Alaska will receive $323 million from HHS from 2018 to 2022 for a reinsurance program to offset claims from high-cost patients for the lone insurer offering coverage on its Affordable Care Act exchange.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has taken the unusual step of delaying the Senate’s August recess, announcing the chamber will stay in session during the first two weeks of the month to address legislative priorities like the replacement of the Affordable Care Act.

The number of applications for insurers planning to participate in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges for 2018 has fallen by 38 percent, according to CMS.

At the core of both the House and Senate Republicans’ proposals to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been rolling back the law’s expansion of Medicaid. Whether or not the expanded eligibility stays in place, enrollment rules are likely to be changed by states with encouragement from HHS and CMS.

Democrats in Congress are facing increasing pressure to support plans for a government-funded, single-payer healthcare system—and Republicans have noticed.

After failing to meet their self-imposed June 30 deadline to vote on the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), Senate Republicans now say they’ll need another week in Washington before the bill may advance.

The transition to value-based care has led to consolidation and increased physician employment, but smaller practices may find a different option in pursuing alignments with other organizations which don’t involve giving up their independent status.

Even if Republican-led efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act fail, the party’s members of Congress have a way to stop the Internal Revenue Service from enforcing one of the law’s most unpopular provisions: the individual mandate penalizing people who remain uninsured.