Category: Barack Obama

Higher premiums trigger decline in Arizona insurance signups

A doubling of individual health insurance premiums in Arizona for 2017 triggered a sharp decline in Affordable Care Act signups among people who don’t qualify for tax credits that offset their costs, according to a new analysis. The review by University of Arizona health insurance expert Dr. Daniel Derksen of data released by the federal government last week shows a 23 percent decrease in enrollment by that group.

Hospitals worry about caring for newly uninsured in GOP plan

When Colorado expanded Medicaid coverage under former President Barack Obama’s health care law, the largest provider in the Denver region hired more than 250 employees and built a $27 million primary care clinic and two new school-based clinics. Emergency rooms visits stayed flat as Denver Health Medical Center directed many of the nearly 80,000 newly insured patients into one of its 10 community health centers, where newly hired social workers and mental health therapists provided services for some of the county’s poorest residents.

Hospitals worry about caring for newly uninsured in GOP plan

When Colorado expanded Medicaid coverage under former President Barack Obama’s health care law, the largest provider in the Denver region hired more than 250 employees and built a $27 million primary care clinic and two new school-based clinics. Emergency rooms visits stayed flat as Denver Health Medical Center directed many of the nearly 80,000 newly insured patients into one of its 10 community health centers, where newly hired social workers and mental health therapists provided services for some of the county’s poorest residents.

Sunday shows preview: Trump admin makes healthcare pitch

White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney is hitting the Sunday show circuit this week as the Trump administration and GOP leaders ratchet up the pitch for their proposal to repeal and replace ObamaCare. Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, is slated to appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” and ABC’s “This Week.”

Trump appointee who called Muslims ‘maggots’ booted from DOE

A massage therapist with no apparent experience of energy policy was terminated from the Department of Energy after it was revealed that he has a habit of making racially charged comments about Muslims and former President Barack Obama over social media. After working as a Trump campaign operative in New Hampshire, Sid Bowdidge was employed as an “assistant” to Energy Secretary Rick Perry shortly after President Trump’s inauguration, despite having no relevant experience, two employees at the nuclear weapons agency told BuzzFeed News on Friday .

Bill would reduce women’s services

Women seeking abortions and some basic health services, including prenatal care, contraception and cancer screenings, would face restrictions and struggle to pay for some of that medical care under the House Republicans’ proposed bill. The legislation, which would replace much of former President Barack Obama’s health law, was approved by two House committees on Thursday.

Republicans Battle Over Health Care Bill

Conservative Republicans demanded tougher changes Friday in insurance requirements and Medicaid than the House GOP health care bill proposes and warned they’d oppose the legislation if it isn’t reshaped. The White House signaled an openness to negotiate, but there was resistance from House leaders.

.com | House GOP health bill would cut women’s services

Women seeking abortions and some basic health services, including prenatal care, contraception and cancer screenings, would face restrictions and struggle to pay for some of that medical care under the House Republicans’ proposed bill. The legislation, which would replace much of former President Barack Obama’s health law, was approved by two House committees on Thursday.

GOP bill cuts women’s health plans

Women seeking abortions and some basic health services, including prenatal care, contraception and cancer screenings, would face restrictions and struggle to pay for some of that medical care under the House Republicans’ proposed bill. The legislation, which would replace much of former President Barack Obama’s health law, was approved by two House committees on Thursday.

House panel nears health bill OK, industry groups say ‘no’

Republicans on a pivotal House committee are nearing an initial triumph in their effort to scuttle former President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, approaching a pre-dawn vote to abolish the tax penalty his statute imposes on people who don’t purchase insurance and reshape how millions of Americans buy medical care. Yet the Ways and Means panel’s approval of health care legislation would only mask deeper problems Republican backers face.

Vice president touts choice in Obamacare replacement bill

Vice President Mike Pence says a bill put forth by congressional Republicans earlier this week is “the beginning of the end of Obamacare.” “When you think about the burden that Obamacare has placed on American families and American businesses since it was signed into law in 2010, this represents a historic opportunity for President Trump, our administration and the Congress to keep a promise to the American people,” the vice president said Wednesday as he spoke live with WOOD-TV political reporter Rick Albin from Washington, D.C. Pence said the plan would “lower the cost of health insurance by giving the American people more choices, including buying health insurance across state lines.”

Republicans push hard for health care bill, though divided

House Speaker Paul Ryan labored to rally divided Republicans behind a high-stakes drive to overhaul the nation’s health care system Wednesday, praising his party’s legislation as “what good, conservative health care reform looks like” as lawmakers cast Congress’ first votes. Republicans who control two crucial House committees – Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce – but hit a torrent of resistance from Democrats who oppose the seven-year GOP effort to unravel former President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Republican governors complain about GOP health care plan

Republican governors complain that a GOP proposal to replace former President Barack Obama’s health care law would force millions of lower-income earners off insurance rolls or stick states with the cost of keeping them covered. Governors, especially those from political battleground states, were generally cool to the bill put forth in the Republican-controlled U.S. House.

Industry questions higher insurance costs under Republican plan

The House Republican health insurance plan suggests health insurance after Obamacare will be less affordable, investors, insurers and industry sources said on Tuesday, raising questions about future enrollment and insurance company participation. The draft legislation, released on Monday night, rolls back some of the key tenets of former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, known as Obamacare, including the individual mandate and the expansion of Medicaid.

GOP bill unlikely to settle passionate health care debate

The nation’s passionate debate about the role of government in providing health care for citizens and paying the costs is unlikely to be settled by the legislation newly revealed by House Republicans. With Republicans now controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress, the bill would drive government policy down routes long advocated by conservatives.

Republicans unveil plan to repeal, replace Obamacare

US House Republicans unveiled long-awaited legislation Monday that would repeal and replace the health care reforms known as Obamacare, largely under the framework that President Donald Trump laid out in his recent congressional address. The American Health Care Act would dismantle several of the core aspects of the reforms, including ending related subsidies and taxes.

The rise of Obamacare: Why is the ACA so popular?

… are looking at what they’re losing and it’s not clear what they’ll be gaining,” says Thomas D’Aunno, director of the health policy and management at New York University’s Robert F Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. An uncertain future about …

Associated Press

Allowing insurers to market health care policies across state lines is one of President Donald Trump’s main ideas for bringing down costs. While supporters of the idea cast it as a way to make insurance policies more competitive, critics say it’s unlikely to result in more affordable plans and could undermine stronger consumer protections in states such as California and Hawaii.

Nielsen: Nearly 48 million watch Trump’s address to nation

President Donald Trump’s first major address to the Congress and the nation was seen by an estimated 47.4 million people. The Nielsen company said Wednesday that Trump’s audience couldn’t quite match the first such speech by predecessor Barack Obama, who drew an audience of 52.4 million in 2009.

Rep. Daniel Donovan will vote ‘no’ on Obamacare repeal without a replacement

Committees in the House of Representatives may begin considering legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in early March, and when they do, Rep. Daniel Donovan said he won’t vote for the first without the second. Republicans have long dismissed former President Barack Obama’s signature achievement — Obamacare — as unaffordable and unfair to patients, increasing premiums and deductibles while patients lose their doctors and their health insurance plans.

Rick Santorum Claims ‘Millions Of Americans’ With Pre-existing Conditions Are Stealing Health Care

CNN contributor Rick Santorum suggested on Sunday that it was a mistake to guarantee health care coverage for people with pre-existing conditions because “millions” of them were scamming insurance companies. During a panel discussion about health care reform, Santorum argued that President Barack Obama’s health care reform law had damaged the health care system to the point that the Republican lawmakers could not “repeal and replace” it at the same time.

GOP proposal aims to end insurance mandate in ‘Obamacare’

A draft Republican bill replacing President Barack Obama’s health care law would end its Medicaid expansion, scrap fines on people not buying insurance and eliminate taxes on the medical industry and higher earners. Instead, it would create tax credits worth up to $4,000, allow bigger contributions to personal health savings accounts and impose a new levy on expensive health coverage some employees get at work.

Fact Check: Roy Blunt leaves out the context of Missouri’s health insurance coverage

As a Republican-controlled Congress continues to advance plans to defund and eventually dismantle former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, Missouri’s Sen. Roy Blunt has once again echoed his reasoning for supporting a repeal. “This year, 97 Missouri counties have only one insurer participating in the Obamacare exchanges,” the Republican said in a Jan. 11 press release.

U.S. uninsured rate hit record low last year

The nation’s uninsured rate tumbled further last year, hitting the lowest rate on record, according to new government data that underscored what is at stake in the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In the first nine months of 2016, just 8.8 percent of Americans lacked health coverage, survey data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.

Ap Fact Check: The audacity of hype

… coming off. In his first month, Obama signed a $787 billion stimulus package into law, as well as a law expanding health care for children and the Lilly Ledbetter bill on equal pay for women. Trump has vigorously produced executive orders, which …