The vote may have failed, but changes are still coming to Obamacare.
By Robert King, Washington Examiner:
The Trump administration will be scaling back its oversight of Obamacare starting next year, moving some duties to the states, amid criticism from advocates that it will hurt patients.
This week, the administration quietly informed insurers that it would give states more power to decide which plans are sold on Obamacare’s marketplaces in 2018. The move comes the same week Trump said he might try to withhold subsidies to Obamacare insurers to get Democrats on board with repealing the law.
The change affects Obamacare plans sold on healthcare.gov, used by residents in 38 states to purchase Obamacare. It does not affect the 12 state-run exchanges.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services currently reviews all of the plans and their rates before they are sold on the exchanges. CMS also reviews which drugs those plans will cover. Some states, however, recommend which plans the government should sell on the exchanges.
Starting in 2018, CMS will rely on those recommendations instead of performing its own reviews. Technically, CMS still has to give the final say on which plans can be sold on the exchanges.
However, CMS said in the letter to insurers on Thursday that the state recommendations will “be given great weight.”
Currently, seven of the 38 states make recommendations, according to data from the nonpartisan think tank Commonwealth Fund. However, more states could start to make recommendations to take advantage of the relaxed federal scrutiny.
Republicans have said that one reason Obamacare should be repealed is to give states more flexibility to develop plans.
The recommendations could vary among states, one expert said.
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