Academy Activities
In light of President Obama's State of the Union pledge to create a bipartisan commission to address deficit reduction and the release of his administration's 2011 budget proposal, the Academy's Health Practice Council continues to urge the president and Congress to undertake comprehensive Medicare reform. An updated Call to Action outlines four goals that any comprehensive reform of the program must seek to achieve: the Hospital Insurance trust fund must meet short-range financial adequacy, the fund must meet long-range actuarial balance, the program's growing demand on the federal budget must be reigned in by a reduction in the growth in general revenue contributions, and overall Medicare spending must be limited by a reduction in the growth of spending.
Stay up-to-date: As a reminder, all recent health-related publications can be found on the Academy's website on the dedicated Health Reform Now webpage. Included are the Critical Issues in Health Reform series, a recent letter to Congress on the actuarial implications of differences in the two major health reform bills, a new technical report on the implications of the Senate-proposed excise tax on high-cost employer-provided health plans, a link to the Jan. 25 webcast on health care reform, and more.
In the News
 A Fortune/CNNMoney.com (Feb. 2) article urged a review of the concerns raised by actuaries and economists on health care reform. The article quotes a Jan. 14 Academy letter to policymakers (news release) as congressional leaders began negotiations to merge the House and Senate versions of reform legislation. The Academy said that financial penalties in both Senate and House bills are fairly weak compared to the coverage costs, and, thus, lower-risk individuals may be more likely to pay the penalty and forgo coverage, putting upward pressure on premiums.
An Academy letter to congressional leaders regarding legislation to repeal an antitrust exemption for medical professional liability insurers was briefly discussed in the American Medical News (Feb. 1), published by the American Medical Association. Academy Medical Professional Liability Subcommittee Chairperson Kevin Bingham told policymakers that the legislation could limit or preclude the collection, aggregation, and analysis of data across companies, which could ultimately limit competition and potentially increase premiums.
News links are to external websites. The Academy is not responsible for the content of these websites. |
Legislative
Updates
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that there will be a House vote next week on a stand-alone bill to repeal the health insurance and medical professional liability insurance industries' current antitrust exemption. The repeal was included in the health reform bill passed by the House but was not included in the Senate version. Reps. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) and Betsy Markey (D-Colo.) announced plans on Feb. 3 to introduce a repeal bill today. Reports have indicated that the new bill will not contain a provision included in an earlier version of the bill, which gave express enforcement authority to the Federal Trade Commission with respect to "unfair methods of competition" for all types of insurance. Democratic leadership has also indicated intentions to move other health reform-related provisions as stand-alone legislation.
Meanwhile, Democrats continue negotiations on more comprehensive reform and have indicated that the House will likely introduce a reconciliation bill that includes budget-related fixes to the Senate-passed health reform legislation. The House would then send it to the Senate for a budget reconciliation vote, which requires only a 51-vote majority. Depending on the outcome of the reconciliation vote in the Senate, the House would then vote on the Senate's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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