News & Events

The second day of the historic hearings focused on this question: Does Congress have the power to require the purchase of health insurance? KHN contributor Stuart Taylor tells Jackie Judd the conservative justices were especially skeptical.

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The first day focused on the Anti-Injunction Act and if the court can rule on the case before a penalty on the uninsured is imposed. KHN’s reporter inside the court, Stuart Taylor, says all the justices, except one, seemed eager to ask questions.

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Heading into next week’s oral arguments before the Supreme Court, the Affordable Care Act remains as divisive as ever, while the House GOP offers up their budget, and the Romney campaign gets a key victory in the Land of Lincoln.

Polling

Political Drivers: As detailed in the most recent Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, how Americans view the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tends to drive their predictions in how they think the Supreme Court will ultimately rule as it considers the challenges to the 2010 health care law beginning next week. Half of those polled who support the law believe it will be upheld, while 83 percent of those opposed to it think the Court will strike it down. Generally speaking, public opinion on the ACA remains fairly static, results echoed in a similar Pew Research Center poll.

Sticking Point: In a separate Washington Post-ABC News poll, a quarter of respondents believed the Supreme Court should overturn the individual mandate, while 42 percent felt the entire law should be tossed out.

Health Care Reform

IPAB Vote: Ahead of Friday’s two-year anniversary of the ACA’s initial passage, the House is scheduled to vote on repeal of a contentious provision established under the law. The creation of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) has been met with significant skepticism and the subsequent effort to do away with what some describe as an unelected board of bureaucrats, charged with finding ways to save Medicare dollars, has enjoyed similar bipartisan support. However, efforts to cover the costs associated with repealing IPAB through malpractice reform have repoliticized the issue.

Projected Disruption: In a report released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) last week, projections for employer-sponsored insurance were painted under a worst-case scenario to amount to 20 million people potentially losing coverage under the ACA in 2019.

Recession Effect: Further framing the discussion, a recent study by the Center for Studying Health System Change turned their attention instead to the past, examining the fallout that the latest recession had on people’s coverage levels through employer-sponsored plans. During the period from 2007 to 2010, the share of children and working-age adults with coverage through an employer dropped 10 percent from 63.6 percent to 53.5 percent. While the major contributing factor to the decline can be ascribed to the rise in unemployment, some also contend that the decrease in employers offering coverage was an additional contributing factor.

Supreme Court Update

Messaging: Ahead of next week’s oral arguments, the majority of Americans still believe that politics will play a large role in the Supreme Court’s deliberations. Meanwhile, stakeholders on both sides of the debate continue warming up their messaging machines in anticipation of the final ruling.

Can You Hear Me Now?: Unsurprisingly, the challenge promises to be the hottest ticket in town. However, despite calls to the contrary, the Court’s ban on televising its proceedings remains firmly in place. But, last week it was announced that same-day audio tapes are to be released.

What to Expect: Finally, by way of review, what to expect heading into Monday.

In Other News

Budget Blueprint: Yesterday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) unveiled his party’s budget proposal. Among the key projections, an estimated $205 billion more in Medicare savings over the next decade compared to the administration’s proposed budget, a not insignificant amount in light of newly revised forecasts released by CBO last week.

Medicare Proposal: Last week, a proposal was put forth by four Republican senators to transition seniors from Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service model to the federal employee health insurance plan. Offered up by Sens. Rand Paul (Kentucky), Jim DeMint (South Carolina), Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), and Mike Lee (Utah), the proposal would also establish a sliding scale for payments based on a beneficiary’s annual income.

GOTV

The Road to the Nomination: On the heels of his victory in Puerto Rico over the weekend, GOP frontrunner, Mitt Romney, picked up a decisive victory in yesterday’s Illinois primary. In combination with his narrow victories in both Michigan and Ohio, the former Massachusetts governor has demonstrated his ability to win in the Midwest. However, this Saturday’s primary in Louisiana can go a long way in stirring up what has been a predictable pattern north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Congressional Attrition: Last Thursday, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-New York) announced that this current term in Congress (his 15th) would be his last.

Refutation: As you may have heard, the President’s reelection campaign released a 17-minute video last week titled, “The Road We’ve Traveled”. One fact-checker decided to take a closer look at one of the piece’s sequences.

Looking Ahead

The IPAB repeal bill is expected to come up for consideration tomorrow, just in time for the ACA’s second anniversary; all eyes (and ears) turn to the Supreme Court as oral arguments finally look to get underway on Monday; and the GOP presidential nomination process visits the Pelican State.

Congratulations to our Flanigan-Leavitt team. We were grateful to attend our annual CIG meeting this past month where we were able to meet with a great carrier partner and good friends. To our surprise our agency was awarded "Agency of the Year." Thank you to all of our staff for their great work and to our carrier partner, CIG for their continued support to our staff and agency.

We would like to welcome Kevin Harrell to our staff. He is joining our office in Reno as a producer. We are excited to have him as part of the Flanigan-Leavitt family!

After a formidable 32-year career with California State Auto Association as their Quincy insurance agent, Stan Carr decided it was time for a change and is now working for the Flanigan-Leavitt Insurance Agency. In addition to the auto and homeowners policies he sold, Stan said he is really looking forward to being able to offer clients a full choice of insurance products that will now include business insurance, commercial auto, workers compensation, professional liability and group benefits. With the vast insurance market access that this change brings, Stan will be able to offer many choices to the customer for both their personal and business insurance needs. “We’re excited to have someone like Stan with his experience make the choice to join our team,” said Mike Flanigan. Stan, licensed in both California and Nevada, will work from the Quincy office serving Plumas, Sierra and Lassen counties.