Tag: healthcare

New Data Deliver Good News for Health Care and Bad News for Speaker Ryan’s Tax Reform Plan

The following article by Harry Stein and Alex Rowell was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 30, 2017:

AP/J. Scott Applewhite
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) announces that he is abruptly pulling the troubled American Health Care Act off the House floor, at the Capitol in Washington, March 24, 2017.

Shortly after Congress’ failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, new budget data confirm the sustainability of the federal government’s major health care programs. These budget data also illustrate a major hurdle for the tax reform plan advocated by House Republican leaders. This new information comes from the Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, and it includes updated projections for the cost of federal programs; tax revenue levels; budget deficits; and economic variables such as gross domestic product, or GDP.

The projected costs of federal health care programs have fallen dramatically since the passage of the ACA. Despite false claims to the contrary, federal health programs are not facing a “death spiral” of exploding costs. The United States has more than enough economic capacity to continue to sustain these programs in the future; repealing the ACA would have instead used American economic capacity to cut taxes for the wealthy. Continue reading “New Data Deliver Good News for Health Care and Bad News for Speaker Ryan’s Tax Reform Plan”

Republican leaders feel pressure over health care reforms

The following article by Robert Pear and Kate Kelly was posted on the New York Times website February 28, 2017:

PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Trump met with health insurance company executives Monday in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to discuss possible options to the current health plan initiated by Barack Obama.

WASHINGTON — President Trump, meeting with the nation’s governors, conceded Monday that he had not been aware of the complexities of health care policy-making: “I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.”

The president also suggested that the struggle to replace the Affordable Care Act was creating a legislative logjam that could delay other parts of his political agenda.

Many policy makers had anticipated the intricacies of changing the health care law, and Trump’s demands in the opening days of his administration to simultaneously repeal and replace Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement made the political calculations far more complicated.

Governors of both parties added still more confusion Monday when they called for any replacement to cover all the people already benefiting from the landmark law. Continue reading “Republican leaders feel pressure over health care reforms”