Phil Elliott of TIME tweets that Susan Collins has told colleagues that she cannot support Obamacare repeal without a replacement ready to go.
Open the floodgates?: She becomes the first Republican senator to definitively come out against a "repeal and delay" strategy. Rand Paul and Bob Corker had previously expressed publicly their reticence regarding the plan.
The Congressional Budget Office, the official budget scorekeeper for Congress, just handed Democrats two powerful new arguments against Obamacare repeal. In a new estimate of what would happen right away, here's what the budget office said:
18 million uninsured in the first year after passage of the repeal bill
Premiums would increase by 20 to 25 percent
Both would get worse two years later, after Medicaid expansion and Obamacare subsidies go away
Kaiser Health News reports that pharmaceutical companies are taking advantage of the Orphan Drug Act — a law aimed at rare diseases — to maximize profits.
What's the Orphan Drug Act?: It encourages drug manufacturers to develop "orphan drugs" to treat diseases affecting fewer than 200,000 people by providing financial incentives and seven years of exclusive production.
What's happened?: Drugmakers have received orphan status for medicines that were previously approved for mass market use or had received orphan status previously by testing them against new, rare diseases. Seven of the 10 top selling drugs in the United States have orphan status.
Why it matters: President-elect Trump has made it clear that he's going to keep drug prices on the agenda. Stories like this may make it tougher for congressional Republicans to resist, even if they're skeptical of government action.
The Obama administration has been trying to goose the young adult signups so insurers will have more healthy customers.
The Facts
Obamacare signups are definitely outpacing last year, according to the latest enrollment report — 11.5 million signups so far. But if you look at the age mix, it's a different story. Compared to last year's report at this time, the share of customers in each age group is almost exactly the same.
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HHS data showing the percentage of the health insurance market occupied by each age demographic
ANDREW WITHERSPOON, AXIOS
Why It Matters
Experts are split on what this means for the future of the Obamacare marketplace. Supporters had hoped that this would make Obamacare harder to repeal, but making meaningful progress on this would have helped.
Trump's position: Pharmaceutical companies, which he says are "getting away with murder" on drug prices, are "politically protected, but not anymore."
Ryan's position: The Speaker wouldn't put it quite like that! He told Axios' Mike Allen "there's a lot more we can do to bring down the price of drugs."
Why it matters: It's more evidence that congressional Republicans are not on the same page as Trump on drug prices — and he's going to have a hard time passing anything without them.
