KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Open enrollment, one more time

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Feb 18 2021

An estimated 9 million Americans eligible for free or reduced premium health insurance under the Affordable Care Act have a second chance to sign up for 2021 coverage, since the Biden administration reopened enrollment on healthcare.gov and states that run their own marketplaces followed suit.

Meanwhile, Biden officials took the first steps to revoke the permission that states got from the Trump administration to require many adults on Medicaid to work or perform community service in exchange for their health coverage. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case on the work requirements at the end of March.

This week's panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider and Rachel Cohrs of Stat.

Among the takeaways from this week's podcast:

• The Biden administration said it will promote the special enrollment period, a stark change from the Trump administration, which dramatically limited funding for outreach. But navigator groups, whose workers help individuals find and sign up for coverage, say they haven't yet heard whether the federal government will be offering to pay them to help people during this three-month sign-up period.
• The House appears poised to pass a bill next week that would fund the covid relief measures President Joe Biden is seeking, as well as major changes to the ACA. Senate staffers are working with the House to align legislation from both chambers as much as possible. With little or no Republican support and only razor-thin majorities in both the House and Senate, Democrats will need to find common ground among their caucus to push the bill through.
• Congress has a firm deadline on the covid relief bill since many current programs, such as the expanded unemployment funding, expire March 14.
• CVS announced this week that its insurance subsidiary, Aetna, will be participating in the ACA marketplaces in the fall, another sign that those exchanges are growing in acceptance.
• The Biden administration's effort to walk back Medicaid work requirements appears to be an effort to head off the arguments at the Supreme Court. Democrats fear that even if they stop the program through administrative action now, a high-court ruling saying the effort was legal could open the door for future Republican administrations to restore work requirements.
• The federal government is pushing hard to get more covid vaccine shots in arms around the country and last week reported that 1.7 million doses had been distributed. But it is a race against the emerging threat of covid virus variants, which are even more contagious than the original coronavirus.
• Among hurdles in the vaccination effort is hesitancy among certain groups to get the shot. There have been reports that 30% of military personnel refused to accept the vaccine and some high-profile athletes in the NBA don't want to be in public service announcements promoting it. Groups opposed to vaccines in general are posting misinformation online that may also be a source of concern.
• The latest controversy over New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's policies on counting deaths among nursing home residents with covid-19 has consumed Albany and led to inquiries by legal authorities. It also raises questions about whether politics — Cuomo, a Democrat, and President Donald Trump regularly sparred about covid policies — influenced public health decisions.

Also this week, Rovner interviews medical student Inam Sakinah, president of the new group Future Doctors in Politics.

Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: Stat's "Hospitals' Covid-19 Heroics Have Them Poised for Power in the New Washington," by Rachel Cohrs

Rachel Cohrs: KHN's "As Drug Prices Keep Rising, State Lawmakers Propose Tough New Bills to Curb Them," by Harris Meyer; and Stat's "States Still Can't Import Drugs From Canada. Now, Many Are Seeking to Import Canadian Prices," by Lev Facher

Alice Miranda Ollstein: Politico's "How Covid-19 Could Make Americans Healthier," by Joanne Kenen

Kimberly Leonard: The New Republic's "The Darker Story Just Outside the Lens of Framing Britney Spears," by Sara Luterman

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