Trump to Meet With Insurance Executives on Repeal of Affordable Care Act -- Update
February 24 2017 - 5:03PM
Dow Jones News
By Stephanie Armour, Anna Wilde Mathews and Michelle Hackman
President Donald Trump is planning to hold a round-table meeting
with health-insurance executives at the White House on Monday,
according to people close to the planning, as the administration
looks to encourage insurers to sign onto Republicans' health-care
overhaul efforts.
The gathering is expected to focus on getting the industry
leaders' support for the GOP initiative, which would dismantle much
of the Affordable Care Act and introduce several measures supported
by many Republicans, including age-adjusted tax credits and
expanded access to health-savings accounts.
Among the CEOs expected to attend the meeting are UnitedHealth
Group Inc.'s Stephen J. Hemsley; Kaiser Permanente's Bernard J.
Tyson; Mark T. Bertolini, of Aetna Inc.; Brad Wilson of Blue Cross
and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Cigna Corp.'s David Cordani, and
Humana Inc.'s Bruce Broussard. Health and Human Services Secretary
Tom Price, another key player in repeal efforts, will also be
there.
During his first month in office, Mr. Trump has hosted a series
of one-on-one and round-table meetings with CEOs, including
executives from the airline industry and the retail and
manufacturing sectors.
The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Trump has signaled that repealing and replacing former
President Barack Obama's signature health-care bill is a priority.
On Friday morning, the president addressed health care during a
speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a prominent
gathering of political conservatives from across the country.
"We're going to repeal and replace the disaster known as
Obamacare," Mr. Trump said, adding that the law "covers very few
people."
Since the law was passed, the number of uninsured Americans has
dropped by around 22 million, largely attributed to an expansion of
the Medicaid program and the provision of subsidies for consumers
to buy policies through individual market exchanges.
Monday's White House session with CEOs will coincide with the
last day of a four-day gathering of the National Governors
Association in Washington. Republican governors plan to meet with
congressional lawmakers during that event, in an attempt to forge a
consensus on how to overhaul the health law's Medicaid expansion.
The governors also have a meeting scheduled with the president on
Monday morning.
House committees are expected to start producing draft
legislation on their health-care plan next week, though internal
GOP divisions may slow that process.
Insurers are concerned about several provisions envisioned by
House Republican leaders, including an immediate end to the
enforcement of the ACA's requirement that most Americans pay a
penalty if they don't have insurance. Insurers have said such a
move would eliminate a tool that is necessary for getting younger,
healthier consumers to purchase plans, offsetting costs from older
and sicker people.
The Trump administration has in some ways been quick to respond
to insurers' concerns. The Department of Health and Human Services
has proposed changes to help shore up the individual insurance
market under the ACA -- including plans to shorten the open
enrollment period and to better verify the eligibility of people
signing up during special enrollment windows -- to give insurers
more stability and predictability.
The administration wants to be sure that insurers will continue
participating in the ACA exchanges in 2018, buying Republicans time
to craft and enact their health plan.
--Louise Radnofsky contributed to this article.
Write to Stephanie Armour at stephanie.armour@wsj.com, Anna
Wilde Mathews at anna.mathews@wsj.com and Michelle Hackman at
Michelle.Hackman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 24, 2017 16:48 ET (21:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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