Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Jun 26

What voters *thought* they were voting for in November:
- cost relief
What voters are getting:
- eye-popping premium hikes due to Trump's budget bill
chirblog.org/early-2026-r... @staceypogue.bsky.social

Early 2026 Rate Filings Show Marketplace Policy Changes Contribute to Eye-Popping Rate Increases

This year, insurers are setting their rates for 2026 while Congress and the administration weigh several policies that are projected to cause premiums to spike and the number of people with Marketplac...

chirblog.org

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · May 29

Holy cow - provider losses if the tax reconciliation bill passes would approach $1 trillion. Yes, that's trillion with a "t"! www.urban.org/research/pub...

Reconciliation Bill and End of Enhanced Subsidies Would Cut Health Care Provider Revenue and Spike Uncompensated Care

The House of Representatives passed, and the Senate is now negotiating, a budget reconciliation bill that would impose federal funding cuts on Medicaid and the ACA Marketplaces.

www.urban.org

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · May 29

Don't miss this event - it's a great opportunity to hear from innovative state leaders on ways to improve health care affordability!

Christine H. Monahan @christinemonahan.bsky.social · May 27

What can we learn from states like ME, TX, and NY when it comes to #facilityfee reform?

Join me and @GtownCHIR in DC on June 17 for a panel discussion exploring state-led solutions to reduce #hospital outpatient charges and improve #healthcare #affordability: bit.ly/43uTEiY

#healthpolicy

Facility Fee Reforms: How States Are Tackling Excessive Charges

Learn how different states are working to reduce excessive hospital outpatient facility fees at this in-person event in Washington, DC.

bit.ly

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · May 20

Does the House GOP reconciliation bill take health insurance away from newborn babies? Why yes, yes it does. If you read nothing else today, read this post from CHIRblog guest authors @jasonlevitis.bsky.social and @clinkeyoung.bsky.social chirblog.org/the-sleeper-...

The Sleeper Provision in the Reconciliation Bill That Could Hobble the ACA Marketplaces

An obscure provision in the U.S. House reconciliation bill could have major consequences for the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces. In a guest post for CHIRblog, the Urban Institute's Jason Levitis and...

chirblog.org

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · May 19

The House reconciliation bill = Affordable Care Act repeal, just under a different name. In addition to devastating Medicaid cuts, millions of moderate-income people will lose insurance/face higher costs & red tape. Our take: chirblog.org/death-by-slo...

Death by Slow Strangulation: New Tactics in Longstanding Efforts to Repeal the Affordable Care Act

The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to take up legislation that, if enacted, would be tantamount to a repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for millions of Americans who will lose their heal...

chirblog.org

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · May 13

Maybe his brain worm needed company? www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/u...

Kennedy Swims in Washington Creek That Flows With Sewage and Bacteria

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Sabrina Corlette

Sarah Lueck @sarahl202.bsky.social · May 7

You can’t cut hundreds of billions from #Medicaid without harming people. New CBO analysis confirms proposals House Republican have floated would leave millions uninsured, each slashing billions from Medicaid w/ $170b-$472B in cuts coming from lower enrollment . www.cbo.gov/system/files...

www.cbo.gov

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · May 12

Congress' twisted idea of a Mother's Day gift: a reconciliation package, that, when added to its failure to extend Marketplace tax credits, throws 13.7 MILLION people off of their insurance coverage. energycommerce.house.gov/posts/chairm...

Chairman Guthrie Introduces Budget Reconciliation Text to be Marked Up

The Committee on Energy and Commerce is the oldest standing legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and is vested with the broadest jurisdiction of any congressional authorizing com...

energycommerce.house.gov

Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Apr 24

In our latest post for @commonwealthfund.org, Rachel Swindle & I delve into a proposed ACA rule that limits enrollment opportunities and increases paperwork. The result? Up to 2 million people to lose coverage in 2026. www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2025/ne...

A New Rule to Limit ACA Enrollment Periods May Deter Sign-Ups and Worsen Risk Pools

www.commonwealthfund.org

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Apr 21

Job announcement! The Georgetown Center on Health Insurance Reforms is seeking a Research Fellow to support projects focused on health care access and affordability. Great team, great work, great benefits - win win win! Check out our job announcement: chir.georgetown.edu/index/jobs/

Employment Opportunities - Center on Health Insurance Reforms

Research FellowThe Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy is seeking a Research Fellow to support projects focused on health insurance a...

chir.georgetown.edu

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Apr 21

If the Supreme Court rules to end the ACA's preventive services benefit in Braidwood case, states can help preserve access for their residents. @tarastraw.bsky.social & my roadmap: www.shvs.org/protecting-a...

Protecting Access to Preventive Services: A State Roadmap

www.shvs.org

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Apr 17

Trump administration proposal would be "death by a thousand cuts" for the Affordable Care Act - up to 2M people would lose coverage, millions more would face higher costs. @jasonlevitis.bsky.social @clinkeyoung.bsky.social and I sum it up: georgetown.app.box.com/file/1831720...

Fact Sheet on CMS Marketplace Rule -- Final 4-11-25.pdf | Powered by Box

georgetown.app.box.com

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 28

CMS recently reinstated the Marketplace brokers suspended last year for enrolling people in plans w/o consent. They deserve "due process," officials said. Apparently, these days you get due process if you're a fraudster, but not if you're a federal public servant www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03...

Trump Administration Highlights: Cuts of 10,000 Jobs at Health Agency Reflect Kennedy’s and Trump’s Priorities

www.nytimes.com

Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 24

Here's something to celebrate! The ACA just turned 15: chirblog.org/heres-someth...

Here’s Something to Celebrate: The Affordable Care Act Just Turned 15!

On March 23, 2025, we celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In this post, CHIR experts reflect on how the law's reforms affected people's access to affordable, high quality...

chirblog.org

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Reposted by Sabrina Corlette

Sarah Lueck @sarahl202.bsky.social · Mar 20

The Trump Administration’s proposed sweeping rule changes will raise premiums, increase costs, and make enrollment harder. Its own estimates show 2M people losing coverage. @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social says it’s like making people “crawl through broken glass.” www.healthcaredive.com/news/trump-a...

Trump administration proposes ACA program integrity rule that would decimate enrollment

The rule is like “making people crawl through broken glass” for health insurance, one expert said.

www.healthcaredive.com

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 12

So let's call it what it is...yet another attempt by President Trump and his team to sabotage the ACA. As their own proposal acknowledges, the result will be a lot more people losing health insurance.

Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 12

There is nothing in the rule that would address the vulnerabilities associated with using EDE vendors, nor is there anything that strengthens CMS' ability to go after bad brokers or the scammy lead generators that are causing the fraud in the federal marketplace.

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 12

And by the way, they want to increase the bureaucracy and complexity of the process for people at the same time they've slashed funding for consumer assisters (Navigators) by 90%. www.kff.org/quick-take/a...

A 90% Cut to the ACA Navigator Program

Cutting funding for the trusted and impartial source of important information Navigators provide could have big impacts just as many consumers may need to re-evaluate their coverage options.

www.kff.org

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 12

This new Marketplace rule first mis-diagnoses the problem, then proposes solutions that will (1) increase paperwork burdens on low- and moderate income people and (2) hike premiums for low- and moderate income enrollees.

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 12

Notably, none of the SBMs use EDE vendors (except for Georgia, which just launched their SBM this year). So they haven't had the fraud experienced by the federally run states.

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 12

Is this a problem? YES. And CMS has taken steps to fix it, with signs of improvement. The main culprit is unscrupulous brokers taking advantage of vulnerabilities with HealthCare.gov and the web-brokers (called "EDE vendors) the feds use to drive enrollment. www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2025/po...

Policymakers Can Protect Against Fraud in the ACA Marketplaces Without Hiking Premiums

Policymakers can strengthen oversight of entities involved in selling coverage to address fraud and ensure integrity in the ACA marketplaces.

www.commonwealthfund.org

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 12

But what they don't acknowledge is that the state-based Marketplaces (SBMs) adopted the SAME (and often more generous) enrollment and affordability policies as the Biden admin, and they've had NO MEANINGFUL FRAUD. The fraud has been in the states where the feds run the marketplace (FFM).

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 12

Their basic thesis is that the Biden administration made it too easy and affordable for people to sign for health insurance, which has led to millions of fraudulent enrollments and higher costs for taxpayers.

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 12

Here's a thread (is it called a thread on Bluesky?) about the Trump admin's new ACA or "Marketplace Integrity" proposal... www.cms.gov/newsroom/fac...

2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Proposed Rule | CMS

IntroductionToday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the “Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Proposed Rule” that proposes standards for the Health Insurance Marketplaces, ...

www.cms.gov

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Sabrina Corlette @sabrinacorlette.bsky.social · Mar 11

Once again, the Trump administration is trying to take down the Affordable Care Act, under the guise of preventing "fraud." What's galling about that is instead of taking on real fraud, their new rule would punish low- and middle income consumers. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Trump Health Care Proposal Billed as Consumer Protection but Adds Enrollment Hoops - KFF Health News

The proposal also would reverse a Biden administration policy that allowed “Dreamers” — immigrants in the country illegally who were brought here as children — from qualifying for subsidized ACA cover...

kffhealthnews.org

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