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Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, denied on Wednesday that Trump administration policies were driving up health insurance costs, which many experts expect to surge again in 2019. Mr. Azar, testifying before a House committee, vigorously disputed suggestions by Democrats that President Trump had sabotaged Affordable Care Act marketplaces, where millions of people obtain insurance subsidized by the federal government. (Pear, 6/6)

Kaiser Health News: HHS To Allow Insurers’ Workaround On 2019 Prices

Federal officials will not block insurance companies from again using a workaround to cushion a steep rise in health premiums caused by President Donald Trump’s cancellation of a program established under the Affordable Care Act, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Wednesday. The technique — called “silver loading” because it pushed price increases onto the silver-level plans in the ACA marketplaces — was used by many states for 2018 policies. But federal officials had hinted they might bar the practice next year. (Rovner, 6/7)

HHS Secretary Alex Azar told lawmakers they should draft legislation to update and fix the Medicare wage index. The index, which was created in the 1980s, sets payments to hospitals as adjusted for market conditions, such as the differences in hospital wage rates among labor markets. It also takes into account the cost of living. Increasingly, rural hospitals in areas where the cost of living tends to be lower cite the index as a reason for closures. (Dickson, 6/6)

Senate Democrats are pushing Republicans to use the new time they have because of the cancellation of the August recess, announced by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) this week, to talk about rising health-care costs ahead of the midterms. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a letter to McConnell released Wednesday that the GOP leader should dedicate August to "considering legislation that would lower the cost of health care and prescription drugs." (Hellmann, 6/6)

Sen. Bill Cassidy, co-author of a high-profile Obamacare repeal bill, isn’t so sure Congress should take another crack at undoing the law this year. But he said lawmakers should move on legislation to make health care more affordable. "We should have another vote, absolutely … if we've got the ability to lower the cost to the average American who's purchasing insurance," the Louisiana Republican, who’s pushing a new set of health care proposals, told POLITICO's Pulse Check podcast. (Diamond, 6/6)