Many enrolling in health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act’s 2016 health policies will face higher premiums, higher out-of-pocket costs, fewer doctors, and skimpier coverage this year. Federal officials are encouraging people to evaluate their options and consider switching plans to try to keep costs in check. However, a review from the Wall Street Journal shows that shopping around may not help, especially for those who don’t qualify for subsidies.
Beginning in December of 2016, restaurants with more than 20 locations will be required to provide calorie information on their menus as part of the multi-stage Obamacare rule roll-out. While big chain restaurants and their large-scale suppliers like Coca-Cola or Budweiser will be able to follow this rule relatively easily, this could effectively ban craft beer from these establishments as smaller breweries struggle to comply.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the ObamaCare health insurance exchanges are still easily tricked by fake Social Security numbers and immigration details, even more than one year after the weakness was first pointed out. The GAO also found that many have been double-covered by private insurance and Medicaid after enrolling in an exchange plan. “Our undercover testing for the 2015 coverage year found that the health care marketplace eligibility determination and enrollment process remains vulnerable to fraud,” said Seto Bagdoyan of GAO’s Forensic and Investigative Service wrote a testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee.