Weekly Economic Snapshot 4/24 - 4/28
Economic Facts for this Week
- Republican plans to undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions could hurt the ability of sick people to get health insurance. Around 130 million nonelderly people have pre-existing conditions, according to the Center for American Progress. Find numbers for your Congressional district here.
- Premiums could skyrocket for this population. For instance, someone with metastatic cancer could see an additional premium cost of over $140,000 a year. See estimates for specific health conditions here.
- Republicans have suggested that high-risk pools could cover the sick, however they would not fund them adequately. Congressional Republicans would provide only $2.5 billion a year, compared to the $15 to $20 billion a year that would be needed for even limited high-risk pools.
- Analysis from CBPP shows that ACA marketplaces are poised to have greater stability and competition, as profitability rises and premiums are more in line with costs. However, the report notes that “this progress could be easily reversed if the Trump Administration continues to try to sabotage the individual market.”
Chart of the Week
ICYMI
- Medicaid paid for almost $4 billion in school-based health care services in 2015, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which helps pay school nurses, speech therapists, and other health professionals. Medicaid also helps cover services that children with disabilities need to have access to public education.
- In states that have not expanded Medicaid, 28 percent of non-elderly adults who would have been eligible for Medicaid (but instead are being denied care) have a mental illness or substance abuse disorder).
- Increased life expectancy is concentrated at the top of the income distribution, resulting in inequality in the amount of lifetime benefits received from Social Security, Medicare, and other programs. Men in the highest income quintile will receive $130,000 more in the value of lifetime benefits from government programs than men in the lowest income quintile due to longer life expectancies.
- Joint Economic Committee Democrats released a report highlighting the costs of border delays and the value of additional ports of entry personnel.
- JEC Democrats also released a fact sheet highlighting the top accomplishments of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, including how it has helped over 29 million individual consumers receive $11.8 billion in due relief since opening its doors.
Coming this Week
- Tuesday, April 25, 2017 10:00am: New Residential Sales and Construction Price Indexes March 2017 - https://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/pdf/newressales.pdf
- Friday, April 28, 2017 8:30am: Gross Domestic Product Q1 (advance estimate) - https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm
- Friday, April 28, 2017 8:30am: Employment Cost Index First Quarter 2017 -https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/eci.pdf
