Topics this week:
1. Awards to Navigators of the ACA
2. Republicans Call for Delay of ACA Implementation
3. Student Loan Interest Bill
4. Number of Physicians Accepting Medicare Patients
5. Young Adult Awareness of Affordable Care Act
1. Awards to Navigators of the ACA
2. Republicans Call for Delay of ACA Implementation
3. Student Loan Interest Bill
4. Number of Physicians Accepting Medicare Patients
5. Young Adult Awareness of Affordable Care Act
1. Obama administration awards $67 million to “navigators” of Affordable Care Act
On August 15th, the Obama administration decided to award $67 million to 105 groups, including hospitals, universities, health advocacy groups and health systems, to serve as “navigators” of the Affordable Care Act. These groups will help the currently uninsured better understand their options and how they can get coverage under the new healthcare law. The administration pulled $13 million from a $15 billion over 10 years fund that is intended to pay for public health and preventative care programs. After Congress refused to provide funding for educational and outreach initiatives, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, decided to pull money from the preventative care fund, causing controversy in Congress. These outreach initiatives are viewed as essential for the success of the law, as millions of young and healthy individuals need to purchase healthcare from the new available options. The money will be distributed amongst the 34 states where the new federal healthcare markets will run in an attempt to spread information before sign-up begins October 1st.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/us/politics/67-million-awarded-to-groups-helping-with-health-law.html?ref=health&_r=0
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2. Republicans call on President Obama and Senate to delay implementation of Affordable Care Act
On August 17th, Republicans increased their criticisms of the Affordable Care Act and its timing, asking President Obama and Senate Democrats to delay the bill’s implementation. President Obama has already delayed the implementation of two programs—a cap on how much insurers can charge people for out-of-pocket expenses and a requirement that big and medium-sized businesses give full-time employees coverage. House Republicans have voted 40 times already to repeal it, particularly the individual mandate, arguing that law is contributing to layoffs, has unnecessary insurance restrictions and is causing high costs for the people. Some Republicans have threatened a government shutdown by not approving a resolution that funds federal operations, including provisions in the healthcare law. Republican leaders, however, are still divided on whether refusing to provide funding would be a good solution, as it would cause a shutdown for many federal operations. Opponents argue that the delays that have been granted by President Obama are unfair and demonstrate how the Affordable Care Act overall is unsound.
Source:
http://thehill.com/video/house/317501-gop-calls-for-senate-passage-of-obamacare-delay
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3. Congress passes student loan interest rate bill
On July 31st, the House passed a student loan interest rate bill, sending it to President Obama for signing. The Smarter Solutions for Students Act is written as a compromise bill that will reverse the July 1st doubling of subsidized Stafford loan interest rates for undergraduates and reduce Stafford interest rates for graduate and professional students, including medical school students. President Obama has stated that he will sign the bill, but both President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have taken credit for the bill, while criticizing the other’s previous proposals. The bill is based upon the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act that was introduced June 27. Interest rates will be set each academic year according to the US Treasury 10-year borrowing rate plus 2.05 percentage points for subsidized and unsubsidized undergraduate Stafford loans, 3.6 percentage points for graduate Stafford loans, and 4.6 for PLUS loans. The interest rates would be capped at 8.25, 9.5 and 10 percent respectively and fixed over the life of the loan. Under current Treasury rates, unsubsidized Stafford loan rates for medical students would be reduced from 6.8 percent to 5.41, while GradPlus rates would be reduced from 7.9 to 6.41.
Source:
https://www.aamc.org/advocacy/washhigh/highlights2013/351360/080213congresssendsstudentloancompromisetopresidentsdesk.html
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4. Number of physicians accepting Medicare patients remains unchanged according to DHHS
According to an Aug 2013 issue brief from the Department of Health and Human Services, Medicare beneficiaries' access to care has been stable over the past five years and is comparable to or better than access reported by privately insured individuals. Specifically, federal survey data reports the percentage of office-based physicians who report accepting new Medicare patients has not changed significantly between 2005 and 2012, with 87.9% of physicians accepting new Medicare patients in 2005 and 90.7% in 2012 (has actually increased). Furthermore, the percentage of physicians who report accepting new Medicare patients is similar to, and in recent years slightly higher than, the percentage accepting new privately insured patients.
Source:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/08/23/214894592/doctors-fleeing-medicare-not-so-fast-feds-say
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5. Young adults are least familiar with the PPACA according to Gallop poll
10% of young people said they're "very familiar" with the law, compared to roughly 20% in older age groups. Analysts suggest young adult enrollment is critical to the healthcare law's success. The administration is hoping that roughly 40 percent of the people who enroll in new coverage options next year will be younger than 35. Without significant young adult enrollment, premiums for everyone else would likely rise. 36% of respondents ages 18-34 said they are "not too familiar" or "not familiar at all" with the law, according to Gallup.
Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/318487-poll-young-adults-least-familiar-with-obamacare
P.S. http://www.policyprescriptions.org/ is an excellent resource!
Your Legislative Affairs Team:
Alexandra Printz – National Delegate
Arindam Sarkar – Southern Region
Christos Theophanous – Western Region
Michael Hunter – Northeast Region
Rob Klemisch – Central Region
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https://www.aamc.org/members/osr/communications/legislative_affairs/
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https://www.aamc.org/members/osr/communications/legislative_affairs/49198/legislative_affairs_resources.html