Nearly 8 in 10 Americans say President Donald Trump should be trying to make the health law work, according to poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. This includes large majorities of Democrats (95 percent) as well as half of Republicans (52 percent) and President Trump’s supporters (51 percent).
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Wait, I thought Obamacare was supposed to solve the problem of access to affordable health coverage—especially for older Americans! Are Democrats now saying their signature legislation has made the problem worse?
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) has introduced the “Medicare at 55 Act” to allow Americans aged 55-64 to buy into the Medicare health insurance program. Seven other Democrats are original co-sponsors of the legislation.
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The collapse of the Senate’s repeal-and-replace effort does not mean that Congress should give up on health reform. Health costs are spiraling upward because of Obamacare. The American people need relief.
Congress must give it to them, even if it has to do so in piecemeal fashion. Together with some strategic executive actions from the Trump administration, a more gradual plan of attack would achieve far more than “skinny” repeal could have hoped to.
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The ACA is dead, long live the ACA. At a time when it seems that all we hear about in healthcare revolves around the political folly of legislating healthcare, there has been little attention paid to the underlying crisis that threatens access, quality and cost; a workforce that is exhausted, depressed, and clinically, burnt out.
This problem has been lurking behind all the grandstanding of repeal and replace and has been evolving and increasing at an alarming rate. Burnout, in this case, is defined as a syndrome characterized by a loss of enthusiasm for work (emotional exhaustion), a feeling of cynicism (depersonalization), and a low sense of personal accomplishment.
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The conservative House Freedom Caucus on Friday is planning a move to try and force a vote on an ObamaCare repeal bill.
A spokeswoman for the group said members plan to file a “discharge petition,” which would force a vote on a repeal bill if it gets signatures from a majority of the House.
The move is usually used to go around leadership and try to bring up a measure to the floor for a vote.
The plan comes as the Freedom Caucus, and some other Republicans, are pushing to keep the repeal effort alive, despite the Senate’s failed vote last month.
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If a bipartisan compromise is to be reached on health reform, it must go beyond the immediate crisis and (relatively) simple fixes that get the most attention in Washington. Bipartisan discussion should focus on stabilizing the market in the short run, improving support for the middle class, striking a compromise on Medicaid expansion and reform, exploring alternatives the individual mandate, improving the ACA’s delivery system reform agenda, repealing the IPAB, and making Consumer-Directed Health Plans available to all individual insurance market enrollees.
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The second-lowest silver plan is one of the most popular plan choices on the marketplace and is also the benchmark that is used to determine the amount of financial assistance individuals and families receive. Based on preliminary 2018 rate filings, the second-lowest silver premium for a 40-year-old non-smoker will range from $244 in Detroit, MI to $631 in Wilmington, DE, before accounting for the tax credit that most enrollees in this market receive.
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The individual market shrank by 15% between March 2016 and March 2017, including a 25% decline among unsubsidized policyholders. The individual market is not “sound.” Because of rising premiums, millions of people who are not receiving subsidies can no longer afford to buy individual policies, and millions more may forfeit their policies in the next round of rate hikes.
Relinquishing at least some regulatory authority to the states might produce more functional markets where insurers can offer consumers the coverage they want at a price they can afford.
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A prominent and unlikely group of liberal and conservative health experts have authored an ambitious plan to fix the Affordable Care Act — and they plan to make a hard push for their ideas on Capitol Hill. The plan is notable because it has the support of especially well-connected health advisers on both sides of the aisle.
This new plan would aim to bring more stability to the Obamacare marketplaces by securing funding for key health law subsidies and ensuring strong enforcement of the individual mandate. In a nod to conservative priorities, it would also allow states more flexibility to pursue experimental waivers and higher contributions to tax-advantaged health savings accounts.
Signatories include: Joseph Antos, Stuart Butler, Lanhee Chen, John McDonough, Ron Pollack, Sara Rosenbaum, Grace-Marie Turner, Vikki Wachino, Gail Wilensky
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Unlike the double-digit percentage rate hikes individuals purchasing coverage under the Affordable Care Act will see next year, those with coverage at large employers will face single-digit increases, a new national survey of large employers shows.
The National Business Group on Health said Tuesday the percentage increase large companies will see next year is similar to 5% cost increases employers have experienced for five years.
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