Health Tips

When Congress returns in September, Senate health committee chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and ranking member Patty Murray (D-WA) will attempt to find a way to at least temporarily shore up the Obamacare individual health insurance markets.

First, they will try to guarantee the low-income cost sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies for at least a year in order to give participating insurers the

The latest attempt by Senate Republicans to "repeal and replace" Obamacare��the �skinny� plan��failed early this morning on a vote of 49-51.

The deciding vote came from John McCain (AZ), joined by Republican Senators Collins (ME) and Murkowski (AK).

Trying to pass the �skinny� bill was a fool�s errand. How did McConnell think he was going to do any better bringing 240 House Republicans�

Three strikes and you're out.

On Monday, Senate Republicans approved proceeding to debate on "repealing and replacing" Obamacare by a vote of 50-50-1, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the deciding vote.

Strike One
Yesterday, Senate Republicans failed to approve the bill they had been working on for over a month, which included the Cruz amendment that would have bifurcated the individual

The Senate Republican Obamacare "repeal and replace" legislation��just like the House version��was an awful bill. Individual health insurance costs wouldn't have gone down they would have gone up and both bills would have screwed a lot of low-income people. The latest Cruz amendment bifurcating the market with the sick in one place and the healthy in another was the most cynical kind of public

A Cunning Strategy to Back Door Risk Pools and Market Segmentation




Ted Cruz has offered an amendment�since included in the latest Republican Senate draft�that would enable health insurance plans to offer stripped down coverage outside the current Obamacare compliant individual market. Anytime spent covered by them would be considered a break in service and subject the consumer to the

At the core of Republican objectives for the "repealing and replacing" of Obamacare is bringing down the cost of health insurance��not just the premiums but the out-of-pocket costs people pay as well.

If implemented, the Senate Republican bill may actually end up increasing costs compared to Obamacare.
Clearly, if Republicans cut $408 billion in current tax credits and other insurance assistance