Healthcare

In 1998, Citizens Against Government Waste released “Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth from Nonprofit Hospitals?” which analyzed the level of charity care nonprofit hospitals were providing to their local communities as a requirement under their tax exemptions.  The report found that for-profit and nonprofit hospitals are not much different in terms of the charity they provide to their respective communities.  The only difference is that taxpayers are subsidizing the nonprofits.

Healthcare reform is not going well for the Republicans, even though they have called for the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, since the legislation was signed into law in 2010.  Republicans have had seven years to write, debate, and agree to a plan to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something.  They promised to repeal ACA for every election since 2010 and as a result, retook the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Presidency.

Today, the Senate leadership released their revisions to H.R. 1628, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) and there are some important changes.  Whether the new language will be enough to garner the votes needed to pass a bill remains to be seen.  Importantly, the legislation continues to eliminate many of the onerous taxes and provides relief from the mandates contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, and reforms Medicaid.  The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste announced its support today for the legislation.

With apologies to Poltergeist, the Congress returns this week from its Independence Day break.  All eyes are on the Senate as the country wonders if the Republicans can come together and pass healthcare legislation that will stabilize the individual health insurance market that has been devastated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare.

On June 27, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced there would be no vote on the Senate’s bill, H.R. 1628, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, until after the Independence Day recess.  Capitol Hill staffers have said the delay is simply a “pothole in the road.”  In other words, while efforts have slowed down, the legislative process is moving forward.

When in the course of American history, it becomes necessary to dissolve an odious and oppressive law like the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the causes which compel this action should be declared.

Elizabeth MacDonough’s job doesn’t generally bring her into the limelight. While MacDonough has served as the Senate parliamentarian for five years and has worked in the office of the parliamentarian for eighteen, the public knows little of her important role with the upcoming debate on the senate bill to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare.

With Congress poised to repeal and replace Obamacare, the time has come to abolish the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a little-known but dangerous provision within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Congress needs to repeal IPAB, and if it were not for the arcane rules surrounding the budget reconciliation process being used to repeal Obamacare, it certainly would have been included in either of the repeal-and-replace bills being debated.

Tomorrow, on June 22, Senators are supposed to receive a discussion draft of the Senate version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), an Obamacare repeal and replacement bill.  Currently, the goal is to vote on the legislation next week, just before the July 4 recess.  The House passed its version, H.R. 1628, on May 4, 2017, by a vote of 217 to 213.  Everyone in Washington is anxiously waiting to see and review the draft bill.

Yesterday, with little notice, a big decision was made by the Supreme Court of the United States.  Their ruling means biosimilars, or “generic” versions of biologic drugs, will be able to be marketed immediately after approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), just as Congress intended.  The decision will save consumers and taxpayers billions of dollars.