Dive Brief:
- On Monday, President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with U.S. health insurers, Bloomberg reported.
- Also on Monday, Trump is scheduled to meet with governors concerned over Medicaid funding, Modern Healthcare reported.
- The meetings come after Politico obtained and leaked a draft ACA repeal bill which, if implemented as is, would phase out Medicaid expansion by 2020, eliminate and the individual mandate and replace income-based subsidies with age-based tax credits.
Dive Insight:
Insurers will likely want to discuss shoring up the individual market and how it may benefit their long-term plans. Many major insurers have scaled back participation and at least Humana has outright exited the ACA marketplace. This especially important considering that June is the deadline for insurers to decide whether to participate next year or not.
The leaked GOP bill and meetings come at a time some areas of the industry are realizing what the impacts of ACA reform, however you may call it, may have on their bottom line. This is particularly true with Medicaid. If the GOP party scales back federal Medicaid funds, then many hospitals will find themselves on the line to care for more individuals who may or may not be able to pay for healthcare services.
Politico reported over the weekend that the more than 30 governors who attended the National Governor's Association Winter Meeting are split on whether they want to see continued enhanced federal funding for Medicaid expansion but are working together on the issue.
As Axios' Bob Herman notes, safety net hospitals and rural healthcare organizations would likely be affected the most by such reforms. These already financially-strapped organizations can't look forward to the idea of reimbursement cuts and some organizations, such as the National Rural Health Association as Herman notes, have begun to speak out.
But this issue doesn't just affect hospitals, it could have unintended consequences throughout the industry. Facilities and organizations that could face cuts may pull back health IT purchasing as well as hiring decisions. As Kaiser Health News reported on Friday, ACA repeal is putting the future of some community health centers in question.