Governors Testify In Second Day Of HELP Hearings

At the beginning of the second day of the bipartisan Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearings on short term market stabilization, committee chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) summarized what he thinks is needed to achieve stabilization. His list began with funding of the cost-sharing reduction program. He also acknowledged widespread support for short-term reinsurance funding, although he suggested that states should have a role in providing it. In other news, on September 5, a federal trial court judge denied motions to dismiss in a case claiming discrimination in violation of section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and provisions of Louisiana state law. Senator Alexander called for changes in section 1332 of the ACA, which allows states to obtain waivers from certain Affordable Care Act provisions with the approval of the Departments of Health and Human Services and Treasury. However, the changes he suggested for 1332 were exclusively procedural: shortening the approval period, allowing states to file “me too” applications based on applications approved for other states, letting governors or insurance commissioners apply rather than requiring legislative action, providing the states with planning funds, and broadening the definition of budget neutrality to allow combining savings from Medicaid 1115 waivers with 1332 waiver savings. Notably, Senator Alexander did not mention lowering or removing the “gu...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage Source Type: blogs