Free Republic

President Trump speaks first in Charlotte, NC - focus is Healthcare.

Few have ever heard of “Health Reimbursement Accounts,” but they could fundamentally change the nation’s health care system — for the better — and destroy the Democrats’ case for socialized health care. Late last week, the Trump administration finalized rules that will let companies put money into tax-exempt HRAs that their employees could then used to buy an individual insurance plan on their own. Seems like no big deal, right? Except it will start to unravel a 77-year-old policy mistake that is largely responsible for many of the problems the health care system suffers today. Back in 1942, the Roosevelt...

The Senate on Wednesday defeated a Democratic measure to overrule President Trump’s expansion of non-ObamaCare insurance plans as Democrats seek to highlight health care ahead of the midterm elections. The Democratic measure would have overruled Trump’s expansion of short-term health insurance plans, which do not have to cover people with pre-existing conditions or cover a range of health services like mental health or prescription drugs. It was defeated on an extremely narrow, mostly party line 50-50 vote, with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) voting with Democrats in favor of overturning the short-term plans. Republicans argue the short-term plans simply provide a...

Although the Trump administration and Congress have struggled to fully repeal Obamacare, while putting a good dent in the law by repealing the individual mandate through tax reform, officials are finding new ways to lower costs and expand coverage to consumers. On Thursday, the Department of Labor announced a new rule proposal that opens the door to allowing insurance companies to sell plans and coverage across state lines. From Insurance News Net:  In another move toward dismantling the Affordable Care Act, the Department of Labor announced a proposed rule to expand the offering of small business health plans, also known as...

Key Republican members of Congress want to restore the ObamaCare payments, known as cost-sharing reductions (CSRs), that President Trump is ending, fearing the impact his move will have on the individual insurance market and their constituents. But there are obstacles ahead. Still, even if Democrats grant concessions, there’s no guarantee a health-care deal can pass Congress. Conservatives warn the payments to insurers are corporate “bailouts,” a message echoed by Trump on Friday. “The Democrats ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped,” Trump tweeted. Trump warned Congress during the months-long debate over legislation to repeal...

The White House announced Thursday that President Trump is taking executive action on health care as Congress stalls on efforts to overhaul ObamaCare, calling for a plan that could let employers band together and offer coverage across state lines. An executive order Trump plans to sign Thursday morning aims to offer “alternatives” to ObamaCare plans and increase competition to bring down costs. “The time has come to give Americans the freedom to purchase health insurance across state lines, which will create a truly competitive national marketplace that will bring costs way down and provide far better care,” Trump said in...

Arguing for protection of religious freedom, the Trump administration has opened the door for employers to withdraw from the Affordable Care Act mandate requiring them to provide birth control coverage at no cost to employees. Under new rules issued by Department of Health and Human Services, religiously affiliated institutions that find the requirement opposed to their religious principles, or nonreligious employers who find it morally objectionable, can stop providing this coverage. The birth control mandate when first issued under the ACA exempted only houses of worship. This provoked a host of lawsuits among which was that of Hobby Lobby, a...

The White House is putting the finishing touches on an executive order that would expand health care options with allowing individuals to band together and buy insurance beyond their state lines, according to reports. The order, which is expected to be signed by President Trump next week, will be aimed at expanding insurance options for Americans who buy their own coverage or receive it through working at a small company, according to the Wall Street Journal. The new options would broaden instructions for agencies to explore loosening regulations and lowering premiums. President Donald Trump has long asserted that selling insurance...

President Trump is preparing an executive order to allow people to purchase health insurance across state lines, a reform conservatives have long championed as a way to bring costs down and stir greater competition in the national marketplace. The executive action gives the White House a chance to follow through on at least one promise related to healthcare reform after Senate Republicans' second attempt to overhaul Obamacare failed this week. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul "I think there's going to be big news from the White House in the next week or two, something they can do on their own," Paul...

Donald Trump is preparing an executive order that would achieve a long standing goal of insurance reform advocates.  The president's executive order will reportedly allow individuals to join group plans from out of state.  Current law allows companies to sell across state linesn but due to red tape and resistance by state insurance officials, most companies refuse to take advantage of the opportunity. The order would allow consumers to join associations and group health plans located in other states. ABC News: Current law allows companies to sell health insurance across state lines, but so far few have offered out-of-state...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., predicted Wednesday that President Trump would soon move on his own to make health insurance more affordable, after the Senate failed again this week to advance any bill to reform federal healthcare policy. Paul he has been pitching the idea of using the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to let people buy insurance across state lines. That law already allows corporations to buy insurance across state lines for their workers if they are located in several states. Paul's idea is to let individuals form associations and do the same thing, and he said Trump administration officials...

President Trump on Saturday threatened to end health care “bailouts” for insurers and lawmakers in Washington as he continues to push Congress to pass legislation repealing ObamaCare. “If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!” Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Saturday indicated he will make good on a months-old threat to destabilize the health insurance market if Senate Republicans cannot repeal and replace major elements of the Affordable Care Act. The first part of the ultimatum likely refers to cost-sharing reduction payments made by the federal government to insurers, which in turn offer plans with discounted deductibles and copays for many low- or middle-income Americans buying plans through ACA marketplaces. The second portion, while far narrower in scope, is significant in that it highlights an additional tool at the president’s disposal for acting unilaterally on...

Let's see if this does the trick. House Republican leaders, looking to jump-start their floundering effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, on Thursday said they were proposing creating a $15 billion federal high-risk pool that would provide insurance coverage to Americans with pre-existing and often serious health issues. Speaker Paul Ryan said the provision would "lower premiums" for other, healthier people who buy individual health plans by shifting the risk of covering higher health-care users to the federal risk pool. Ryan, R-Wis., also said it "gets us closer together, closer to that consensus" needed to pass the GOP replacement bill....

An amendment to the GOP's repeal plan would dole out $15 billion to insurers over nine years to help cover the costs of sick, expensive patients. Lawmakers say the new funds would bring down premiums for healthy people by subsidizing medical costs for people with especially high expenses. Under ObamaCare, insurers are required to charge everyone of the same age the same amount for premiums, regardless of their medical history or conditions. That means costs are spread out among healthy and sick people, and insurers would essential pass those costs on to healthy people. The $15 billion would help subsidize...

Chris Wallace Interview of Jim Jordan. Jim Jordan: "Let's accomplish what the people asked us to do when they sent us to Washington . . . let's find a plan that is consistent with what the American people told us to do when they elected us."

President Trump brought Republican Sen. Rand Paul to Trump National Golf Club in Virginia on Sunday to play golf with him, a little more than a week after the party's healthcare bill failed. "They're discussing a variety of topics, including healthcare," White House deputy press secretary Stephanie Grisham said. Budget director Mick Mulvaney, a former leading House conservative, also joined the two.

[Full title] MEADOWS: The Obamacare mandates, there are 12 of them. Mark Meadows says Freedom Caucus will go along with AHCA if it kills community rating and EHB regulations In the debate over repealing and replacing Obamacare, Republican leadership complains that conservatives have been moving the goal post. And Mark Meadows says they're right. "Well we have," the Freedom Caucus chairman admits with a sigh during a sit-down interview with the Washington Examiner. "We've moved it much closer. All they have to do is kick a little chip shot through the goal posts...." This comes after weeks of intense negotiation...

Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows laid out his conditions in an editorial board meeting at the Washington Examiner Thursday. The Affordable Health Care Act repealed the employer mandate and the individual mandate. That's two of Obamacare's 12 mandates, by Meadows' count. "The Freedom Caucus has asked for two [more] to be included in the repeal," Meadows said, "which would bring us to a total of four of the twelve Obamacare mandates. That's our ask: These Obamacare mandates repealed in exchange for Yes votes." The Essential Health Benefits and "Community Rating" are the two regulations the Freedom Caucus wants dead.

How serious is President Trump about drug prices? Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings tells me that Trump has called him three times to follow up on their conversation at the White House earlier this month. And Trump's not just talking about letting Medicare negotiate drug prices, Cummings says. It's even worse for Republicans — because Trump is also talking about importing cheaper drugs from other countries. Why it matters: Trump has said many times he wants to do something about drug prices, and has terrified both the pharmaceutical industry and free-market Republicans with his talk of doing more price negotiations. They...