Two years ago, Democratic Congressmen Frank Pallone, Bobby Scott and Richard Neal introduced the awkwardly-titled "Undo Sabotage and Expand Affordability of Health Insurance Act of 2018", which really amounted to a suite of improvements and strengthening of the Affordable Care Act which I simply labelled "ACA 2.0".
At the time it was purely a messaging bill, of course, since the Democrats were in the minority in the House and Senate, as well as obviously not having control of the White House either.
Almost exactly a year later, the situation had changed: Democrats were still out of power in the White House and Senate, but they had flipped the House of Representatives on a promise of working to protect, repair and strengthen the ACA. Sure enough, the same ACA 2.0 bill was re-introduced with a few tweaks and a new, even clunkier name:The Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions and Making Healthcare More Affordable Act.
As healthcare reporter Kimberly Leonard put it at the time:
BREAKING: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is allowing Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare drug plans to waive cost-sharing for #COVID2019 testing, treatments delivered by telehealth, prescription refill limits, among other things. https://t.co/LXCyroChSUpic.twitter.com/0xhbeGButN
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is issuing this information to Medicare Advantage Organizations and Part D Sponsors to inform them of the obligations and permissible flexibilities related to disasters and emergencies resulting from COVID-19.
Massachusetts Health Connector offers extended enrollment for uninsured individuals to ease coronavirus fears
BOSTON – March 11, 2020 – To ensure everyone who wants access to covered coronavirus services has it, the Massachusetts Health Connector announced today that uninsured residents can apply and get into coverage through a 45-day window running until April 25.
On March 6, the Division of Insurance announced that Massachusetts health insurers are now required to cover the cost of testing and treatment for members who may be affected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19), including not charging co-pays or deductibles for those services. The Health Connector’s decision to open enrollment to anyone without coverage ensures Massachusetts residents concerned about contracting coronavirus can access necessary services without cost barriers.
A few days ago, in light of HHS Secretary Alex Azar admitting that neither he nor anyone else at the HHS Dept. appears to have the slightest idea about how many Americans have actually been tested for coronavirus, I kiddingly mused:
Maybe I should register CoronaTestCount.net and start up an amateur spreadsheet to track this by state for the HHS Dept...hmmmm...
I was kidding, however, because my own plate is simply too full to take on that task as well.
Michigan announces first presumptive positive cases of COVID-19
Governor Whitmer declares a state of emergency to maximize efforts to slow the spread
LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Oakland County Health Division and Wayne County Health Department announced today that two Michigan residents tested presumptive positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the first confirmed cases in the state. The governor has declared a state of emergency to maximize efforts and assist local governments and officials to slow the spread of the virus.
"We are taking every step we can to mitigate the spread of the virus and keep Michiganders safe," said Governor Whitmer. "I have declared a state of emergency to harness all of our resources across state government to slow the spread of the virus and protect families. It’s crucial that all Michiganders continue to take preventative measures to lower their risk, and to share this information with their friends, family, and co-workers."
ALL OTHER STATES: You may qualify for a 60-day Special Enrollment Period (SEP) if you've recently lost (or will soon lose) your employer-based healthcare coverage, or if you've experienced other Qualifying Life Events (QLE) such as getting marrinew yorked/divorced, moving, giving birth/adopting a child, getting out of prison, turning 26 etc. For these SEPs you may have to provide documentation to verify your QLE. Visit HealthCare.Gov or your state's ACA exchange website for details on the process.
Here's the full transcript (verbatim) of Joe Biden's exchange with Lawrence O'Donnell about whether he'd veto some version of Medicare for All if it were to actually pass the House and Senate:
O'Donnell: "Let's flash forward: You're President, Bernie Sanders is still active in the Senate, he manages to get Medicare for All through the Senate; it's some compromise version, Elizabeth Warren's version or some other version...Nancy Pelosi gets a version of it through the House of Representatives; it comes to your desk. Do you veto it?"
Biden (after pausing to choose his words carefully): "I would veto anything that delays providing the security and the certainty of healthcare being available now. If they got that through and, some miracle, there was an epiphany that occurred, and some miracle occurred that said, 'it's passed', then you gotta look at the cost. I'd want to know how did they find the $35 trillion? What is that doing? Is it gonna significantly raise taxes on the middle class, which it will? What's gonna happen?
Washington becomes 1st state-based marketplace to create a special enrollment opportunity in wake of coronavirus threat.https://t.co/2bYCrboXvl@GtownCHIR
"So, we've told you...we'll tell you what we know and don't know. So there's different types of tests which get sent out. The CDC's test that CDC is sending out, that's that 70...enough to send out 75,000 people, that was sent out last week. Those go to public health labs, about 80 labs in the United States, one in each state at least. Those report results back in to the CDC because they're part of the public health network. The larger quantity of tests that shipped, about 900,000 of the tests that shipped by this weekend, and then so many of the remainder of that 2 point...total, 2.1 million tests...those go to hospitals, private labs, others for testing...they don't currently have to report to us that they've conducted a test or what the result of that test is. The CDC is actively working right now to build that IT connectivity with them so we can gather that information. So right now...I could not give you a number of how many Americans have received a test because many will have received a test through hospitals or non-public health labs, and so...let's work with getting the system, the IT system up through the CDC, you want to get the accurate information as we go.
SEC. 2713. COVERAGE OF PREVENTIVE HEALTH SERVICES.
(a) In General.--A group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage shall, at a minimum provide coverage for and shall not impose any cost sharing requirements for--
(1) evidence-based items or services that have in effect a rating of 'A' or 'B' in the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force;
(2) immunizations that have in effect a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect to the individual involved; and
