2 Modern Healthcare | August 19, 2019
Health Insurance Program, per the re-
port. Coverage losses were concentrat-
ed in the 19 states that did not expand
Medicaid under the ACA by July 1, 2017.
In those states, the uninsured rate rose
to 14.3% in 2017 from 13.7% the year be-
fore. The uninsured rate held steady at
7.6% in states that did expand Medicaid.
Losses in coverage spanned age
groups and income levels, but were
mostly concentrated among non-His-
panic white and non-elderly black peo-
ple and those with at least some college
education, the report stated.
Other studies have also found the un-
insured rate is rising. In January, Gallup
said that 13.7% of adults were uninsured
during the fourth quarter of 2018, com-
pared with 13.4% in the first quarter of- But while the uninsured rate is
increasing, it’s still far lower than when
it hit its peak of 18% in 2013, before the
ACA was implemented.
The American Medical Association
dropped out of the Partnership for
America’s Health Care Future, a
megacoalition of healthcare industry
players devoted to killing single-
payer and public-option proposals.
The group still opposes single
payer, AMA CEO Dr. James Madara
said in a statement, attributing the
reason for the departure to different
advocacy priorities. A source within
the AMA speaking on the condition
of anonymity said the partnership
was successful in highlighting why
single payer wouldn’t be viable within
the U.S. system, but added, “we need
to move on and not only talk about
what we’re against but what we’re for.”
The partnership, which includes the
Federation of American Hospitals,
the American Hospital Association,
Ascension, HCA Healthcare, and
pharmaceutical and insurance
groups, has drawn the same battle
lines against Medicaid and Medicare
buy-in as with Medicare for all.
Montana officials late last week said
they won approval from the CMS to
create a reinsurance pool that aims
to lower individual health insurance
premium costs. A bill passed by state
lawmakers this year creates a pool to
help reimburse insurers for high-cost
claims from $40,000 to $1 million.
A New Jersey judge put a temporary
hold on a law allowing terminally ill
patients to seek life-ending drugs.
The order means that New Jersey’s
recently enacted measure cannot
be enforced by the state attorney
general and comes in response to a
lawsuit brought by a doctor practicing
in the state. Democratic Gov. Phil
Murphy, who signed the bill in April,
said that Attorney General Gurbir
Grewal would release guidance for
residents in light of the order and
vowed to oppose the lawsuit in court.
Dr. Yosef Glassman’s lawsuit argues
“that immediate and irreparable
damage will probably result in view
of the fact that if its enforcement is not
immediately enjoined, New Jersey
citizens can actually begin dying.”Briefs
HealthCare.gov and the state Affordable Care Act
exchange websites will start publishing quality star
ratings for insurance plans, the CMS announced last
week. The Trump administration said the move is
part of its drive toward more transparency and better
quality in the healthcare system, and will help people
choose a valuable insurance plan.
Under the now-nationwide policy, set to start for the
2020 plan year, exchange insurers will be rated on the
sites using a five-star quality rating system similar to
what exists for Medicare Advantage. The number of stars awarded depends on
how a plan’s enrollees rate their in-network doctors, the care received, customer
service, and overall experience with the insurer.
The idea isn’t new: Beginning in 2017, the CMS started to experiment with
limited pilots in Virginia and Wisconsin. During the 2019 open-enrollment
period, the pilots rolled out in three more states. The CMS noted that star
ratings may not be available yet in cases where plans are new or have low
enrollment.
“This addresses our strongly held commitment to equip consumers with the
tools they need to find the best choice possible,” CMS Administrator Seema
Verma said in a statement. “Increasing transparency and competition drive better
quality and cost, with consumers benefiting the most.” —Susannah LuthiACA exchanges to publish
health plan star ratings
National uninsured rate
climbed in 2017About 700,000 fewer people were
enrolled in health insurance coverage
in 2017 compared with the year before,
marking the first year that the uninsured
rate has increased since the Affordable
Care Act’s major reforms took effect, ac-
cording to a study published last week.
The Urban Institute study, funded
by the Robert Wood Johnson Founda-
tion, found the uninsured rate rose 0.
percentage points from 2016 to 2017 to
10.2% of people under age 65, despite a
strong economy and enrollment gains in
the employer-sponsored insurance mar-
ket. In all, 27.3 million people were unin-
sured in 2017.
The drop was driven by lower enroll-
ment in the individual insurance mar-
ket, which includes the ACA exchanges,
as well as Medicaid and the Children’s