2016 Health Care Year In Review
THE BLOG
2016 Health Care Year In Review
David Blumenthal President, The Commonwealth Fund
Coauthored by David Squires
This was a tumultuous year in health care and elsewhere. Wherever we looked, the improbable and unbelievable became true and believable: from Brexit to a President-elect Trump to alleged foreign sabotage of our political institutions. Historians will dissect the remnants of these events for decades. For us, for now, let’s focus on health care, which is plenty.
Trump (and the Republicans) emerge ascendant.
President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office on January 20, 2017, joined by Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, 68 of 99 state legislative chambers, and 31 of 50 governorships.
The Republican Party’s commitment to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act could not be clearer, but stubborn political realities and technical issues are already forcing Congress to consider delaying the effective date of any repeal by up to four years.
Though Republicans can accomplish a repeal without any help from Democrats (using the budget reconciliation process), patching together a replacement package will require eight Democratic votes in the Senate. That will be a challenge, as will managing the transition and finding consensus among divided Republicans on how or whether to cover the more than 20 million Americans who will likely lose insurance if the ACA is repealed.
READ MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-blumen...
2016 Health Care Year In Review
David Blumenthal President, The Commonwealth Fund
Coauthored by David Squires
This was a tumultuous year in health care and elsewhere. Wherever we looked, the improbable and unbelievable became true and believable: from Brexit to a President-elect Trump to alleged foreign sabotage of our political institutions. Historians will dissect the remnants of these events for decades. For us, for now, let’s focus on health care, which is plenty.
Trump (and the Republicans) emerge ascendant.
President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office on January 20, 2017, joined by Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, 68 of 99 state legislative chambers, and 31 of 50 governorships.
The Republican Party’s commitment to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act could not be clearer, but stubborn political realities and technical issues are already forcing Congress to consider delaying the effective date of any repeal by up to four years.
Though Republicans can accomplish a repeal without any help from Democrats (using the budget reconciliation process), patching together a replacement package will require eight Democratic votes in the Senate. That will be a challenge, as will managing the transition and finding consensus among divided Republicans on how or whether to cover the more than 20 million Americans who will likely lose insurance if the ACA is repealed.
READ MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-blumen...
