Month: July 2018

The Trump administration has been pushing for the return of short-term health plans and association health plans, two types of coverage that are exempt from Affordable Care Act requirements and could offer an affordable alternative to consumers who feel priced out of the Obamacare marketplace. But some California advocates say these plans offer shoddy coverage and pose a threat to the stability of the healthcare system.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said Monday that he is in talks with the Trump administration about ways to restart key ObamaCare payments that the administration abruptly suspended this month.

In a little more than 24 hours, through public shaming and a phone call with Pfizer CEO Ian Read, President Donald Trump convinced the U.S. drug giant to reverse dozens of July price increases—at least temporarily. The extraordinary move signals that pharma players are willing to cede to the president, even as Pfizer and Read have previously resisted limits on their pricing power. 

A handful of the world’s biggest drugmakers are canceling or reducing planned price increases in the U.S., following a new California drug pricing transparency law and continued political pressure over pharmaceutical costs.

The House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday approved legislation that would chip away at ObamaCare, including a measure that would temporarily repeal the law's employer mandate. 

Despite receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer money, Medicaid insurers are lax in ferreting out fraud and neglect to tell states about unscrupulous medical providers, according to a federal report released Thursday.

California is boosting reimbursement payments for doctors and dentists who treat the state’s poorest residents. It’s part of an incentive to expand access under Medi-Cal, which offers free or low-cost health coverage to more than 13 million people — a third of the state's population.

The Trump administration is cutting most of the funds previously provided to groups that help people get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and will push them to promote plans lacking the law's benefits and protections, a government agency said on Tuesday.

Health insurers and Covered California officials are facing another curveball from the Trump administration on the Affordable Care Act that could rattle the insurance market.

Chairman Brady Announces Full Committee Markup