Dive Brief:
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CMS acting Administrator Andy Slavitt is warning lawmakers about action that could thrust the healthcare industry “into some deep uncertainty,” he said in a Wednesday interview with Modern Healthcare.
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Slavitt also appeared on CNBC Thursday and cautioned that the Republican strategy on health reform could lead to job losses and increases in the uninsured rate.
- Multiple analyses show that repeal of the ACA without a replacement will lead to chaos on individual insurance markets and leave millions of Americans without coverage.
Dive Insight:
In the separate interviews conducted over the past several days, Slavitt has called on Republicans to fix rather than get rid of the ACA. “There should be no pride of authorship,” Slavitt told Modern Healthcare. “If we can improve upon the things that were started in the ACA, we should do it.”
Shortly before Slavitt made these comments, the Urban Institute issued a report outlining the consequences of repealing the ACA through budget reconciliation without making any other changes. This approach would cause the uninsured rate to double, leaving providers, as well as state and local governments to foot the bill for more than $1 trillion in uncompensated care over ten years.
A strategy that delays ACA repeal while a replacement plan is developed would also throw the individual insurance market into disarray, according to a letter the American Academy of Actuaries addressed to Congress. Uncertainty produced by this approach might prompt payers to flee the individual insurance market. This would cause premiums to rise, making them unaffordable for millions of patients.
Concern seems to be growing among public health officials and health policy experts. Robert Laszewski, an ACA critic and president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates told Vox that “repeal-and-delay” would create a “fiasco on the individual market.” Others are more optimistic.
Marilyn Tavenner, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plan, wrote in the Washington Post on Wednesday that repealing and replacing the ACA can be accomplished “responsibly” by establishing incentives, funding transition programs, getting rid of ACA taxes on insurers, and "implementing effective verification of individuals’ eligibility" prior to enrollment.