Biden to reopen ACA insurance marketplaces as pandemic has cost millions of Americans their coverage

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

President Biden is scheduled to take executive actions as early as Thursday to reopen federal marketplaces selling Affordable Care Act health plans and to lower recent barriers to joining Medicaid. The orders will be Biden’s first steps since taking office to help Americans gain health insurance, a prominent campaign goal that has assumed escalating significance as the pandemic has dramatized the need for affordable health care — and deprived millions of Americans coverage as they have lost jobs in the economic fallout.

Under one order, HealthCare.gov, the online insurance marketplace for Americans who cannot get affordable coverage through their jobs, will swiftly reopen for at least a few months, according to several individuals inside and outside the administration familiar with the plans. Ordinarily, signing up for such coverage is tightly restricted outside a six-week period late each year.

Another part of Biden’s scheduled actions, the individuals said, is intended to reverse Trump-era changes to Medicaid that critics say damaged Americans’ access to the safety-net insurance. It is unclear whether Biden’s order will undo a Trump-era rule allowing states to impose work requirements, or simply direct federal health officials to review rules to make sure they expand coverage to the program that insures about 70 million low-income people in the United States.

The actions are part of a series of rapid executive orders the president is issuing in his initial days in office to demonstrate he intends to steer the machinery of government in a direction far different from that of his predecessor.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/biden-to-reopen-aca-insurance-marketplaces-as-pandemic-has-cost-millions-of-american-their-coverage/2021/01/25/ccfc2402-5e74-11eb-9061-07abcc1f9229_story.html

---

[DonaldsRump]

1. Ok, I'm just going to come out and say it

President Biden, I love you!

[ananda]

2. Me too!

!!!

[Demsrule86]

43. He truly is doing everything he can to help Americans.

[Tanuki]

3. Bravo!

[dalton99a]

4. Excellent.

[machoneman]

5. Now we know what Joe did during his basement cave time. He was making a list.....

...of executive orders to benefit all Americans, unmlike the OrangeTurdBlossom!

[apnu]

20. Trump's great weakness was using executive orders.

He had no relationship with his party, nor did any policy flow out from his White House for legislation to be created and passed so he could sign it. Instead he did everything by Executive order and his party has no policy or idea of what to do on any issue. They can only say "no" or "yes" to Democrats, there is literally nothing else in the tool bag.

But the funny thing about executive orders, they can be rescinded by whomever the executive is.

[TimeToGo]

6. What kind of president

Doesn’t wake up every morning itching to destroy America?

What a nice change..

[eggplant]

7. "since taking office"

six days ago.

[turbinetree]

8. Now to take care the unemployed that can't afford health care and have run out of benefits

[BumRushDaShow]

10. I think the article is suggesting that there was some expectations

to do something with Medicaid access in relation to the ACA, considering that got all screwed up the past 4 years.

[turbinetree]

12. I hope so and think something will be done, my saving grace is Medicare, which I feel everyone

should have

[Sapient Donkey]

38. In some red states it was screwed up even before Trump, because republicans running the states

didn't expand medicaid access to those who didn't qualify for the subsidies. I may be wrong, but I don't think anything was ever done to correct that issue. If it's still an issue, maybe Biden will fix that.

Seems to be the case

The most ambitious parts of Biden’s campaign health-care platform would require Congress to provide consent and money. Those include creating a government insurance option alongside the ACA health plans sold by private insurers, and helping poor residents afford ACA coverage if they live in about a dozen states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs under the decade-old health law.

[BumRushDaShow]

41. Yeah I had posted a little about that here --

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=2680932

It will be a challenge to close the gaping "donut hole".

[gademocrat7]

9. President Biden is working tirelessly to help people.

I applaud his efforts.

[IronLionZion]

11. America is finally become great again

The American people are winning every day of Biden's presidency so far

[cstanleytech]

13. While I applaud this action I have to be honest and say that I do not support executive orders

being used by Presidents in general to advance their political agendas.

[sab390]

16. Biden is removing EOs

He's getting back to the law. Trump used EOs to subvert the law.

[cstanleytech]

21. I am not arguing that I am simply saying that in general I do

not support executive orders mainly due to how they can be abused by a President such as how Trump used them.

[judesedit]

22. This is an emergency. They can get to making the EO's laws soon.

[cstanleytech]

24. Again, I get and I applaud him for doing it but in the future I wish it could be either taken

away entirely or changed so that they can only last for 6 months with no renewal except by Congress voting to extend it for the Presidents term in office so that a President can no longer abuse them.

[BumRushDaShow]

31. Executive Orders were supposed to be used to direct government agencies

and government employees how to interpret/carry out an existing law - and that often includes directing the drafting of new or revision/repeal of existing regulations/guidance as needed for both internal and public use.

They wasn't supposed to be used as a way to loophole around a law or create a new "law". Unfortunately by a law's very nature, they often need to be drafted with "broad" language, with delegation given to the affected departments for "filling in the details", otherwise laws would be tens of thousands of pages long each.

[cstanleytech]

32. Still I think at the very least there needs to be a better leash put on executive orders such as

a time limit as I mentioned with a renewal until the Presidents term expires only if the House approves it with a simple majority voting.

[BumRushDaShow]

37. I don't think the SCOTUS would uphold something like that

which is basically the Legislative branch "micro-managing" the Executive branch. I think outside of the extreme partisan politics that have gone on during the past 12 or so years, most E.O.s actually stay in place (in some cases, for decades) because they generally follow along with the intent of Congress with the law.

However what Congress did do to try to address executive actions going beyond the scope of the law, was to pass the Congressional Review Act (which was spearheaded by of all people, Newt Gingrich, and that was to retain some "micro-managing" power and "stick it to the libs" ). But as we know, it can go both ways.

This describes part of the reason for it -

Why Republicans’ 100-day war on Obama is about to end

By Amber Phillips
April 25, 2017 at 12:36 p.m. EDT

(snip)

What the Congressional Review Act is and does

The law allows Congress to repeal a federal regulation with a simple majority (read: no need to involve Democrats), so long as that federal rule was implemented no more than 60 legislative days earlier.

To understand why Congress would need such a law, we have to understand the relationship between Congress and the federal agencies: Congress has the power to create laws, and the executive branch figures out how to implement those laws in the form of regulations or rules.

But for most of the 20th century, Congress was micromanaging how agencies implemented these rules by vetoing stuff it didn't like. In 1983, the Supreme Court said that was an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers.

(snip)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/04/25/why-republicans-100-day-war-on-obama-is-about-to-end/

[Frerotte]

30. Emergency Use

Typically it is probably not a good idea to govern with aggressive use of Executive Orders. However, many of these are undoing actual harm and we are in an emergency situation under several metrics of perspective.

In an emergency one needs to take swift action and that is how I understand what is happening. That said, the precedent he is setting is a bit concerning.

[Politicub]

33. They are a tool. It would be immoral to not use a tool to improve

the lives of people.

What do think the purpose of politics is? Party platforms are another name for agendas. The Democratic Party is in power and we must use it.

[flamin lib]

14. Every time I begin to get my emotions under control he goes and does

something to make me all verklempt again . . .

[PirateRo]

15. Didn't the monster make paying into the insurance pool optional for young people?

Am I mis-remembering this? It was a requirement for everybody then that was viewed unconstitutional? Anybody remember this?

[Politicub]

19. The penalty for not enrolling was lowered to $0.

That’s not the same thing as “paying into the insurance pool.”

[Politicub]

17. This is huge. Now Congress needs to get its butt in gear and

do its part to improve the ACA.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

18. There you go again Joe

Helping the common people instead of the well to do.

[rhiannon55]

23. All states must expand Medicaid.

These are the 12 states that have't expanded Medicaid to make it available to low income people of any age: Wyoming, Texas, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas and Florida. These backward states still allow low income children (until their 19th birthday) to qualify for Medicaid, but not low income adults.

I work as a CSR for the Federal ACA Healthcare Marketplace, and I know how unfair and wrong this is for people in those states. There is an upper income limit and a lower income limit for people to qualify for tax credits to offset the cost of premiums and make their insurance affordable. If you're below the income limit in the 38 states that expanded Medicaid, your application is forwarded to the state Medicaid agency and you usually qualify for Medicaid. If you live in one of the non-expansion states, you are out of luck. We can help callers locate community health centers in their areas that offer free or low cost services to people who can't get insurance, but that's about it.

I hope under President Biden, this gets done.

[BumRushDaShow]

28. "All states must expand Medicaid."

Obama tried with the original PP-ACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) and that was one of the first things that the SCOTUS threw out despite upholding most of the rest of the law -

Emotions high after Supreme Court upholds health care law

Bill Mears and Tom Cohen, CNN
Updated 9:23 PM EDT, Thu June 28, 2012

(snip)

In another part of Thursday’s decision, the high court ruled that a part of the law involving Medicaid must change.

The law calls for an expansion of eligibility for Medicaid, which involves spending by the federal government and the states, and threatens to remove existing Medicaid funding from states that don’t participate in the expansion. Thursday’s ruling said the government must remove that threat.

https://www.cnn.com/2012/06/28/politics/supreme-court-health-ruling/index.html

The battle over Medicaid expansion in 2013 and 2014, explained

By Andrew [e-mail] Updated May 12, 2015, 3:46pm EDT


Across the country, states fought over whether to except Obamacare's expansion of the program for low-income Americans.

What is the battle over the Medicaid expansion?

Before Obamacare passed in 2010, eligibility requirements for Medicaid — the health program covering low-income people — varied across the country. For instance, in Illinois, parents with two children making up to $40,700 — 185 percent of the federal poverty line — could qualify for the program. But in Alabama, parents with two children earning a mere $2,500 a year — 11 percent of the federal poverty line — could not. And low-income adults without any children couldn't qualify at all in the vast majority of states.

Obamacare's authors wanted to make more people eligible for Medicaid, and to make the eligibility rules more uniform overall. So the law contained an expansion of Medicaid to everyone making beneath 138 percent of the federal poverty line — more generous coverage than any state had previously offered.

But there's a catch: a subsequent Supreme Court ruling let states reject the expansion, and many states with Republican governors or legislatures have done just that. As of January 2015, only 28 states had signed on so far.

https://www.vox.com/2015/1/27/18088994/medicaid-expansion-explained

[AllyCat]

29. Crummy WI GOP

I cannot see this changing until districts are redrawn.

[hamsterjill]

25. Thank you, Joe.

This will directly benefit me and I am most grateful. Literally, crying tears.

[AllyCat]

26. Love having a caring adult working for our country!

[RobinA]

27. Wait...

I'm all for this if it is meaningful, but aren't they always open if you have a qualifying event such as losing coverage?

[progree]

48. Special enrollment periods ...

https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage-outside-open-enrollment/special-enrollment-period/

It is a lot different than this snapshot taken December 11, 2020 (the latest snapshot before today):

https://web.archive.org/web/20201209180146/https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage-outside-open-enrollment/special-enrollment-period/

[TomCADem]

34. Finally A President That Is Focusing On Helping People, Rather Than Settling Scores

Still, we cannot forget how willingly Republicans enabled Trump and how they continue to try to justify and perpetuate his lies.

[Mabel]

35. I'm very pleased with Biden

He is turning out to be more progressive than I dare to hope. Keep up the good work Joe, we need your fire!

[LovingA2andMI]

36. This is Awesome....

As so many of our clients were laid off or loss insurance after the Open Enrollment Period for ACA in the States we Cover MI, OH, VA, SC & TX. Also, if you know if someone that is seeking coverage in these states, we can get them signed up and covered on ACA in the Exchange ASAP.

Our Website Information is here to do so and they just can give us a call.

[Akoto]

39. As a Floridian, I'm guessing I still won't have access to these plans?

Man, what I wouldn't do to shift from the lousy MMA plan I get with my SSI disability onto a real, quality insurance plan.

[Hekate]

40. Kick!

[marble falls]

42. I knew Biden was going to do the right things, I just didn't know how and quickly and ...

... effectively he was going to go at it.

I'll fight for Joe if it comes to it.

[LudwigPastorius]

44. YES.

Now that's change I can believe in.

[Cha]

45. KR TY & Pres Biden!💕

[onetexan]

46. Oh thank Goodness!

[keithbvadu2]

47. Trump's new healthcare plan takes effect two weeks after the inauguration - right?

Trump's new healthcare plan takes effect two weeks after the inauguration - right?

Better, cheaper coverage.

He submitted it on the way to Maralago, right?

[Teddy Beer]

49. Do Not Hesitate

Use your slim majority like a supermajority. Boldness is required. Kill the filibuster and ram it down Republican throats!