WASHINGTON: The Trump administration said Saturday it’s freezing payments under an “Obamacare” program that protects insurers with sicker patients from financial losses, a move expected to add to premium increases next year.
At stake are billions in payments to insurers with sicker customers.
In a weekend announcement, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the administration is acting because of conflicting court ruling in lawsuits filed by some smaller insurers who question whether they are being fairly treated under the program.
The so-called “risk adjustment” program takes payments from insurers with healthier customers and redistributes that money to companies with sicker enrollees. Payments for 2017 are $10.4 billion. No taxpayer subsidies are involved.
The idea behind the program is to remove the financial incentive for insurers to “cherry pick” healthier customers. The government uses a similar approach with Medicare private insurance plans and the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
Major insurer groups said Saturday the administration’s action interferes with a program that’s working well.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, whose members are a mainstay of Affordable Care Act coverage said it was “extremely disappointed” with the administration’s action.
The Trump administration’s move “will significantly increase 2019 premiums for millions of individuals and small business owners and could result in far fewer health plan choices,” association president Scott Serota said in a statement. “It will undermine Americans’ access to affordable coverage, particularly those who need medical care the most.”
Serota noted that the payments are required by law, and said he believes the administration has the legal authority to continue making them despite the court cases. He warned of “turmoil” as insurers finalize their rates for 2019.
America’s Health Insurance Plans, the main health insurance industry trade group, said in a statement that it is “very discouraged” by the Trump administration’s decision to freeze payments.
“Costs for taxpayers will rise as the federal government spends more on premium subsidies,” the group said.
Rumors that the Trump administration would freeze payments were circulating late last week. But the Saturday announcement via email was unusual for such a major step.
The administration argued in its announcement that its hands were tied by conflicting court rulings in New Mexico and Massachusetts.
Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Seema Verma said the Trump administration was disappointed by a New Mexico court ruling that questioned the workings of the risk program for insurers.
The administration “has asked the court to reconsider its ruling, and hopes for a prompt resolution that allows (the government) to prevent more adverse impacts on Americans who receive their insurance in the individual and small group markets,” she said.
More than 10 million people currently buy individual health insurance plans through HealthCare.gov and state insurance marketplaces. The vast majority of those customers receive taxpayer subsidies under the Obama-era health law and would be shielded from premium increases next year.
The brunt of higher prices would fall on solid middle-class consumers who are not eligible for the income-based subsidies. Many of those are self-employed people and small business owners, generally seen as a Republican constituency.
The latest “Obamacare” flare-up does not affect most people with employer coverage.
Trump administration takes another swipe at ‘Obamacare’
Trump administration takes another swipe at ‘Obamacare’
- The program takes payments from insurers with healthier customers and redistributes the money to companies with sicker enrollees
- The idea is to remove the financial incentive for insurers to "cherry-pick" healthier customers
UK schools see rise in white poppy interest to show Gaza solidarity
- Britons wear red poppies in November to remember fallen servicemen, women
- White poppy makes distinction of also remembering civilian casualties of war
London: Schools in the UK are ordering large numbers of white poppies for children to show solidarity with the people of Gaza, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The UK celebrates Remembrance Sunday every November to reflect on the sacrifices made by men and women who have served the country, with red poppies traditionally worn to commemorate the dead and raise money for veterans and their families.
The white poppy has gained popularity in recent years as an alternative, having first been worn in 1933 by those wishing to promote peace rather than celebrate war, and to remember civilians as well as combatants.
The Peace Pledge Union, the organization that distributes white poppies, said it received increased orders from schools this year, with teachers citing the war in Gaza as a key reason for children wanting to wear them. Demand went up 27 percent since the start of the war in October last year, it added.
“It is heartening that a growing number of young people are turning to the white poppy, for the light it sheds on today’s conflicts,” said Geoff Tibbs, a project manager at the PPU.
“Many are alienated by the mainstream tradition of Remembrance Day, as it fails to acknowledge civilians and people of other nationalities affected by wars today.”
Schools that offer white poppies to pupils also tend to offer red ones, which are provided by a military charity, the Royal British Legion.
An RBL spokesman told the Telegraph: “The RBL defends the right to wear different poppies. The RBL’s red poppy honours all those who have sacrificed their lives to protect the freedoms we enjoy today; including the freedom to wear the poppy of your choice.”
Germans should leave Iran or risk being held hostage, says Berlin
BERLIN: Germany has long had a travel warning for Iran and asked nationals to leave because, as seen from the execution of a German-Iranian national, Tehran takes German citizens hostage, said a foreign ministry spokesperson in Berlin on Friday.
“We have long had a travel warning for Iran and a request to Germans in Iran to leave the country because we saw from the Jamshid Sharmahd case that Iran is taking German citizens hostage,” said the spokesperson at a government news conference.
“We want to spare other German citizens this fate.”
Filipinos honor their dead with flowers, food in All Saints’ Day rites
- All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day are jointly referred to in the Philippines as Undas
- Around 4 million Filipinos are expected to head to their native provinces this weekend
Manila: Millions of Filipinos flocked to cemeteries across the country on Friday, braving massive crowds, traffic, and extreme weather to honor their departed loved ones during the annual holidays dedicated to the dead.
The threats posed by a tropical storm in parts of the Philippines this week could not stop the throngs of people at seaports, airports, and bus terminals as they rushed from the main cities to their family towns and villages for Undas — the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day celebrations.
In Manila, school and work stopped at noon on Oct. 31 to give people enough time to travel and avoid heavy traffic, as authorities expected around 4 million to head to their native provinces this weekend.
Preparations for the holiday usually begin days in advance, with families cleaning their ancestral graves, lighting candles, and placing flower bouquets on the tomb markers.
“We visit our dearly departed every chance we get. It’s just that on this day, everyone in the family is present,” said Maria Imelda Austria, a 51-year-old teacher for whom Undas was also an occasion to uphold her mother’s tradition.
“I make sure my parents get the nicest flower arrangements to keep my promise to them (to do so) when they were still alive. Also, we try to do what my mother used to do, that is pray the rosary and pray for the poor souls in purgatory.”
The tradition in the Catholic-majority nation is one of the many religious practices passed on by the Spanish who colonized the Philippines for over 300 years.
The Filipino word “Undas” stems from the Spanish phrase “Dia de los Todos Santos” or “All Saints’ Day.”
Food plays a significant role in the observance, with more traditional communities preparing their deceased relatives’ favorite dishes and serving them on their graves as an offering. Some households spread grains of uncooked rice on the floor to track the brief earthly visits of the departed, which are believed to occur during Undas. A change in the grain placement signifies that the spirits of their relatives have passed through.
For most, however, the holiday becomes an opportunity for family reunions, making it a highly anticipated event for Filipinos that usually calls for feasts.
“It is a happy occasion because we get to see our relatives and bond with them while enjoying food,” Anna Maria Batungbacal, a 46-year-old civil servant, told Arab News.
“But it can be sad as well when you remember those that aren’t with you anymore, especially when someone has just recently passed.”
For Criena House, the Undas reunions were like a “potluck,” with everyone bringing food.
“Everyone from different parts of the Philippines will come home. Sometimes they’ll be from other countries,” the 34-year-old actress-entrepreneur said.
“You just eat, you catch up with family, you can play music depending on where you are … It’s not rude to do that. It’s okay to smile and take pictures and pose with your family and the dead behind you.”
Undas is also an experience of learning about her community and its history — something she remembers from childhood, when her mother would take her around to the different grave sites of people she knew or who had a significant impact on their lives.
Her mother would point to a grave, exclaiming “that used to be my teacher over there, that used to be the ex-mayor over there,” she said.
The tradition is something House is keen to pass on to her Filipino-American husband and 2-year-old son.
“I had to explain to my husband that this is not just a day, it’s also kind of like a special week, like Thanksgiving or Christmas,” she said.
“He’s still adjusting to it, but for me it’s very fun because I’m seeing everyone, even if I don’t know the people around me. It’s like you’re getting to know your community.”
North Korean foreign minister arrives in Moscow for talks
- The visit comes after Pyongyang tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile this week
- Washington says there are 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia
MOSCOW: North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui has arrived in Moscow and will hold strategic consultations with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the ministry, in a post on her official Telegram channel, published photographs of Lavrov meeting Choe at a Moscow train station.
“Today, talks between the heads of Russia and the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) will be held in Moscow. Sergei Lavrov greeted his counterpart with a bouquet of flowers,” said Zakharova.
“The meeting began at the Yaroslavsky railway station (in Moscow), where a memorial plaque was unveiled to mark the occasion of Kim Il Sung’s 1949 visit to the USSR,” she said, referring to the founder of the DPRK.
The visit, Choe’s second in six weeks, comes after Pyongyang tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile this week and as Washington says there are 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia, including as many as 8,000 deployed in Russia’s Kursk region where Ukrainian troops have dug in.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the United States expected the North Korean troops in Kursk region to enter the fight against Ukraine in the coming days.
Moscow has neither denied nor directly confirmed the presence of North Korean troops on its soil. President Vladimir Putin has said it is for Russia to decide how to implement a treaty he signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June that includes a mutual defense clause.
Shootout in western France wounds five: minister
- 15-year-old boy is between life and death after the gunbattle erupted in front of a restaurant overnight
Paris: A drug trafficking-related shooting has left a teenager and four others seriously wounded in the western French city of Poitiers, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Friday.
The 15-year-old boy is between life and death after the gunbattle erupted in front of a restaurant overnight, Retailleau told BFMTV/RMC radio.
