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A2 UP FRONT
Friday 28 September 2018

Trump health chief: Premiums to drop for popular ACA plan

By RICARDO ALONSO- In previous election years,
ZALDIVAR health law premiums have
Associated Press provided plenty of material
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pre- for Republican attack ads.
miums for a popular type That issue has been taken
of "silver" health plan un- away this year by market
der the Affordable Care stability. Instead the de-
Act will edge downward bate has shifted to Demo-
next year in most states, cratic charges that the
the Trump administration's Trump administration and
health chief announced Republicans want to under-
Thursday. mine the ACA's protections
Health and Human Servic- for people with pre-existing
es Secretary Alex Azar said health conditions.
premiums for a so-called Azar's speech also took aim
"benchmark" silver plan will at the "Medicare for All" na-
drop by 2 percent in the 39 tional health plan sought
states served by the federal by Sen. Bernie Sanders,
HealthCare.gov website. saying it would undermine
The number of market- access for seniors and pile
place insurers will grow for huge costs on taxpayers.
the first time since 2015, he The Trump administration
added. In this Sept. 12, 2018, file photo, Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar speaks during an is stepping up its criticism
Azar's numbers were in line interview with The Associated Press in New York. of the Vermont senator's
with a broader indepen- Associated Press plan as many Democratic
dent analysis earlier this candidates in the midterm
month by Avalere Health tage the Affordable Care among insurance plans which triggered sharp 2018 elections voice support for
and The Associated Press, Act has proven better at that don't comply with premium increases. Also, his vision of a government-
which found premiums managing it than the presi- health law rules. Trump and congressional run health care system.
and markets stabilizing na- dent who wrote the law," The earlier AP analysis had Republicans spent much of "The main thrust of 'Medi-
tionwide. But his claim that Azar bragged in his speech found that average premi- last year in a fruitless quest care for All' is giving you a
the Trump administration to a health policy group in ums across all types of plans to repeal "Obamacare," new government plan and
deserves credit for "Obam- Nashville. Azar cited regu- under the Obama health with the president repeat- taking away your other
acare's" turnabout was latory actions to improve law will rise 3.3 percent, edly pronouncing it "dead." choices," Azar said.
quickly challenged. the inner workings of the with 12 states seeing de- "The premium stability on As proposed, the Sanders
"The president who was ACA marketplaces and in- clines. That study crunched tap for 2019 is primarily be- plan would cover all Ameri-
supposedly trying to sabo- crease consumer choice data from 47 states and cause insurers overshot with cans.
Washington, D.C., with their premium increases for Taxes on individuals and
publicly available informa- this year, reacting to an en- employers would replace
tion on proposed and final vironment of tremendous premiums, deductibles and
rates for 2019. uncertainty," Levitt said. copays, and the govern-
Reacting to Azar's claims, Under the design of the ment would set payment
Larry Levitt of the nonpar- ACA, premium increases rates for hospitals and doc-
tisan Kaiser Family Founda- automatically boost tax- tors.
tion said it's likely that pre- payer-provided subsidies Sanders says his approach
miums for 2019 would have to consumers. Big premium would uphold quality and
gone down even more but increases last year allowed gradually bring costs under
for other administration ac- many insurers to return to control, but studies show
tions last year that roiled profitability as subsidies it would translate to a his-
the markets. flowed from federal coffers. toric expansion of the fed-
Those included President The average total premium eral government's role in
Donald Trump's abrupt can- for an individual covered health care. Critics doubt
cellation of a major stream under the health law is now promised savings could be
of payments to insurers — close to $600 a month. delivered.q

House judiciary panel subpoenas

memos kept by McCabe at FBI

WASHINGTON (AP) — The communications of for- tion the committee is jointly
Republican-led House mer Trump campaign aide carrying out with the House
Judiciary Committee on Carter Page. And the sub- Government Oversight and
Thursday subpoenaed the poena came the same day Reform Committee.
Justice Department for the co-founder of an op- The memos have taken on
memos written by former position research firm that new relevance following
FBI acting director Andrew hired a former British spy to news reports that Rosen-
McCabe. The committee investigate President Don- stein discussed secretly re-
is also demanding docu- ald Trump's potential Rus- cording Trump and invok-
ments related to the FBI's sia ties declined a private ing the 25th Amendment
application to monitor the interview for an investiga- to remove the president.q