The proposal would ensure no one who buys insurance on the exchanges pays more than 8.5% of income. It is part of the $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. But the Affordable Care Act revamp, largest in a decade, would expire in 2022.
obamacare
The ACA Marketplace Is Open Again for Insurance Sign-Ups. Here’s What You Need to Know.
In January, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to open up the federal health insurance marketplace for three months as of Monday so uninsured people can buy a plan and those who want to change their marketplace coverage can do so.
Obamacare Premiums Will Fall 4% and Number of Insurers Will Increase By a Third
The news comes despite the Trump administration’s persistent attempts to undermine the Affordable Care Act, which created the market with the goal of providing comprehensive health coverage at affordable prices and reducing the number of Americans without health insurance.
Federal Judge Strikes Down Entire Affordable Care Act, Putting Law In Peril–Again
Judge Reed C. O’Connor struck down the law, siding with Republican state attorneys general to say the tax bill passed by Congress last December effectively rendered the entire health law unconstitutional.
Voters in 3 Red States Approve Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion, Bringing Total to 36
Florida under Gov. Rick Scott repeatedly blocked Medicaid expansion, which provides benefits to all adults earning up to 38 percent above the federal poverty line, an annual income of $16,753 or less.
Obamacare Participants in Florida Will See Lowest Premium Increase In 8 Years
The rate increases are some of the lowest ever requested by Florida insurance companies since the federal health law passed in 2010.
Obamacare Out of ICU: Health Insurance Premiums Are Stabilizing Despite GOP Attacks
The improvements stem from less political uncertainty over health policy, steeper than necessary increases this year, and better understanding of the markets.
America’s Pre-Existing Condition
Florida is among the states suing to end the requirement that people with pre-existing conditions be covered by insurers. It’s the latest cynical attempt to end Obamacare.
Ding Dong! The Obamacare Tax Penalty Is(n’t) Dead–Not Until 2019
That means you still will owe an Obamacare tax penalty if you didn’t have health insurance or an exemption from the mandate in 2017. The same holds true for this year.
For All The Talk Of Obamacare Imploding, ACA Enrollment Is “Remarkably Stable”
ACA plan enrollment ticked downward this year but states running their own marketplaces saw slight gains and did better than those relying on the federal exchange.
O Canada: Can a Single-Payer Health-Insurance System Work in the United States?
American support for government-run, single-payer health care, once a fringe opinion, is picking up momentum, with doctors and patients increasingly supportive,
Despite Compressed Sign-Up Period, ACA Enrollment Nearly Matches Last Year’s
A day after Trump said the Affordable Care Act “has been repealed,” 8.8 million Americans had signed up for coverage on the federal insurance exchange in 2018.
Obamacare Enrollment Opens Wednesday For 5th Year: 5 Things You Should Know
Despite the efforts of President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress, the Affordable Care Act is still the law of the land. But there are changes.
Trump Blows Up Obamacare Subsidies: What You Need To Know
Some of Trump’s actions could have an immediate effect on the enrollment for 2018 ACA coverage that starts Nov. 1. Here are five things you should know.
What You Should Know About Trump’s Rollback Of Contraception Coverage
The rules will make sweeping changes to the law’s requirement that most employers provide coverage of birth control with no out-of-pocket costs to women.
That Last-Ditch Effort By Republicans To Replace ACA: What You Need To Know
While the chances for this last-ditch measure appear iffy, many GOP senators are rallying around a proposal that would repeal most of the ACA.
Uninsured Rate Falls To Record Low Of 8.8%, But Florida’s Rate Still 5th Highest in U.S.
Florida’s rate of uninsured would have been lower had Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature not prevented the federally-funded expansion of Medicaid.
Next Stations of the Cross In Obamacare’s Near-Death Experiences: Debate and Amendments
Senators are limited to 20 hours of debate, following which numberless amendments may be introduced–but not debated. It may get messy and difficult to follow.
Patriotic Millionaire: There’s No ‘Free Market’ Solution to Health Care
Republican leaders claim they want affordable access to quality health care for all. It can’t be done by lowering taxes on businesses and the rich and letting the market run it all.
Latest Republican Health Bill Cuts Costs At Expense of People With Pre-Existing Conditions
The proposal would let insurers sell health coverage outside the ACA exchanges with no provisions for prescription drugs, mental illness, hospitalization or almost any other benefit.
In Palm Coast, A Small Protest Against GOP Health Bill Echoes Myriad Anxieties of Flesh and Blood
It wasn’t a large protest but every person gathered in support of Obamacare had a story to tell that looked past ideology to the human beings behind the numbers, and all those stories were local.
The GOP Senate Bill’s Hollow Promise To Protect Coverage For Preexisting Conditions
Built into the bill are loopholes for states to bypass protections and erode coverage for preexisting conditions, so insurers could cover chronically ill people but not the diseases they suffer from.
In Latest Polling, Obamacare Beats Trumpcare, 49-31, With Little Support For Means-Testing
The health overhaul bill passed by the House earlier this month accomplishes one major feat: It is even less popular than the not-very-popular Affordable Care Act.
GOP Defends Health Bill With Euphemisms, False Statements and Deleted Comments
Since the passage of the American Health Care Act, Republican members of Congress have tried to swing public opinion to their side, but through deceptive means.
Time Is Running Out For “Repeal and Replace” As Scandal and Summer Loom
Budget procedures, the fact that half the states’ legislatures have already adjourned is making it almost impossible for Congress to fit repeal of the Affordable Health Act just yet.
It Would Be Up to Florida to Dismantle Obamacare Protections If GOP Bill Advances
Unless the legislation fails or changes substantially, many consumers across the country could see the amount they pay every year for premiums increase by thousands of dollars, making coverage effectively unaffordable.
Preexisting Condition: How Health Care Wrangle May Play Out Over Obamacare Repeal
As Trump pushes for a bill, the latest snag is over whether people with preexisting health conditions should have guaranteed access to affordable coverage, as the ACA mandates.
GOP Plan Scraps Individual Mandate Only to Create New, 30% Penalty For Laggards
The GOP approach is called a “continuous coverage” penalty. It increases premiums for people who buy insurance if they have gone 63 consecutive days without a policy during the past 12 months.
Lawmakers’ Letters to Constituents on Health Care Are Full of Lies and Misinformation
As the GOP tries to rewrite–or “repeal and replace–the Affordable Care Act, lawmakers in both parties are incorrectly citing statistics, making false claims and leaving out important context in letters to constituents.
Ron DeSantis’s First Principle: Do Harm
Obamacare repealer Rep. Ron DeSantis, whose congressional district includes Flagler, has a solution for cancer patients without insurance: the emergency room. A few corrections are in order.
Support for Obamacare Reaches Record, Putting Repeal-Minded Lawmakers In a Bind
Overall support for the health law ticked up to 48 percent in February, the highest point since shortly after it passed in 2010. That was a 5-point increase since the last poll in December.
Health Savings Accounts Gain GOP Favor as Obamacare Sub; Gimmickry May Hurt Most
Expanding the use of such accounts, greatly favored by Wall Street, is part of almost every GOP replacement plan under consideration on Capitol Hill. But less well off people and the sick would not likely benefit.
Trump On Your Side? Repealing Obamacare Is a Tax Break For Rich at Poors’ Expense
If Obama’s health law is reversed, taxes will go down for the rich and up for the poor, while millions lose coverage. It is redistribution for the wealthy.
From Women’s Ob-Gyn Rights to ER Cost Controls, 6 Items That Could Disappear With Obamacare Repeal
Some of these Obamacare measures enjoy broad support and are taken for granted even though people often don’t realize they spring from the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans are working to repeal.
Only 20 Percent Of Americans Support Health Law Repeal Without Replacement Plan
More than a third of those said they would not want the law repealed after being told that some people with preexisting health problems would no longer be able to get insurance.
Assume Obamacare Is Repealed. What Then?
Republicans have also pledged to repeal the taxes that Democrats used to pay for their health law. Without that funding, Republicans will have far less money to spend on whatever they opt for as a replacement.
With Florida leading the Way, Obamacare Enrollment Jumps Despite Trump Threats
Despite the Affordable Care Act’s rising prices, decreased insurer participation and a vigorous political threat to its survival, consumer enrollment for 2017 is outpacing last year’s.
How Trump’s Health Secretary Will Alter Policy from Obamacare to Abortion to Birth Control
Tom Price, a Georgia physician who opposes the Affordable Care Act, abortion and funding for Planned Parenthood, among other things, could have a rapid impact without even a presidential order or an act of Congress.
Opting Out of Obamacare: When Penalties Are Preferable to Unaffordable Premiums
Amid the uncertain future of Obamacare in a Trump administration, some resisters are feeling vindicated and other consumers simply don’t see the need to sign up.
Florida Insurers Requesting an Average 17.7% Rate Increase in Obamacare Plans for 2017
While the requested increases for Florida vary from zero to 40 percent, all requested increases for silver plans are under 14 percent, and half are under 3 percent.
Three Changes You Can Expect In Next Year’s Obamacare Coverage
Ahead: more warning about “surprise” medical bills from out-of-network providers, more standardized out-of-pocket costs and better information about the size of the insurers’ network of doctors and hospitals.
Health Insurers Moving to Undermine Obamacare By Limiting Enrollment
major insurers are seeking to sharply limit how policies are sold to individuals in ways that consumer advocates say seem to discriminate against the sickest and could hold down future enrollment.
Sanders Revives Talk of Single-Payer System, Contrasting Differences With Clinton
Sanders’ main rival for the nomination, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has criticized the plan for raising taxes on the middle class and said it is politically unattainable.
Even Liberals Should Concede:
Obamacare Is Not Working
Between the rapacity of insurers, GOP assaults and its own flaws, the Affordable Care Act is failing its promise to curb costs and make insurance coverage affordable. Republicans have no alternative. But a better one already exists.
Small Businesses to Obamacare’s SHOP Option: Not Interested
Nationally, about 85,000 people have coverage through the online marketplace known as the Small Business Health Options Program, less than a tenth of original projections.
Citing Abuse, Cigna Pulls Out of Florida Health Marketplace, Affecting 30,000 Clients
Individuals can still enroll in a Cigna plan by seeing an insurance agent. But enrollment through the Marketplace, which begins Nov. 1, is the only way to obtain tax credits that subsidize the cost of premiums.
2.8 Million Floridians Still Uninsured Even as Just 20% Fall in Medicaid Gap
It’s 1.1 million fewer than in 2013, but almost a third of the uninsured are eligible for Obamacare but haven’t enrolled, 15% have chosen not to enroll in employee-provided health care, and the rest are uninsured for a variety of other reasons.
8.8 Million More People Got Health Insurance Last Year, Largely Due to Obamacare
The increase, due to the Affordable Care Act, is unprecedented since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid 50 years ago. Expanding Medicaid–as Florida did not–would have added to the ranks of the insured even more.
Florida Doubles Rates For 36,000 KidCare Full Pay Children, and Blames Obamacare
Thousands of parents were slammed with new rates with less than a month to pay, though they’ll have a chance to leave Florida’s plan for Obamacare in a special enrollment period.
Affordable Care Act Becoming Less Affordable as Florida Insurers Prepare Big Rate Hikes
If 1.6 million more Floridians have insurance thanks to Obamacare, sticker shocks keep coming as insurers have submitted 14 rate-hike requests to state regulators.