“It wasn’t supposed to work this way, but since the Affordable Care Act took effect in January, Norton Hospital has seen its packed emergency room become even more crowded, with about 100 more patients a month.
That 12 percent spike in the number of patients — many of whom aren’t actually facing true emergencies — is spurring the Louisville hospital to convert a waiting room into more exam rooms.”
“A huge new paperwork headache for the government could also be jeopardizing coverage for some of the millions of people who just got health insurance under President Barack Obama’s law.
A government document provided to The Associated Press indicates that at least 2 million people enrolled for taxpayer-subsidized private health insurance have data discrepancies in their applications that, if unresolved, could affect what they pay for coverage, or even their legal right to benefits.”
“About 2 million people enrolled in Obamacare exchanges submitted information that doesn’t match up with federal records, potentially jeopardizing the coverage and federal subsidies for some of them, the Obama administration said Wednesday afternoon.”
“There were 65 million people in Medicaid by the end of April, six million more than there had been on the eve of the launch of the health law, the Obama administration said Wednesday.
The success of the Affordable Care Act in growing Medicaid – a key aim of the 2010 law – is a main point of political debate. But figuring out how many actually signed up for the program for low-income Americans because of the law is complicated.”
“When it came time to renew his company’s health plan last fall, Jerry Eledge found himself in a bind that many small-business owners know all too well.
On one hand, “it’s kind of a moral obligation” to offer insurance, said Mr. Eledge, who runs Community Quick Care, a growing chain of primary health care clinics in the Nashville area. And yet, premiums for his existing plan were going up 20 percent, while other group plans promised as much as a 50 percent increase, even as deductibles and co-pays were becoming less generous. “We found no really good alternatives for 2014 at all,” he said. “Before Gary came along, we weren’t sure what we were going to do.”
“More than 1 million people may be in jeopardy of paying back a portion of their ObamaCare subsidies because of discrepancies between their applications and federal records.
And another roughly 966,000 have discrepancies related to citizenship or immigration status, according to federal health officials.”
“A new analysis from Avalere Health finds that consumers in exchanges receiving federal assistance to reduce their out-of-pocket costs may experience inconsistent reductions in spending depending on the plan they choose.”
“Regardless of whether Obamacare is “repealed and replaced” or “fixed”, the future of consumer-driven health care will be defined by how comfortably consumers operate in a market where financial pressures lead them to seek out more affordable, high quality providers—in or out of network. They won’t tolerate being left sick and told to fend for themselves with nothing but their credit cards.”
“House Republicans are pushing the Obama administration to release the names of federal officials involved in awarding grants to troubled health insurance exchanges around the country.
The letter from Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) furthers the GOP’s effort to investigate and criticize failed exchanges at the state level, including Cover Oregon and Maryland Health Connection.
Upton and several colleagues accused the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of spending $1.3 billion on seven marketplaces where serious problems persist.”
“At least 2.9 million Americans who signed up for Medicaid coverage as part of the health care overhaul have not had their applications processed, with some paperwork sitting in queues since last fall, according to a 50-state survey by CQ Roll Call.”