dagblog - Comments for "Health care driving voters in midterms, election analyst says"

Vulnerable Republicans throw

artappraiser — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 23:13:49 +0000

In reply to Health care driving voters in midterms, election analyst says

Vulnerable Republicans throw ‘Hail Mary’ on pre-existing conditions

By Jesse Hellmann @ TheHill.com- 10/14/18 05:16 PM EDT

Dozens of vulnerable House Republicans have recently signed on to bills or resolutions in support of pre-existing conditions protections, part of an eleventh-hour attempt to demonstrate their affinity for one of ObamaCare’s most popular provisions.

Thirty-two of the 49 GOP incumbents in races deemed competitive by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report have backed congressional measures on pre-existing conditions in the past six weeks, according to an analysis by The Hill.

The moves, coming in the final weeks of the midterm campaign cycle, mark a course reversal for members of a party that for years railed against ObamaCare, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and called for its repeal.

Now, facing the threat of a “blue wave” and an onslaught of health-care attacks from Democratic candidates [....]

Reps. David Young (Iowa) and Pete Sessions (Texas) — two Republicans running in competitive races this year — introduced separate resolutions in September supporting pre-existing conditions protections. Later that month, Rep. Steve Knight (R-Calif.), who is locked in a toss-up race, introduced a similar bill.

Another measure — the Pre-existing Conditions Protection Act of 2017 — was introduced by Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) in February of last year, but has attracted 16 Republican co-sponsors in the past month and a half — all but four of whom are running in competitive races. Twenty Republicans in competitive races co-sponsored the legislation last year.

Of the 23 Republican incumbents who are considered to be most in danger of losing their seat, according to Cook Political Report, 18 co-sponsored at least one of the resolutions or bills since September.

The measures, however, are more of a political statement. They aren’t expected to pass or even get a markup at the committee level.

“It’s a political gesture,” Miller said. “You don’t introduce bills in September of 2018 with the intent of marking it up.”

[....] Vulnerable Republicans have also been running ads about pre-existing conditions, sometimes with a focus on their family members.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who is a toss-up race against Democrat Harley Rouda, recently released an ad focusing on his daughter’s pre-existing condition — leukemia.

“So for her and all our families, we must protect America’s health-care system,” Rohrabacher says in the ad. “That’s why I’m taking on both parties, and fighting for those with pre-existing conditions.”

Rohrabacher, who voted multiple times to repeal the ACA, signed on to legislation Tuesday supporting pre-existing conditions protections [....]

Just as Washington is

artappraiser — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 04:39:50 +0000

In reply to Health care driving voters in midterms, election analyst says

dupe deleted

Just as Washington is

artappraiser — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 04:24:37 +0000

In reply to Health care driving voters in midterms, election analyst says

Just as Washington is creating more incentives for people to sign up for private Medicare Advantage plans, a federal report finds they improperly deny many medical claims https://t.co/VyuRaAdwzX
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 13, 2018

These are contracts that

artappraiser — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 01:28:07 +0000

In reply to Health care driving voters in midterms, election analyst says

These are contracts that prohibit insurers from steering patients to lower cost or higher quality providers and forbid them from giving patients information about hospitals’ prices. What purpose can they serve but to harm competition? https://t.co/tjtcIN2ZvD
— (((Martin Gaynor))) (@MartinSGaynor) October 12, 2018

CVS Health and Aetna $69

artappraiser — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 16:26:08 +0000

In reply to Health care driving voters in midterms, election analyst says

CVS Health and Aetna $69 Billion Merger Is Approved With Conditions

By Reed Abelson @ NYTimes.com, Oct. 10

The Justice Department’s approval of the $69 billion merger between CVS Health and Aetna on Wednesday caps a wave of consolidation among giant health care players that could leave American consumers with less control over their medical care and prescription drugs.

The approval marks the close of an era, during which powerful pharmacy benefit managers brokered drug prices among pharmaceutical companies, insurers and employers.

But a combined CVS-Aetna may be even more formidable. As the last major free-standing pharmacy manager, CVS Health had revenues of about $185 billion last year, and provided prescription plans to roughly 94 million customers. Aetna, one of the nation’s largest insurers with about $60 billion in revenue last year, covers 22 million people in its health plans [....]

But critics worry that consumers could end up with far fewer options and higher expenses.

Just last month, the Justice Department also approved the takeover of Express Scripts, a major CVS rival, by the big insurer Cigna.

“This type of consolidation in a market already dominated by a few, powerful players presents the very real possibility of reduced competition that harms consumer choice and quality,” George Slover, senior policy counsel for Consumers Union, an advocacy group, said in a statement.

The consumer organization had opposed the Aetna-CVS merger, arguing that people enrolled in Aetna health plans could be forced to seek care at CVS retail clinics, and that those who were not insured by Aetna could pay higher prices for drugs than those who were.

“The combination of CVS and Aetna creates an enormous market force that we haven’t seen before,” Mr. Slover said.

The Justice Department had undertaken an antitrust review of these types of deals, approving many because they involve distinct businesses. It granted conditional approval to the CVS-Aetna deal as long as Aetna sold off its private Medicare drug plans.

Amid the growing outcry over the high price of medicines, pharmacy managers have been vilified alongside big drug makers. Critics say pharmacy managers’ secretive deals — under which price-setting strategies are not publicly disclosed — enrich companies on all sides of the prescription drug pipeline while failing to benefit consumers.

In addition to the two major entities now attached to powerful health insurance companies, OptumRx, another major pharmacy manager, is owned by UnitedHealth Group. Anthem, which operates for-profit Blue Cross plans in several states, is developing its own in-house pharmacy operation.

“There are going to be mammoth organizations,” said Adam J. Fein, the chief executive of Drug Channels Institute, a research firm [....]

One shouldn't presume that

artappraiser — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 15:40:22 +0000

In reply to Health care driving voters in midterms, election analyst says

One shouldn't presume that the "Medicare for All" promise is going to be a great seller for Dems, especially if the voting demographic skews heavily retired. I was once going to do a blog post on the following topic, had been collecting links. It's a serious problem right now:

DIRTY SECRET: BANKRUPTCY ON MEDICARE FROM HEALTH COSTS IS GROWING

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/05/business/bankruptcy-older-americans.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/08/13/retired-broke-bankruptcy-filings-surging-seniors/?utm_term=.d0c5363b9bf7

https://www.wsj.com/articles/bankruptcy-filings-surge-among-older-americans-1533641401

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/21/universal-medicare-democratic-primaries-745296

People on Medicare know the real deal of what is going on, that as is it's not at all a solution to many problems with the whole system now, the ones that are happy can afford good supplementals or have extra coverage from another source like their former employer. They aren't going to fall for spin that allowing everyone to opt in to Medicare is a easy solution to anything. They'll think any such spinner is lying or naive.

Here's an analysis of how the

artappraiser — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 15:16:53 +0000

In reply to Health care driving voters in midterms, election analyst says

Here's an analysis of how the deductibles have been increasing: https://t.co/jsVC8VNrzd Again, I just don't understand reporting premiums alone, without the other necessary info about actual cost.
— Marshall Allen (@marshall_allen) October 11, 2018