President Executive Order, Patient Freedom Act and CSAC Webinar
Executive Order
After being sworn in last Friday, President Trump moved quickly on signing an Executive Order to signaling his commitment to dismantling the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The order directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and any other executive departments or agencies with authority for the ACA to do the following:
- Waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement that imposes a fiscal burden on states, individuals, health care providers, health insurers or medical device makers;
- Provide greater flexibility to States and cooperate with them in implementing healthcare programs; and
- Encourage the development of a free and open market in interstate commerce for the offering of healthcare services and health insurance.
According to the Health Affairs blog the Executive Order is unlikely to have a significant impact on the ACA. In addition, President Trump’s nominee for HHS Secretary, Georgia Congressman Tom Price, has yet to be confirmed. He appeared before the Senate Finance Committee this week (last week before the Senate HELP committee) who have yet to vote on his nomination (which moves it to the full Senate for a vote).
Cassidy-Collins Patient Freedom Act
Meanwhile, another congressional proposal to replace the ACA appeared this week from Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) known as the Patient Freedom Act. The proposal would repeal key mandates in the ACA, including the individual mandate, employer mandate. It would continue several consumer protections, including the prohibitions on lifetime limits, pre-existing condition exclusion, allow young adults to remain on their parent’s plan until age 26 and continues coverage for behavioral health.
The proposal further pushes decisions to the state, providing three options:
- “Re-implement” the ACA, with up to 95 percent of the federal funding that would have otherwise been available absent a repeal of the ACA.
- Implement the alternative, which would be the default option, where the federal government would offer a tax credit to contribute to a Health Savings Account in lieu of marketplace subsidies. Federal funding would again, be capped at 95 percent of the funding that would have been available under the ACA.
- Construct a solution different than the aforementioned options absent any federal assistance.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute, the Cassidy-Collins plan would leave millions relying on coverage under the ACA uninsured as it pushes decisions on states and scales back federal support.
CSAC ACA Repeal Webinar
This week, CSAC hosted a webinar “Repealing the ACA: Effects on Counties”. CHEAC Executive Director, Michelle Gibbons, CSAC Health and Human Services Legislative Representative Farrah McDaid-Ting, and CSAC federal lobbyist Tom Joseph of Waterman and Associates discussed the risks to California and counties in the event of a repeal of the Affordable Care Act.