Wonkbook: Obamacare repeal would drop addiction treatment for 1.3 million Americans

Sponsored by ExxonMobil | By Katie Zezima and Christopher Ingraham The Republican proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act would strip away what advocates say is essential coverage for drug addiction treatment as the number of people dying from opiate overdoses is skyrocketing nationwide. Beginning in 2020, the plan would eliminate an Affordable Care Act requirement that Medicaid cover …   The latest economic and domestic policy from Wonkblog   Opioid addiction is on the rise. (Photo by Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post) By Katie Zezima and Christopher Ingraham The Republican proposal to replace the Affordable Care Act would strip away what advocates say is essential coverage for drug addiction treatment as the number of people dying from opiate overdoses is skyrocketing nationwide. Beginning in 2020, the plan would eliminate an Affordable Care Act requirement that Medicaid cover basic mental-health and addiction services in states that expanded it, allowing them to decide whether to include those benefits in Medicaid plans. The proposal would also roll back the Medicaid expansion under the act — commonly known as Obamacare — which would affect many states bearing the brunt of the opiate crisis, including Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia expanded Medicaid under the ACA. Read the rest on Wonkblog. Number of the day 235,000. That is the net number of positions U.S. employers added to payrolls last month, according to the monthly survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ana Swanson has more. Top jobs tweets Hiring has slowed from its peak, but pace continues to be impressive at more than 2m jobs per year. pic.twitter.com/4bSZXiCflx — Ben Casselman (@bencasselman) March 10, 2017 The drop in the unemployment rate was entirely for good reasons (more employed, fewer unemployed). Employment-to-population ratio edges up. pic.twitter.com/ERhAAwKVd0 — Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) March 10, 2017 Is wage growth accelerating? Looks like it. Is wage growth strong? Not so much. https://t.co/XIRFWURsNZ — Nick Bunker (@nick_bunker) March 10, 2017 My guess is the state/local data will show this was a great month for urban/southern/western job growth, not so great for Rust Belt. ADVERTISEMENT   — Conor Sen (@conorsen) March 10, 2017 Labor force participation of men is on a slow decline--down .1 from a year ago. Women's is up .2 from a year ago. — Betsey Stevenson (@BetseyStevenson) March 10, 2017 Feb US NFP:Job creation decisively titled towards creation of high wage jobs. This labor market is running hot, tight & past full employment — Joseph Brusuelas (@joebrusuelas) March 10, 2017 That's a lot of jobs for a tight labor market… If the labor market is really super tight — James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) March 10, 2017 Janet Yellen once wrote a book about how the 90s were a fabulous decade for wage + job growth because the Fed practiced "forbearance" pic.twitter.com/IjGklGwXb7 — Sam Bell (@sam_a_bell) March 10, 2017 New Fact Checker: Trump keeps claiming he's created U.S. jobs since Election Day. Not so. https://t.co/Rq7Iuhno4z — Michelle Ye Hee Lee (@myhlee) March 10, 2017 No inflection point in today's jobs data. The election didn't spur animal spirits, and it didn't end the expansion. So far, it did nothing — Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) March 10, 2017 Hot take: This is a good jobs report. A continuation of a good, long trend. It's not really to do with Trump. Have a nice day. — Ben White (@morningmoneyben) March 10, 2017 Most Recent Posts from Wonkblog U.S. added 235,000 jobs in February; unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent The robust employment numbers will probably clear the way for the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rate next week. By Ana Swanson  •  Read more »   The GOP’s Obamacare replacement is a disaster for some of its most loyal voters By Jeff Guo  •  Read more » GOP health-care bill would drop addiction treatment mandate covering 1.3 million Americans Implications for the opiate epidemic would be "potentially devastating," according to Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.). By Katie Zezima and Christopher Ingraham  •  Read more »   Treasury calls on Congress to raise debt limit, begins steps to delay default The move forces tough choices on a Republican Congress. By Damian Paletta  •  Read more »   Utah’s drunken driving law is about to become the country’s strictest Researchers say it will save lives. By Christopher Ingraham  •  Read more »   Trump pledges to ease regulations of community banks Banks are reporting record profits, but the Trump administration has promised to roll back financial industry regulations. By Renae Merle  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   Today's WorldView What's most important from where the world meets Washington, plus the day's most essential reads and interesting ideas. Sign Up »         Share Wonkbook:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for a Wonkblog newsletter. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2017 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071