“Five states that launched health exchanges under the Affordable Care Act expect to spend as much as $240 million to fix their sites or switch to the federal marketplace, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows.”
“The cost to replace the Medicaid section of Nevada’s flawed online health insurance exchange will be $25 million, a state official told a legislative committee today.”
“Data reveal the deep challenge that Illinois, hospitals and insurance networks face to help many of the enrollees get their health under control and, in turn, hold down costs.”
“Switching to a federally supported state health exchange won’t be immediate and will bring added confusion for Nevada consumers during the transition into next year’s open enrollment period, an interim legislative committee was told Monday.”
“Two insurers selling health plans through Connecticut’s exchange want to raise rates by more than 10 percent next year, while a third wants to lower its premiums, according to proposals filed with the Connecticut Insurance Department.”
“More than 120,000 Arizona residents signed up for private health insurance during the first year of the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace.
But it’s the second year that analysts will scrutinize, to see whether health insurers increase rates or discontinue selling plans over the federal exchange.”
“Federal data released Monday show an increase in the average price hospitals charge to treat common conditions, with vascular procedures and chest-pain treatment showing some of biggest upticks.
The numbers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services include 2012 prices at 3,376 hospitals for the 100 most common inpatient stays by Medicare patients. It is the second year the agency has released such data, and it reflects $57 billion in payments from Medicare, the federal insurance program for the elderly and disabled.”
“Missouri is seeing a bigger decline in its Medicaid rolls than nearly any other state, a ranking that the administration of Gov. Jay Nixon attributes to an improving economy and critics blame on application snafus.”
“According to Politico, the Obama administration stop issuing monthly reports on enrollment in ObamaCare’s health insurance Exchanges. “Without regular reports,” Politico health care reporter Kyle Cheney writes, “it will be more difficult to gauge the trajectory of enrollment during critical months leading up to the 2014 elections. It’s also unclear as of now whether monthly reports will resume during the next enrollment period, which begins in November.” Charles Gaba of ACASignUps.net calls the decision “a bad move” and “a huge mistake””
“The bond of trust between patient and physician has always been the essential ingredient in medicine, assuring that the patient receives individual attention and the best possible medical care. Yet often lost in the seemingly endless debate over the Affordable Care Act is how the health-care bureaucracy, with its rigid procedures and regulations, undermines trust and degrades care. In my pediatric ophthalmology practice, I have experienced firsthand how government limits a doctor’s options and threatens the traditional doctor-patient bond.”