Overnight Health Care: Which states could win and lose under ObamaCare repeal bill | Insurers scrambling over latest repeal twist | Cassidy fires back at Kimmel

The ObamaCare repeal bill set for a possible vote next week in the Senate would create winners and losers among the 50 states that would be asked to implement their own health care plans with block grants of federal funding.

The bill, sponsored by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (La.), ends federal funding for ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion and the subsidies that help people afford coverage, as well as the law’s insurance mandate.

Instead, states would be given pots of money, and would get to decide how to spend it.

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The bill redistributes money from high-spending Medicaid expansion states — like California — to states that rejected the Medicaid expansion — like Texas.

“The Graham-Cassidy bill would significantly reduce funding to states over the long term, particularly for states that have already expanded Medicaid,” said Caroline Pearson, senior vice president at Avalere, a health care consulting group in D.C. “States would have broad flexibility to shape their markets but would have less funding to subsidize coverage for low- and middle-income individuals.”

The bill would also transform the federal government’s funding of the traditional Medicaid program from an open-ended entitlement to a per-person cap, resulting in less money flowing to states. This could eventually force states to cut benefits or reduce eligibility in their programs.

For a look at which states come out ahead or behind, click here.

Insurers scrambling to keep up with ObamaCare drama 

Insurance companies blindsided by the Senate GOP’s decision to pull the plug on bipartisan talks and move forward again with ObamaCare repeal are scrambling to figure out how to move forward.

The death of the bipartisan push leaves them with no clear way to shore up fragile marketplaces ahead of the 2018 enrollment season, which begins Nov. 1.

The new ObamaCare repeal bill may get a Senate vote next week.

If it becomes law, insurers will face a whole new world in 2020, with states deciding how to use millions in block grant funding that will come from Washington.

If it fails, it’s uncertain if there will be another bipartisan push.

Either way, it creates huge concerns for insurers.

“They look at this market and see problems,” said Chris Sloan, a senior manager with the consulting firm Avalere Health who describes insurers as having been invested in the bipartisan talks.

The biggest problem for insurers is that they don’t know if the Trump administration will continue federal subsidies known as cost-sharing reductions that allow insurers to lower out-of-pocket costs for low-income consumers.

But there are other worries as well, which Sloan said include premium increases, competition and fear that fewer people will sign up next year because of other administrative changes.

Read more here.

Who is for and against the Senate ObamaCare repeal bill 

The Senate could potentially vote on the latest ObamaCare repeal-and-replace plan next week, but the bill has won mixed reviews inside and outside Congress.

The proposal, sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), would largely dismantle ObamaCare and convert its funding to block grants.

States would get the funding to design their own programs, leaving some states with more money and others with less. Just what states would decide to do would likely vary across the country.

Here is where key players and stakeholders stand.

Read more here.

Cassidy: Kimmel ‘just doesn’t understand’ health care proposal 

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) fired back at late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday for his criticism of the Louisiana Republican’s health care proposal, saying the comedian “just doesn’t understand” the legislation. 

“Jimmy doesn’t understand, and not because he’s a talk show host, because we’ve never spoken,” Cassidy said on “Fox & Friends.” “He’s only heard from those on the left, who are doing their best to preserve ObamaCare. He’s not heard from me — we’ve not spoken — and I would love to talk to him about this.”

In a scathing monologue on his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Tuesday night, Kimmel took particular aim at Cassidy, accusing the senator of breaking his promise to push for a health care plan that would pass the “Jimmy Kimmel test.”

Read more here.

Senate Health Committee schedules hearing on opioid crisis

The Senate Health Committee will hold a hearing on the opioid crisis next month. 

The committee will focus on the federal response to the crisis and conduct oversight of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, a law passed in 2016 that supports efforts to address the issue. 

The committee will also get an update on the 21st Century Cures Act, which includes $1 billion in grants to states over two years to combat the crisis. 

Read more here.

What we’re reading: 

The GOP bill forces states to build health systems from scratch. That’s hard. (The New York Times)

HHS hints at major changes to Medicare that could mean higher costs for patients (Stat News)

CVS moves to limit access to opioid painkillers (The Wall Street Journal)

State by state 

Nevada’s Heller dogged by summer of reversals on health care (CNN)

Idaho state officials wary on health care overhaul (Associated Press)

Alaska’s Murkowski is in the health care spotlight. Again. (The Washington Post)