California’s state Senate recently passed a single-payer health-care bill, and we’re warming to the idea as an instructive experiment in progressive government. If Democrats believe the lesson of ObamaCare is that the government should have even more control over health care, then why not show how it would work in the liberal paradise?
The legislation guarantees free government-run health care for California’s 39 million residents—no co-pays, deductibles or insurance premiums—as well as virtually unlimited benefits.
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As Congress works to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health law, Kentucky Republican Gov. Matt Bevin is already at work unwinding some of its provisions in his state.
Mr. Bevin has dismantled the state’s health-insurance exchange, moving patients to the federal website last year. He has proposed introducing new conditions for recipients of Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor, that would require patients to pay premiums of up to $15 a month and perform employment-related or community-service activities, among other provisions
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GOP senators are trying to strike a balance that’s proving difficult: lowering healthcare insurance premiums for young adults while shielding older people from massive price hikes.
At issue is an ObamaCare provision that essentially caps how much insurers can charge older people for premiums.
Republicans want to raise that cap, saying it vastly undercharges older people for their healthcare services, creating higher costs for younger, healthier adults.
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Republican senators on Thursday urged Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to reverse an Obama-era regulation that places restrictions on short-term health insurance plans.
The plans do not contain the same comprehensive list of benefits mandated by Obamacare, instead allowing people to choose what they want covered. The greater the number of provisions, the higher the premiums tend to be.
In a letter to Price, 14 senators asked for the plans to go back to being allowed to cover people for 364 days. Customers are not allowed to be enrolled in short-term plans for more than 90 days because of a regulation created by former President Barack Obama.
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