A bill pending on Capitol Hill would move the individual market another step further towards having separate, parallel marketplaces for sick and healthy people. A legislative push – which appears to be backed by some in the White House – would allow short-term plans to both be available for up to a year and to have guaranteed renewability.
Why it matters: While it's unclear how much of an impact this would have beyond what the Trump administration has already proposed, the bill shows that thought's being given to the legal parameters of what the administration can do. It would go a step further in undermining the structure of the Affordable Care Act than the administration has, with the added benefit of taking potential legal trouble off the table.
Conservatives in Congress are looking to build on some of the Trump administration's executive actions on health care.
Sen. John Barrasso, a member of GOP leadership and often the caucus's unofficial health care messenger, will introduce a bill today to let consumers renew bare-bones short-term health plans.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows said he hasn't been working with Barrasso, but he's supportive.
Why this matters: The White House has expressed interest in legislation to codify and enhance its regulatory efforts on short-term plans. Politico reported last night that it's one of the conservative policies the administration is pushing in return for stabilizing the Affordable Care Act's insurance markets. This will certainly complicate bipartisan negotiations.
The White House is internally divided over what to do about individual market stabilization efforts, congressional aides say, and there's no consensus among lawmakers, either. Although there's growing alarm over rising premiums and an increasing sense of urgency to address them, many Republicans are still very wary of the endeavor, especially in the House.
Between the lines: Practically speaking, there's a strong case to be made for addressing insurance premiums ahead of the midterm elections, as many Republicans know. But helping to fix the Affordable Care Act is still a tough pill for many conservatives to swallow, and the president is obviously prone to change his mind many times over on any particular issue.
