Supreme Court will review the ACA case during and after the 2020 Election.

This week’s big election news: The SCOTUS announced its intention to review whether the ACA is constitutional (WSJ paywall) – again. They’ll take up the case during its next session.

• Coincidentally, that’s right smack dab in the middle of the presidential election. A final decision on the case would then be expected in spring 2021.

What you need to know.

• Remember that tax cut we all got back in late 2017? As a part of that act, Obamacare’s individual mandate – AKA, the part of the ACA that forced everyone to have health insurance or pay a fine – was removed.

Why would THAT make it unconstitutional?

Because this part of the ACA was repealed, several states led by Texas challenged its legality. Their argument, per the WSJ: “Without a monetary penalty, Congress [can’t] justify the insurance mandate based on its power to levy taxes.”

Experts think the argument is somewhat weak, but we’ll leave that up to the SCOTUS to decide. It’s a huge case – if found unconstitutional, there would be quite the volatile scramble.

• Educate yoself: A timeline of the Affordable Care Act. (Healthcare Dive)

Joe Biden wins South Carolina ahead of Super Tuesday.

• Joe Biden, champion of the public option and expanding the ACA, won the South Carolina primary in a landslide. Who else is excited for Super Tuesday?

Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar are out.

2 days before Super Tuesday, Pete Buttigieg announced the end of his 2020 presidential campaign. From a healthcare perspective, he shared quite a few moderate views with Bloomberg and Biden.

We didn’t cover Amy Klobuchar much in this newsletter, but she just announced plans to drop out today (March 2) and is endorsing Joe Biden. These appear to be excellent developments for Joe.

• The presidential race is now down to 5 big candidates – Trump (incumbent) vs. Bloomberg, Bernie, Warren, and Biden. Catch up on everyone’s healthcare proposals here.

Sanders finally releases funding details for Medicare for All.

In other news, Bernie Sanders released his funding plans for Medicare for All, which includes about $17.5 trillion in tax revenue over the next decade stemming from increased income taxes on businesses and individuals. Then, federal, state, and local governments would foot the rest ($30 trillion).

The Sanders camp estimates total healthcare expenditures of $47 trillion under Medicare for All, which they calculate would save an estimated $5 trillion over the next decade in the current U.S. healthcare system.

• A NY Times analysis shows that the funding plan ‘wouldn’t add up,’ but the newspaper has been known to favor the Democratic establishment. Since when has either side cared about funding sources in recent years, anyway?

Expect a response from Republicans on healthcare soon.

At a retreat between Trump advisers and GOP senators, the parties reportedly discussed a need to get behind popular bipartisan reform bills prior to the general election. On top of that, the Republican officials discussed the need for the party to have its own healthcare vision rather than just slamming ‘Medicare for All,’ a tactic they considered weak.

Trump is reportedly frustrated with the delay in lowering drug costs and getting a bipartisan bill through Congress. Remember – drug pricing, surprise billing, and overall healthcare costs are top of mind for voters. And the coronavirus isn’t helping Trump in the economy.

• Bottom Line: Republicans want Democrats to have fewer talking points on healthcare, which is a key issue in the 2020 election. I would expect to see at least a high-level Republican healthcare proposal soon.

Colorado’s Public option woes.

Colorado’s first-ever public option health insurance plan revealed its payment rates – and hospitals aren’t happy with the base payment rate of 155% of Medicare. In fact, Colorado’s public option woes may be a microcosm for what will happen with any sort of federally mandated public option. (Remind me – what’s a public option?)

• Read more about the state’s public option implications – and what that means for Democrats – from Bloomberg.

Other election stuff to know.

• How much do we really need to know about a President’s fitness level?
• What do likely voters think about their healthcare?