HUD Moves To Usurp Local Zoning Authority | Mergers Of Giant Obamacare Health Insurers

Today in Washington, D.C. - July 8, 2015:
The House reconvened at 10 AM today.
Bills that may be considered today:
H.R. 5 - "To support State and local accountability for public education, protect State and local authority, inform parents of the performance of their children's schools, and for other purposes."
H.R. 2647 - "To expedite under the National Environmental Policy Act and improve forest management activities in units of the National Forest System derived from the public domain, on public lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, and on tribal lands to return resilience to overgrown, fire-prone forested lands, and for other purposes."
H.R. 2822 — "Making appropriations for the Department of the Interior, environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes."

Yesterday, the House passed:
H.R. 1531 (Voice Vote) — "To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide a pathway for temporary seasonal employees in Federal land management agencies to compete for vacant permanent positions under internal merit promotion procedures, and for other purposes."
H.R. 907 (Voice Vote) — "To improve defense cooperation between the United States and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan."

Agreed (411-0) to Senate Amendment to H.R. 91 - Veterans Identification Card Act 2015.
Approved House Conferees (402-12) to meet with the Senate Conferees for H.R. 1735 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016

The Senate reconvened at 10 AM today and resumed consideration of S. 1177, the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015.

At noon, the Senate voted 98-0 to adopt an amendment to the bill offered by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) concerning school libraries.

Following the vote, the Senate recessed until 2:15 PM for weekly policy lunches.

Yesterday, the Senate voted 95-0 to confirm Kara Stoll to be United States Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit.

In the News:
Today, Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning blasted the Department of Housing and Urban Development's finalization of the "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing" rule that empowers the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to condition eligibility for community development block grants on redrawing zoning maps to achieve racial and income integration by building high density, low-income housing in well-to-do neighborhoods.

Manning said, "Once again, the Obama Administration thinks it knows best for local communities, and is attempting to usurp the most basic zoning authority in a misguided attempt to create equal outcomes rather than equal opportunities. It is particularly stunning that Obama is continuing on this path of outcome based discrimination findings given the Supreme Court's barely dry ruling that held that this disparate impact theory can only be applied if there are many other proof points that de facto discrimination exists. Yet, Obama, through this HUD rule throws the Court's finding under the bus by basing housing policy upon this very same legally discredited idea.

"Let me make this clear. Local zoning decisions should be left to local government where the people most affected make the decisions, and not by some pointy headed bureaucrat looking at a census map from Washington, D.C. Laws against racial discrimination in housing have been on the books for almost fifty years, and this latest Obama Administration housing rule is nothing more than a power grab where the federal government tells America that they know best where to put a high rise apartment complex in your community. Representative Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) has already led the House to defund implementation of this rule, now it is up to the Senate to take action and then hold firm and insist that this blatant federal takeover of local zoning authority be stopped."

The Hill writes today, “A frenzy of healthcare mergers has given Republicans’ a new line of attack against ObamaCare, which they say is boosting profits for insurance giants at a cost to consumers

“The merger mania — evidenced most recently by a $35 billion deal announced by Aetna and Humana last week — is sparking new fears that shrinking competition in the marketplace could take away power from patients.

“Republicans . . . have been quick to blame ObamaCare for planned mergers, pointing to the spate of new regulations they say make it tougher for smaller companies to survive.

“‘The incentives are in there for consolidation,’ Edmund Haislmaier, a senior health research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said about the healthcare law. ‘For all the talk about competition, it’s really much more about consolidating everything so the government can better manage it,’ he added.

“The new company made up of Aetna and Humana would include more than 33 million members, or roughly 13 percent of people with health insurance in the United States.

“The turn toward consolidation is also worrying smaller providers, which fear they might lose leverage to the larger insurance companies. For example, if insurers believe a certain provider’s rates are too high, it could decide to drop the firm out of their network.

“Aetna and Humana are two of the nation’s five biggest health insurers, a club that also includes UnitedHealth Group, Cigna and Anthem. Each of the companies have been eying the others for months, exploring potential takeover bids as they navigate the new rules and markets under the Affordable Care Act. . . .

“The merger activity is fueling new attacks from Republicans, who believe it supports their longtime claim that the healthcare law would drive up premiums.

“McConnell blasted the proposed takeover of Louisville-based Humana as ‘the inevitable result of Obamacare’s push toward consolidation as doctors, hospitals, and insurers merge in response to an ever-growing government.’”

Over the weekend, The New York Times noted some of the concerns these mergers are raising: “The nation’s five largest health insurance companies are circling one another like hungry lions closing in on prey. On Friday, Aetna said it would acquire its smaller rival Humana to create a company with combined revenues of $115 billion this year. Anthem is stalking Cigna. UnitedHealth Group, now the largest of the five, is looking at its options. At the end of the maneuverings, three national behemoths are likely to emerge. . . .

“As insurers grow larger, will consumers benefit from the companies’ ability to bargain with hospitals and doctors for lower prices? Will diminishing competition translate to fewer choices of plans? And what effect will mergers have on innovation in health care? . . .

“[S]maller insurers may still have difficulty competing with much larger companies, which will have significantly more resources. The big insurers have more money for sophisticated data analyses that allow them to better judge how to price their policies and more reserves if they guess wrong. . . .

“The urge to merge may also signal less willingness by the big insurers to create new plans and to work with hospitals and doctors on novel ways of delivering care. ‘This is just going to undercut any motivation for innovation,’ said Rob Fuller, ...”

The Hill adds, “[W]ith two companies now out of the picture, the Aetna merger is likely to set off a fresh round of deal-making as the rest of the insurers look to bulk up and keep pace. Market experts predict that, by the end, just three out of the top five companies will be left. Earlier this year, Anthem Inc. announced a massive $47 billion offer to buy out Cigna. Last week, a $6 billion deal was struck between two smaller insurers, Centene Corp. and Health Net Inc. . . .

“The launch of insurance exchanges has also made it more important for insurers to have a wider reach across the country to grab a larger share of the marketplace. . . .

“One provider advocate group, the American Academy of Family Physicians, sent a letter to the FTC last month urging officials to scrutinize the deal to protect millions of people who could end up with lower-quality insurance that costs more. ‘Bigger insurance companies mean increased leverage and unfair power over negotiating rates with hospitals and physicians,’ the group wrote in a letter to the FTC last month.”

What’s certain is that Democrats’ hastily written and unpopular health care law that attempts to restructure 1/6 of the economy has had many unforeseen negative consequences and has not lived up to the promises made by its supporters. Americans will be dealing with the consequences of this law for years to come.

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