The other March Madness: Democratic health bill brackets
Suddenly, there are a lot of bills there. Here's a guide.
Federal health insurance policymaking has moved, over the past 20 years, from a world of grudging efforts at bipartisanship, to two years of Democratic steamrollering, to a world where it looked as if Republican bills were always about to pass but hardly ever did.
Now, policy has moved to another, strange new phase, in which it seems as if nothing can actually pass, but some bills will surprise everyone and pass.
Related: Dems aim to restore ACA as ‘law of the land’ with new health care proposal
The House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee recently held a markup to go over some of the bills.
Here’s a look at the current health bill brackets. Subcommittee members today approved all of the bills listed here, other than the bills in the Grand Health Reform Proposal Conference bracket, and forwarded them for consideration by the full House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The “marketing” conference bracket
The “Marketing and Outreach Restoration to Empower Health Education Act of 2019″ bill, or the “MORE Health Education Act” bill — H.R. 987 (Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del.)
This bill would provide $100 million in funding for marketing and explaining the Affordable Care Act public exchange program. It would prohibit outreach programs from promoting use of short-term health insurance or association health plan programs.
The “Expand Navigators’ Resources for Outreach, Learning and Longevity Act of 2019″ bill or the “ENROLL Act of 2019″ bill — H.R. 1386 (Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla.)
This bill would provide $100 million in funding for ACA exchange outreach and education efforts; require every state’s exchange program to make at least one of its navigator organizations a consumer-focused nonprofit group; and prohibit a state from taking into account whether a prospective navigator organization promotes short-term health insurance or association health plans.
The “blocking Trump administration regulations” conference bracket
H.R. 1010 (Castor)
This bill would block the new federal regulation that lets the same short-term health insurance coverage stay in place for up to three years. It would bring back the three-month coverage duration limit imposed by federal regulators under the administration of former President Barack Obama.
The “Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019″ bill — H.R. 986 (Rep. Ann Kuster, D-N.H.)
This bill would keep states from using a new set of ACA waiver program rules, “State Relief and Empowerment Waiver” rules, to eliminate or soften some ACA requirements.
The “state subsidy” conference bracket
The “State Health Care Premium Reduction Act” bill — H.R. 1425 (Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn.)
The subcommittee replaced the original version of this bill with text proposed by Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J. This amended version of the bill would provide $10 billion per year in funding for state individual major medical insurance reinsurance programs.
The “State Allowance for a Variety of Exchanges Act” bill, or the “SAVE Act” bill — H.R. 1385 (Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J.)
This bill would provide $200 million that states with their own state-based ACA public exchange programs could use to set up state-based public exchange programs.
“Grand health reform proposal” conference bracket
The “Medicare for All Act of 2019″ bill — H.R. 1384 (Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.)
This bill would create a government-run single-payer health care, oral health care, vision care and long-term care system, without any deductibles, co-payments or other cost-sharing payments required. Health care providers could decide whether or not to participate in the program.
The “Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions and Making Health Care More Affordable Act of 2019″ bill — No bill number. (Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J.; Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass.; Rep. Bobby Scot, D-Va.)
This bill would leave the current health insurance system intact. It would make ACA premium tax credit subsidies available to people with income over 400% of the federal poverty level; provide funding for a reinsurance program; reverse the Trump administration’s efforts to promote use of short-term health insurance and AHP programs; and provide funding for ACA public exchange outreach efforts.
Resources
Links to information about the House Energy health subcommittee health bill markup are available here.
The Congress.gov information page for H.R. 1384 is available here.
A collection of information about the “Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act of 2019″ bill is available here.
Read more: