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POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

In Case You Missed It…

| By CBPP

This week at CBPP, we focused on health care, poverty and inequality, state budgets and taxes, and food assistance.

  • On health care, Jacob Leibenluft, Edwin Park, Judy Solomon, and Aviva Aron-Dine explained that House Republicans’ new talking points confirm that they’ll seek to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without putting forward a real replacement and to radically overhaul Medicaid. Aron-Dine and Park explained that the Trump Administration’s new proposed rule on health care would hurt millions of moderate-income families by raising premiums, out-of-pocket costs, or both. Sarah Lueck detailed several ways that the rule would weaken the individual health insurance market. Paul Van de Water highlighted the Congressional Budget Office’s latest projections estimating that health spending is falling, even including the ACA’s costs. Jesse Cross-Call urged the federal government to reject Arizona’s proposal to place a five-year lifetime limit on Medicaid coverage for adults under 65 who don’t have a disability. Shelby Gonzales outlined three steps that consumers may need to take to stay covered and secure access to medical care. Tara Straw noted that the individual mandate remains in effect, so taxpayers should continue to report their health insurance coverage status. Jessica Schubel cautioned against making maternity coverage optional. We launched our Sabotage Watch timeline to track efforts to undermine the ACA.

  • On poverty and inequality, Isaac Shapiro, Danilo Trisi, and Raheem Chaudhry highlighted the safety net’s critical role in the economic security of adults lacking bachelor’s degrees and explained that cutting these programs and repealing the ACA would leave this group at risk.
  • On state budgets and taxes, Elizabeth McNichol and Erica Williams pointed to lessons that states can learn from energy-producing states’ fiscal woes that would help prevent them from making short-sighted fiscal decisions. Michael Mazerov warned that Michigan lawmakers’ plan to phase out the income tax would force cuts to essential services and fail to help the state’s economy, as Kansas’ experience has demonstrated.
  • On food assistance, we updated our paper on WIC’s competitive bidding process.

Chart of the Week: Whites Without College Degree Are Largest Group of Working-Age Adults Lifted Above Poverty Line by Safety Net

A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently. Here are some highlights:

Former Obama HHS Official Warns New ACA Rule Could Destabilize Market
Talking Points Memo
February 16, 2017

Federal Anti-Poverty Programs Primarily Help the GOP’s Base
The Atlantic
February 16, 2017

The biggest beneficiaries of the government safety net: Working-class whites
Washington Post
February 16, 2017

Addiction Treatment Grew Under Health Law. Now What?
New York Times
February 10, 201