Supreme Court Medicaid ruling to leave 36 million uninsured in 2016: CBO

WASHINGTON—Congressional analysts have increased their estimate of the number of uninsured U.S. residents in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court striking down a health care reform law provision that would have financially punished states if they did not expand Medicaid eligibility.
In March, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that in 2016—two years after several key provisions of the reform law go into effect—that 32 million U.S. residents would be uninsured, down from the current estimate of 53 million.
But in an analysis released Tuesday, CBO now estimates that 36 million U.S. residents will be uninsured in 2016.
The revised estimate is due to last month's Supreme Court decision that struck down a reform law provision in which states would have lost all federal Medicaid funding if they did not boost the maximum income residents could earn and still be eligible for Medicaid coverage.
CBO said it now anticipates “that some states will not expand their programs at all or will not expand coverage to the full extent authorized” by the Patient Protection an Affordable Care Act.
A smaller reduction in the number of uninsured could negatively affect employers as the amount of uncompensated care—a cost that health care providers now try to shift in the form of higher charges to patients with health insurance—will not decline as much as providers had initially hoped.

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Feds to waive insurance mandate for low-income people in states that don’t expand Medicaid

By Associated Press, Published: July 10


WASHINGTON — The Obama administration says low-income residents in states that decide to opt out of a big Medicaid expansion in the new health care law will not risk federal penalties as an unintended consequence.


The Supreme Court upheld most of President Barack Obama’s health care law last week, including its requirement that virtually all Americans carry medical insurance. But the court gave states the option of saying no to a Medicaid expansion expected to provide coverage to more than 15 million people, mainly childless adults. Officials in some Republican-led states are already saying they’ll opt out.


In a letter to governors Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said low-income residents in those states who would have been eligible for the coverage will not face the individual insurance mandate.

House Passes Refrom Repeal

CBS News) The Republican-led effort to repeal President Obama's health care law passed the House of Representatives Wednesday, successfully setting up campaign talking points for the coming months, but accomplishing little else.

The vote was the 33rd time the House has voted to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act, but Wednesday's vote was the first House action to repeal since the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law nearly two weeks ago.

With the reality that it will also be the 33rd time that the measure will fail to be passed by the Democratic-led Senate, Wednesday's action ultimately winds up being only political in nature, giving Republicans material for their political races to tell voters that they are committed to sinking the health care overhaul.

We are voting "so we may all be on record in order to show that the house rejects 'Obamacare,' and we are committed to taking this flawed law off the books," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., sad on the House floor.

The vote, 244 - 185, was largely along party lines but five Democrats sided with the entire Republican caucus.

House Democrats, bolstered by the Supreme Court's decision last month, called the vote pure politics.

This is a "useless bill to nowhere that does serious damage to the health and well being of American families," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

White House spokesperson Jay Carney added the vote is what people "loathe about politics and Washington."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the House voted because Americans "certainly didn't ask for a government takeover" of health care. "There is a better way. Americans want a step by step approach," he said on the House floor prior to the vote.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has repeatedly promised to "repeal and replace" the law if elected.
Since the Supreme Court upheld the law last month, the president has touted the ruling on the campaign trail. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Tuesday, the president said he will "work with anybody to improve the health care law where we can, but this law is here to stay."

Obama Vows to Veto Legislation to Repeal Reform

WASHINGTON—If a health care reform repeal bill—to be voted on by the House of Representatives on Wednesday—receives final congressional approval, President Barack Obama would veto it, the administration said.
Repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would result in more than 250 million U.S. residents losing the benefits and protections they receive under the law, the administration said Monday in a statement.Among other things, older adult children would lose coverage—a reform law provision that requires group plans to extend coverage to employees' children up to age 26. In addition, group plans could impose annual and lifetime dollar limits on coverage, while 30 million uninsured residents would lose coverage they expect to receive in 2014 when federal premium subsidies to the uninsured and expanded Medicaid eligibility take effect, the administration said.It is unlikely, though, that President Obama will have an opportunity to veto H.R. 6079, which House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., introduced Monday.While the House is expected to approve the measure, Repeal of Obamacare Act, the bill has little chance of winning approval in the Senate, where Democrats are in the majority.


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