Trump Says He Wants Direct Subsidies In Healthcare
President Donald Trump declared on social media that he would only consider approving legislation that provides direct healthcare payments to Americans. “THE ONLY HEALTHCARE I WILL SUPPORT OR APPROVE IS SENDING THE MONEY DIRECTLY BACK TO THE PEOPLE, WITH NOTHING GOING TO THE BIG, FAT, RICH INSURANCE COMPANIES, WHO HAVE MADE $TRILLIONS, AND RIPPED OFF AMERICA LONG ENOUGH,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “THE PEOPLE WILL BE ALLOWED TO NEGOTIATE AND BUY THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, INSURANCE. POWER TO THE PEOPLE! Congress, do not waste your time and energy on anything else. This is the only way to have great Healthcare in America!!! GET IT DONE, NOW,” he added.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, dismissed Trump’s statement as “unhinged ramblings” that will “do nothing to lower” costs. He added the president has no idea how anything works.
Meanwhile, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-LA, is working on a bill that would allow the federal government to contribute directly to individual health savings accounts to help people afford insurance in the Exchanges. Cassidy’s proposal would allow people who sign up for Bronze Plans on the marketplaces to get prepaid accounts to make up for the projected lapse in enhanced subsidies next year. “Who would not want to spend 100 percent of the dollars on the patient choosing the health care she wants, as opposed to 100 percent going to insurance companies and the 80 percent being spent on health care … and that health care is what the insurance company decides that you need?,” Cassidy told reporters.
Of course, both Trump and Cassidy have looked past any number of problems with the schemes. Will the Affordable Care Act (ACA) be changed? While costs are high in the Exchanges, their scheme could force premiums up even more as insurers would be uncertain as to enrollment in the devolved system. The system would be more complicated than even the current one. Do either understand that the premium subsidies and cost-sharing subsidies are only obtained on behalf of the enrollee? What are the insurance alternatives if any? Isn’t Cassidy leveraging the same Exchange system?
As usual, the GOP here is endorsing stunts rather than real reform for affordable, comprehensive coverage.
Additional article: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5611143-schumer-trump-health-care-payments/?tbref=hp
#healthcare #exchanges #aca #obamacare #coverage
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5610525-trump-direct-healthcare-payments/?tbref=hp
Mercer Sees Employer Coverage Surging But Less Than Others
Analysts at Mercer say employers expect to see health benefits rise by 6.7% in 2026, reaching more than $18,500 per employee on average. The expected trend is actually below other estimates, which often are in the 8% to 9% range. Mercer says the 2025 trend was 6%. The increase was driven by a sharp spike in prescription drug spending, which increased by 9.4%. Mercer says employees’ cost-sharing will grow, which makes affordability an even greater challenge.
Mercer also found that the number of plans are growing, with 67% of employers offering three or more medical plans at their largest worksite. That includes newer, non-traditional medical plans that lean on different strategies to manage costs.
#employercoverage #healthcare
Sacklers Stay Billionaires
A bankruptcy court judge overseeing Purdue Pharma signed off on a $7.4 billion settlement between the drug company and the Sackler family (which owned the OxyContin drug maker). The Purdue Pharma must pay billions of dollars to settle a flood of lawsuits over the harms of opioids, in a new deal formally approved by a federal bankruptcy judge on Tuesday. The dollars will be paid out to government entities and victims.
The Sacklers must contribute up to $7 billion over 15 years for the misery they contributed to as well as 900,000 deaths in the U.S. since 1999 from opioids. I opposed the initial settlement that was thrown out. I grudgingly endorsed this second one because so much time has passed without some compensation to victims. The judge correctly notes that rejecting the deal might have meant less money to victims.
But here is the sorry truth about all this. The Sackler family members were collectively paid more than $10 billion by Purdue before they stopped involvement with the company in 2018. So, by paying out $7 billion from their ill-gotten gains, they remain billionaires. Meanwhile, victims largely get nothing. About $850 million will be set aside for individual victims, including children born with opioid withdrawal. Those who can provide documentation could receive $8,000 or around $16,000. It is criminal.
#opioids #sacklers
More Insurer Developments
More developments from health plans today:
- Humana and Epic are expanding their relationship in an effort to further interoperability. Insurer Humana is rolling out two new features in partnership with medical record vendor Epic to automate and streamline paperwork at the doctor’s office. Humana is activating Epic’s Coverage Finder and Digital Insurance Card Exchange capabilities for its Medicare Advantage (MA) membership.
- Given its dedication to expanding employer health reimbursement ICHRA accounts for employees, Centene is transitioning more than 700 Indiana-based employees to ICHRAs in 2026. ICHRAs allow employers to provide tax-advantaged reimbursements for employees to purchase individual health coverage, either on or off the Exchanges. Centene is the largest Exchange health plan nationwide.
- Aetna is rolling out a new artificial-intelligence-powered, conversational tool designed to make it easier for members to understand and navigate their health and benefits. The AI assistant is embedded in the Aetna’s website and member app.
- Independent Health will merge with fellow nonprofit insurer MVP Health Care. They will have more than 1 million members and 7 billion in revenue.
- Cigna Healthcare has unveiled Clearity, a new, copayment-only health plan designed to promote transparency and predictability. The plan features a tiered copay model that does away with deductibles and coinsurance. Employers that select the option can choose from five different packages with different cost-sharing options that don’t require narrowing networks or restricting access.
Additional articles: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/humana-epic-collaborate-automate-insurance-verification-patient-check and https://www.modernhealthcare.com/health-tech/ai/mh-humana-epic-systems-medicare-advantage/ and https://www.beckerspayer.com/payer/ichra/why-centene-is-moving-some-employees-to-ichra/ and https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/aetna-unveils-new-conversational-ai-navigation-tool-members and https://www.beckerspayer.com/m-and-a/independent-health-to-join-mvp-health-care/
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#humana #medicareadvantage #centene #ichra #hsas #exchanges #aetna #cigna #interoperability
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/cigna-launch-new-transparent-health-plan-called-clearity
— Marc S. Ryan
