The White House signaled on Tuesday it wanted to avoid a partial government shutdown this weekend, even if Congress doesn’t meet President Trump’s full demands on border security, but partisan divisions stymied new negotiations, prompting Senate Republican leaders to start readying a short-term spending deal to keep the government running.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) said Tuesday night he was preparing a short-term spending bill keeping the government open [beyond the current deadline December 21] until early February.
“Barring some unforeseen development, I think that’s where we’re headed,” Mr. Shelby said.In litigation news, the intervenor defendant States defending the Affordable Act in the Texas v. United States litigation has asked the judge to stay his unconstitutionality decision pending appeal and they have asked the judge for permission to immediately appeal the decision. The Court has ordered the plaintiff States and defendant the Justice Department to respond to the motion no later than Friday December 21. He has allowed the intervenor defendant States an opportunity to reply to the parties' responses by Wednesday December 26. The Court is likely to rule on the motion by Monday December 31.
Forbes columnist Avik Roy offers some interesting ideas on how Congress can resolve this conundrum.
Congress’ response should be simple. Congress should pass a simple, standalone measure guaranteeing that insurers offer coverage in the individual health insurance market to anyone, regardless of prior health status. Congress could even add on a requirement that insurers charge people of the same age the same premium, regardless of health status. In this way, Congress can reiterate this basic and popular guarantee, regardless of what happens to other parts of the ACA as this litigation continues. Most importantly, they can demonstrate a new intent for Congress: showing that covering people with pre-existing conditions can be done without the entire Rube Goldberg complexity of Obamacare.In other litigation news, Healthcare Dive reports that
In a packed [D.C.] courtroom hearing Tuesday [/today], [U.S.] District Court Judge Richard Leon suggested CVS Health appoint a monitor to keep a close eye on suggested separations between CVS and Aetna [while the Court considers whether "the DOJ’s condition for approving the merger, requiring that Aetna divest its Medicare Part D businesses, is sufficient for antitrust concerns."]The Court has allowed the parties to express their views on the Court's suggestion the close of business on Thursday December 20.
In other merger and acquisition news, Hartford [CT] Business reports
Cigna last week scored two key approvals on its proposed deal to acquire pharmacy-benefits manager Express Scripts for $67 billion. State regulators in New York and California on Thursday issued approvals for the proposal after receiving assurances that consumers would not pay for acquisition costs.The deal appears on track to close this month. This deal does not require judicial approval.
Also the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports
In hopes of winning regulatory approval for a deal first announced last year, the parent company of DaVita Medical Group has agreed to lower by more than $500 million the sale price of its clinic business to UnitedHealth Group, according to a Monday regulatory filing.Bloomberg reported last spring
The insurance giant [UnitedHealth] has spent the past decade steadily adding physicians to its ranks, fortifying itself against competing insurers as well as hospitals who are buying up physicians. Once the physician groups it bought from DaVita Inc. are fully under its wing later this year, UnitedHealth’s OptumCare unit will have one of the largest collections of doctors in the U.S.
UnitedHealth is betting that controlling many doctors can provide patients better care at a lower cost, and steer them away from expensive hospital stays. Bringing more doctors in-house provides a buffer against rivals and places an imposing moat in the path of upstarts.That's a solid wager, in the FEHBlog's view.
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