This week’s health policy news roundup curated by Jane M. Orient, MD: One of the fundamental design flaws (or is it a feature?) of the [Un]Affordable Care Act (ACA or ObamaCare) is the tax on the healthy. Those who have to buy coverage on the individual market or are uninsured—but in good health—must pay more, […]
Marilyn Singleton, MD, JD reviews the latest health policy news and proposals from Capitol Hill. Twenty States Sue Federal Government to Repeal the ACA On February 26, 2018, a coalition of 20 U.S. states sued the federal government arguing that the Affordable Care Act was no longer constitutional after the repeal last year of its […]
Marilyn Singleton, MD, JD wraps up Congress’ 2017—and looks at what’s ahead for early-2018—in her last legislative update of the year. All eyes over the last several weeks have been on tax reform. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is now signed into law and will take effect on January 1, 2018. Nevertheless, some specifically […]
This week’s health policy roundup, curated by Dr. Jane M. Orient. President Trump claims it did, and its opponents say it has destroyed the “centerpiece”—the individual mandate. In 2019, the IRS can no longer penalize people for not having an ObamaCare-compliant health plan. Repealing this provision is estimated to “give” Republicans $338 billion over a […]
The individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA or ObamaCare) mandate “represented a grand bargain between the government and the insurance industry,” writes Doug Badger. “Insurers agreed not to base premiums on applicants’ medical conditions, and in exchange, the government agreed to subsidize premiums and penalize the uninsured. In theory, the threat of tax […]
This week’s ObamaCare news roundup, curated by Jane M. Orient, M.D. Premiums for a benchmark plan (the second-lowest cost silver plan) for a 27-year-old are doubling from $2,616 in the first year of the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “ObamaCare”) to $4,932, for the plan year 2018. The average premium increase for this plan is […]
The latest health care legislation on Capitol Hill, reviewed by Marilyn Singelton, MD, JD. Two Temporary Health Care Measures On October 18, 2017, Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) release their draft of the Health Care Stabilization Act of 2017. The bill’s purpose is to stabilize individual market premiums for the 2018 and 2019 […]
This week’s health policy news roundup curated by Jane M. Orient, M.D. | Roundup Archive Obamacare repeal is on the brink of coming back from the dead,” says Politico, referring to the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson (GCHJ) bill. Republican leaders will push it in great haste because of the September 30 deadline, the last day when the budget […]
This week’s Health Policy News Roundup curated by Jane M. Orient, M.D. In just two months, the situation with ObamaCare has gone from terrible to nearly unrecoverable, writes Justin Haskins. According to CMS projections, the number of counties expected to have only one health insurance carrier in the Exchange in 2018 is 1,478, an astounding […]
The latest legislative update from Marilyn Singleton, MD, JD: It has been quiet on the health care scene since the epic fail of the Senate’s half-hearted attempt to pass a “repeal and replace” healthcare bill. On May 4, 2017 the House passed the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA). The vote was initially scheduled […]