’ After releasing the ‘Better Care Reconciliation Act’ (BCRA) late last week, Senate Republicans faced stiff opposition, both from the public and within their party, forcing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to postpone the vote until after the July 4 Recess. On Monday, the Congressional Budget Office…
Read More »Yesterday, Senate Republicans released their discussion draft of the legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, deemed the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). Only a handful of Republican Senators involved in the bill writing – that took place over the past several weeks – were privy to the details of the bill prior…
Read More »Senate Seeking to Gain Momentum to Overhaul the Affordable Care Act Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell publicly shared his goal for the Senate to vote on the Senate’s version of the Affordable Health Care Act (AHCA) prior to the Senate leaving for recess before July 4. Despite initial vows to conduct public hearings and to…
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