Obamacare’s health coverage programs remain works in progress, with 19 states continuing to refuse the law’s Medicaid expansion for the poorest uninsured and financial difficulties facing some major insurance companies participating in the exchange marketplaces where low- and middle-income households buy subsidized private insurance. But when it comes to covering the uninsured, the law has…
Tag: aca
TRP News – Progressive News & Information – June 29, 2015
TRP News with James Andre. This week Fast Track has passed and been sent to the President, the Islamic State turns one year old and calls for a month of disaster, SCOTUS hands down several important decisions including same sex marriage, the Iran talks overrun but are said to be near completion, and the politics…
TRP News – Progressive News & Information – March 9, 2015
TRP News with James Andre. This week we have updates on the Supreme Court Affordable Care Act case and ISIS, a discussion of U.S. financial aid to Israel, and I try to answer the question ‘Why vote?’ LINKS ISIS http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-rules-revealed-foosballs-fine-ak-47s-women-leaving-not-n316026 http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/07/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-isis/ ISRAEL http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-27/israel-lobbies-for-more-missile-defense-funds-than-obama-sought SCOTUS http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/02/obamacare-supreme-court_n_6783894.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statutory_interpretation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_intent DISPUTED SECTION of the ACA ‘SEC. 36B. REFUNDABLE…
Meet the Unusual Plaintiffs Behind the Supreme Court Case That Could Destroy Obamacare
On March 4, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in King v. Burwell, a lawsuit designed by conservative advocates to destroy Obamacare. If the plaintiffs prevail, about 8 million people could lose their health insurance. Premiums are likely to skyrocket by 35 percent or more, threatening coverage for millions of others. Health policy experts…
Cross-State Health Plans Prove Popular But Unsuccessful
Despite the potential to make more money, companies haven’t jumped at the opportunity in states that have lowered barriers. Insurance department officials in Georgia, Maine and Wyoming told Governing that no out-of-state insurers have expressed interest, and no such policies have been sold. Denise Burke, a senior policy and planning analyst with Wyoming’s insurance department, suspects…
$11 a month? Obamacare super-cheap for some, feds find
Bare-bones health insurance could cost just $11 a month for a family of four in Indianapolis on the federal governments new exchanges, which start serving customers next week. A similar family in New Orleans might pay as little as $23 a month, although they’d have to shell out $282 for a more generous “silver” plan,…
The Biggest Myth About Obamacare
When Congress wrote the law known as the Affordable Care Act, their idea was to maintain Americans current health coverage as much as possible, to boost consumer protections in the health insurance market for individuals, and to cover the uninsured. That doesnt mean all workers will keep what they have. The Congressional Budget Office predicts…
GOP Congressman Pushes For Obamacare Repeal: “This is not a Democracy”
Doug Collins, representative from Georgia came on Politics Nation and it was no surprise when he started spouting the typical one-sided nonsense about how they weren’t shutting down the government and were in fact funding the government – as long as it didn’t include the affordable care act. Nothing shocking there, but what may have…
Florida Among States Undercutting Health Care Enrollment
As many states prepare to introduce a linchpin of the 2010 health care law — the insurance exchanges designed to make health care more affordable — a handful of others are taking the opposite tack: They are complicating enrollment efforts and limiting information about the new program. Chief among them is Florida, where Gov. Rick…
48 Million Americans Remain Uninsured, Census Bureau Reports
The rate of uninsured Americans dropped slightly for the second consecutive year in 2012, from 15.7 percent to 15.4 percent, largely a result of more people enrolling in Medicare and Medicaid, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The closely-watched report found that about 48 million Americans were uninsured in 2012, down from 48.6 million in…
Republicans Like The Affordable Care Act More Than Obamacare
Republicans like the 2010 health care law better when its called by its proper name — the Affordable Care Act — instead of Obamacare, according to a new Fox News poll. Republican support for the law jumped eight percent, from 14 percent for Obamacare to 22 percent for the Affordable Care Act, when pollsters…
The GOP’s dangerous Obamacare strategy
In today’s New York Times, Jonathan Weisman and Robert Pear report on a peculiar problem faced by the Affordable Care Act: Republicans who’re unable to repeal it also refuse to permit any tweaks or technical correction that would help it work better. In fact, they’re creating new problems by withholding implementation funds. This is…
Medicaid Opinions: Several State Leaders Come In For Heat For Not Moving Toward Expansion
Editorials and columnists in several papers around the country pressed officials toward accepting a Medicaid expansion and offered suggestions about implementation. Also, comments continued about a recent study on Medicaid. Los Angeles Times: A Public Health Compromise For California The Legislature is poised to offer health insurance to millions of additional low-income Californians, with…
Health Insurance To Provide Easy-To-Understand Plan Summaries
On Monday, a health law provision goes into effect that requires insurance companies to provide user-friendly guides that provide explanations of plan benefits that will be as clear and easy to understand as the nutrition facts provided on food packages. Reuters: Health Insurers Begin To Provide User-Friendly Plan Guides The Obama administration on Monday began…
Obamacare Is Working
Despite predictions from opponents that Obamacare was going to take away your private health care and force everyone into government coverage, the numbers show definitively that’s not happening. For the first time in a decade, the rate of private health insurance coverage didn’t go down. The biggest beneficiaries of the new law are young people…
Romneys Shifting Stance On Health Law Makes Waves
The GOP presidential nominee’s comments Sunday that he would keep parts of the health law triggered questions about how he would cover those with pre-existing conditions, and reinforced doubts within his own party about his commitment to repealing the overhaul. Campaign aides attempted to clarify the comments. The New York Times: It Will Be Tricky…
The Health Care Law is Saving Americans Money
Last September, we also put in place new rules that ensure that every single rate increase of 10 percent or more is reviewed on either the state or federal level. For the first time, we have been able to guarantee Americans that no matter what state they live in, insurers will no longer be able…
Romney-Ryan Medicare Plan Would Cost 29-Year-Olds $331,200: Report
If Romney becomes president and repeals the Affordable Care Act as promised, then retirement would cost $11,100 more for the average 65-year-old and $18,600 more for the average 55-year-old because of higher Medicare premiums and drug costs, according to a report from Harvard economist David Cutler, an Obamacare architect, and the Center for American Progress….
Preserving and Strengthening Medicare
In this week’s address, President Obama spoke to the American people about the critical need to strengthen and preserve Medicare for our seniors and future generations, because those who have worked hard throughout their lives should not lose their homes or life savings just because they get sick. Through the President’s Affordable Care Act, nearly…
CBO Confirms: The Health Care Law Reduces the Deficit
This afternoon, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its latest look at the Affordable Care Act – the health care law. This report affirms that repealing the health care law would deny tax credits for millions of middle class families and result in higher deficits and fewer Americans with insurance. Once again, the Congressional Budget…