Category: Health Insurance

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.

Politics fire up late-night

Not even two months into Donald J. Trump’s presidency, and it’s clear his administration and the conservative tilt in Washington has fired up the monologues of late-night television. On Tuesday, for example, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel took a jab at the just-unveiled and much-anticipated health-care plan by House Republicans: “This is the one that’s supposed to replace Obamacare, they’re calling it the American Health Care Act.

Trump tests dealmaker image to sell healthcare bill

President Donald Trump has launched a charm offensive of the type not seen before in his brief and chaotic tenure, forcefully rallying behind legislation to repeal the Obamacare healthcare law while trying to placate the bill’s opponents. U.S. President Donald Trump walks from Marine One as he returns to the White House in Washington, U.S., March 5, 2017.

Meadows Pushes Changes in Obamacare Repeal Bill

Despite increasing pressure from the White House and congressional leaders, Rep. Mark Meadows isn’t backing down from his opposition to House Republicans’ legislation repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, seeking significant changes to bring conservatives on board. Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, and conservative colleagues in both the House and Senate have raised major objections in the days following the release of the long-awaited health care replacement, putting in question Republicans’ ability to pass the legislation.

These are the issues with GOP’s plan to replace Obamacare

House Speaker Paul Ryan holds up a copy of the American Health Care Act – legislation to replace Obamacare – during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. As the sure to be heated legislative fight over the replacement of Obamacare gets under way, both Democrats and Republicans have expressed concerns about the bill.

Repair, don’t repeal

After years of demanding a nix and a fix of President Obama’s signature legislation on health insurance, a Republican president and Congress are finally getting their chance. House Speaker Paul Ryan.

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.”

Conservative are railing against the GOP’s healthcare bill as…

Conservative Republicans, groups, and media outlets are not happy with the House GOP leadership’s plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. The right-leaning entities have dubbed the new plan – officially named the American Health Care Act – “Obamacare-lite” because it preserves what they consider to be objectionable parts of the Affordable Care Act.

Columbus reacts to potential healthcare changes as GOP promises to replace ACA

As Congress prepares to debate over this potential health care replacement, we talked to concerned citizens, getting their thoughts on what should stay or go on their health insurance. The question on their minds is how and when will the new bill affect them, considering this new bill could potentially affect 20 million people nationwide who now have health insurance with aid from the Affordable Care Act.

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Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events Republicans’ new health-care bill is a mass transfer of wealth that cuts taxes for the wealthiest Americans while cutting federal benefits for the middle and working class. Just two provisions in the Republican plan would allow the richest households to pay an average of nearly $200,000 less under the Republican plan, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

House Republican plan would create Obamacare cliff for 2020 presidential election

House Republicans on Monday released their long-awaited healthcare bill, but the plan would only repeal major parts of Obamacare starting in 2020 – when the political world will be engulfed in the next presidential election. This implementation timeline raises major questions about whether, if Republicans were able to overcome the current legislative hurdles and pass this plan into law, its version of repeal would actually ever go into effect.

Casino industry to Congress: Uphold gambling disorders

The casino industry asked Congress on Tuesday to retain gambling disorders as a serious public health matter in any changes it makes to President Obama’s signature health care law. Industry representatives in a letter urged congressional leaders and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to recognize gambling disorders as an issue that merits inclusion in any replacement to the Affordable Care Act.

Nolan hears ACA repeal concerns32 min ago

Nathan Moracco , assistant commissioner of Health Care at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, speaks as Head of the Lakes United Way president Matt Hunter and Sarah Wovcha with Children’s Health Services listens during a healthcare forum organized by the Head of the Lakes United Way in the Underground at the Depot in Duluth on Friday … (more)

Democrats in speech rebuttal say Trump will ‘rip’ away care

In this Dec. 1, 2015 file photo, then-Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear speaks in Louisville, Ky. Beshear took a populist tenor in Democrats’ formal response to President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017, accusing him of planning to “rip affordable health insurance” from Americans and being “Wall Street’s champion.”

Trump urges insurers to work together to “save Americans from Obamacare”

President Donald Trump met with major health insurers Monday morning, in the midst of intensifying public pressure to preserve the law and political divisions over how to best dismantle and replace former President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, the Affordable Care Act. The meeting included leaders from Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Humana, UnitedHealth Group, Aetna, Anthem, Kaiser Permanente and the industry lobbying group, America’s Health Insurance Plans.

Cost of the Cadillac: The Obamacare story reporters are missing

In the deluge of recent media stories about who will lose if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act , one crucial provision has received short shrift from journalists: the so-called Cadillac tax, written into the law as a way to raise money for government subsidies for the uninsured. The Cadillac tax, which will affect nearly everyone with employer-sponsored coverage when it takes effect in 2020, is currently the target of bipartisan repeal efforts.

Report warns of gaps if federal health care dollars are cut

A sobering report to governors about the potential consequences of repealing the Obama-era health care law warns that federal spending cuts probably would create funding gaps for states and threaten many people with the loss of insurance coverage. The Affordable Care Act has two main components for expanding coverage: subsidized private health insurance available in all 50 states, and an optional Medicaid expansion that has been accepted by 31 states and the District of Columbia.

Report: State money fallout from law repeal

A sobering report to governors about the potential consequences of repealing the Obama-era health care law warns that federal spending cuts probably would create funding gaps for states and threaten many people with the loss of insurance coverage. The Affordable Care Act has two main components for expanding coverage: subsidized private health insurance available in all 50 states, and an optional Medicaid expansion that has been accepted by 31 states and the District of Columbia.

It turns out Obamacare has staying power

House Speaker Paul Ryan listens to questions from reporters during news conference on Feb. Questions included the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. What’s the holdup, House Republicans? During the Obama administration, you passed literally dozens of bills to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act – knowing that none had any chance of being signed into law.

Three ways Republicans want to replace Obamacare

House GOP members met Thursday to hear more from committee leaders about efforts to replace the massive health reform law. In a presentation, Representatives Greg Walden of Oregon and Kevin Brady of Texas explained how the party wants to overhaul America’s health care system through the use of tax credits, health savings accounts and changes to Medicaid funding, among other measures.

Editorial: Kansas should expand Medicaid

Kansas is one of only 19 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and it’s long past time for the Legislature to extend health coverage to 150,000 low-income Kansans by passing House Bill 2064. After three days of testimony from advocates and opponents of expansion in front of the House Health and Human Services Committee, one thing is clear: There are far too many uninsured Kansans who have to live with the grim knowledge that any serious health issue could ruin them.

Even If You Expect Obamacare To Be Repealed, Don’t Skip Paying Tax Penalty Now

As Republicans move to overhaul the health law, should people bother paying the penalty for not having health insurance when they file their taxes this year? Or will they be able to sign up on the exchange for 2018 after their COBRA benefits end? I didn’t have health insurance for part of last year and thought I’d get stuck paying a penalty. Now the new administration is talking about not enforcing the insurance requirement.

West Slope should get a say in health reform

This is the year Obamacare would have permitted a state to apply for a waiver to pursue innovative strategies for providing residents with access to high-quality, affordable health insurance while retaining the basic protections of the Affordable Care Act. It appears, however, that the opportunity to experiment with an alternative to Obamacare with the full backing of the federal government is winding down.

Kids will fall through the cracks with Obamacare repeal – what’s Trump’s Plan B?: Joan Benso and Denise Salerno

Kids will fall through the cracks with Obamacare repeal – what’s Trump’s Plan B?: Joan Benso and Denise Salerno Molly Brechtel, at left, and Daniel Doubet join about 15 protestors gathered at the Federal Courthouse in Erie, Pa., on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, to deliver signatures to U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who has an office at the courthouse. The protestors urged Toomey not to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement.