It’s crunch time on ACA stabilization

The Senate HELP Committee is expected to release its proposal this week to stabilize the ACA's marketplaces. The broad outlines of that plan are still in line with what we've reported previously:

A commitment to fund the law's cost-sharing subsidies

Changes to the process by which states can obtain "innovation waivers"

Perhaps broader access to cheaper, less comprehensive insurance plans

Key term to know: A quick note of clarification on the cost-sharing subsidies, since we keep talking about an agreement to "fund" them, and some Republicans have referred to that step as a "bailout" of the law:

Bailouts inject new money into some system or institution, but that's not what would be happening here. A commitment to fund the ACA's cost-sharing subsidies would not require any new spending. These subsidies are being paid today, and have been since 2014.

The Congressional Budget Office has already said this proposal would maintain the status quo, and therefore would not create any new costs to the government.

Reality check: The $0 price tag is a big part of the reason this idea is on the table in the first place. HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander is working hard to keep this deal as narrow as possible. And this is something Congress can do, without spending any new money, to help bring some stability to the states.