Roughly 3.2 million people will likely switch from Affordable Care Act coverage into newly expanded “association health plans,” according to an analysis from the consulting firm Avalere. Most of them would be leaving the ACA’s marketplace for small businesses, rather than for individuals.
Why it matters: The repeal of the individual mandate will draw a few million people out of ACA coverage. Separate administrative actions, a few million more. And the 3 million from association health plans, on top of that. Each of those policies may not be fatal to the ACA on their own, but they're cumulative.
The federal response to the opioid epidemic is entering a new phase of intensity. Both the Trump administration and members of Congress announced new steps yesterday that could make a real difference in both law enforcement and public health.
The Justice Department announced that it will try to join a lawsuit, led by several state and local governments, against drugmakers and distributors that sell or sold prescription opioids.
Sens. Rob Portman and Sheldon Whitehouse — the cosponsors of the opioid bill passed last Congress — introduced an opioid bill today that includes $1 billion in yearly funding to evidence-based programs. It also limits opioid prescriptions to three days to cut down on overprescribing, with exceptions for chronic pain treatment.
Why this matters: The authors' goal is to use this bill as a roadmap for appropriators to determine how to spend the $6 billion over two years in opioid and mental health funding. But it also includes important policy reforms that experts generally say could make a dent in the crisis. Portman said in an interview he hopes his bill gets attached to the upcoming spending bill.
If you thought the Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate would settle the question of its constitutionality or that Congress repealing the mandate would satisfy its critics, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has some news for you.
The latest: Paxton and 19 other Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit late yesterday claiming — once again — that the individual mandate is unconstitutional and that the rest of the ACA has to fall along with it.
