Insurers Are Pulling Their Hair Out Over Graham-Cassidy

Doesn't sound too healthy ... By Yuval Rosenberg and Michael Rainey Why Insurers Are Pulling Their Hair Out Over Graham-Cassidy A few weeks ago, before the Graham-Cassidy bill became the sole focus of the health care debate in Congress, the Senate had been working on a bipartisan deal to stabilize the Obamacare marketplaces. But that effort has been abandoned in favor of a last-ditch Republican effort to repeal Obamacare, and insurers are once again facing enormous uncertainty about how the individual marketplaces will operate in 2018. No matter what happens to the Senate bill, insurer have to finalize their premium rates for next year by September 27, less than a week away. It will be particularly difficult to set those rates without commitments from Congress and the administration on maintaining the cost-sharing reduction payments that play an important role in insurer profitability. The White House has threatened to eliminate those payments in the past, adding a layer of risk for insurers that could result in big increases in premiums for 2018. It could even drive insurers out of the market altogether, leaving some counties without coverage. Sabrina Corlette of Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms said in [The Hill]( “I think what’s worrying them is the unpredictability of this administration and the unknown that they cannot price for … And so that is causing, I imagine, many sleepless nights among insurance executives right now.” If Graham-Cassidy does pass, insurers will face another, even larger problem: an entirely new landscape for health insurance in the U.S. The bill would provide states with huge block grants to use for health care and health insurance coverage, but each state would have to figure out what to do with that money. Larry Levitt of the Kaiser Family Foundation said in [The New York Times]( the legislation creates “formidable” challenges for states, which would be starting from scratch as they develop health systems to serve millions of people. It’s unlikely that all 50 states would be up and running by January 1, 2020, the day the new system would go into effect. Peter Lee, the director of California’s health insurance marketplace, told the Times: “The metaphor I think about is it’s saying, ‘We’re going to continue having a freeway full of fast-moving cars, but we’re going to remove the lane line and the speed limits and say we hope things work out.’” [Share]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( A Health Care Showdown! CNN will host a health care town hall this coming Monday, and the lineup is pretty impressive: Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy will debate Sens. Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar. CNN’s Jake Tapper will moderate the 90-minute live [event](. The debate comes as the Graham-Cassidy bill comes down to wire in the Senate, and as support grows for Sanders’ ‘Medicare for all’ plan, at least among Democrats. [Share]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( Chart of the Day Corporate America has a record amount of cash ([Bloomberg](. [Share]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( Fiscal Flashes A Hard Road on Tax Cuts for the GOP: Republicans may have a difficult time selling their tax plan to the American people. An NBC/Wall Street Journal telephone [poll]( of 900 adults released Thursday finds that most adults in the U.S. think that both corporations and the wealthy should pay more in taxes, not less. Sixty-two percent of poll respondents said that the wealthy should pay more, while 55 percent said the same of big business. Most people (53 percent) also think that the taxes paid by their families are at about the right level, although 40 percent would like to see a reduction. Two groups were seen as needing tax relief: 57 percent of respondents said taxes should be decreased on small business, and 47 percent said the middle class could use a tax break. ([NBC News]( Goldman Sachs Expects a $1 Trillion Tax Cut in 2018: The tentative agreement between Sens. Bob Corker and Pat Toomey boosts the odds of Congress approving a tax package by next year, according to economists at Goldman Sachs. The deal between Corker and Toomey would allow for a $1.5 trillion tax cut to be written into the 2018 budget. The final level of tax cuts will likely be lower, though, due to constraints imposed by the demand for revenue neutrality and the House’s more restrictive budget instructions. "While we have recently been skeptical tax reform could happen because of the continued focus on revenue-neutrality as a principle, if a budget resolution is finalized that resembles the recently floated deal, enactment of tax reform in early 2018 would once again become the baseline expectation," writes Goldman’s Alec Phillips. ([CNBC]( China Gets a Downgrade Due to Rising Debt: S&P downgraded China’s sovereign debt Thursday, due to worries about debt-driven economic growth. “The downgrade reflects our assessment that a prolonged period of strong credit growth has increased China’s economic and financial risks,” S&P said. Speaking on [Bloomberg TV]( former Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman Stephen Roach said that China has had a debt problem for a number of years. However, China has an enormous pool of savings, Roach said, and the country’s government is actively managing its debt situation. ([Reuters]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( What We're Reading - [How Much Do Tax Cuts Really Matter?]( – The Atlantic - [Tax Reform Progress: Senate Deal Creates More Space for Cutting Rates]( – Wall Street Journal - [An Anti-Growth Tax Cut]( – Kevin Williamson, National Review - [What Trump and the GOP Could Learn from Kansas' Failed Tax Experiment]( - CNBC - [Tax Reform Transformed North Carolina. Congress, Take Note]( – Sen. Thom Tillis, Wall Street Journal - [15% Corporate Tax Rate Would Pay for Itself Many Times Over, Art Laffer Says]( – Fox Business - [Jimmy Kimmel Escalates His War Against the Republican Healthcare Bill]( – Business Insider - [The Unlikely Group Who Brought Obamacare Repeal Back to Life]( – Politico - [Cassidy-Graham Could Still Blow Up in the GOP’s Face. Here’s How]( – Washington Post - [Republicans Peddle Nonsense to Sell Health-Care Plan]( – Albert Hunt, Bloomberg View - [When Billionaires Build Stadiums, Taxpayers Get Whacked]( – RealClearMarkets - [Let’s Stop Government Giveaways to Corporations]( – Jack Markell, New York Times - [Why Is Ireland the U.S. Government’s Third-Largest Creditor?]( – MarketWatch Copyright © 2017 The Fiscal Times, All rights reserved. You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed at our website, thefiscaltimes.com. Our mailing address is: The Fiscal Times 712 Fifth AvenueNew York, NY 10019 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](