Recent Articles

California is moving to become the first state to allow unauthorized immigrants to purchase insurance through the state exchange. The state Assembly voted Tuesday to open up Covered California to immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who want to purchase a health plan with their own funds. SB 10, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Ricardo…

Republican lawmakers crafting alternatives to Obamacare face a fundamental decision: whether to focus on expanding coverage or containing costs. Their choice may be driven, at least in part, by budget scorekeepers. The Congressional Budget Office released a report in December 2008 on key issues in analyzing major health-care proposals. Included was a chart projecting individuals’ willingness to enroll…

Will ObamaCare be a top issue in this fall’s presidential and congressional campaigns? Republicans better make it one if they want to prevail. The continuing unpopularity of President Obama’s signature domestic achievement gives Republicans an enormous opportunity. Only 39.2% of Americans favor ObamaCare in the Real Clear Politics average of recent polls; nearly half, 48.8%,…

UnitedHealthcare will stop offering Affordable Care Act plans in Illinois in 2017, the Tribune confirmed Tuesday. The departure of the insurance company will reduce the number of coverage options for consumers in 27 counties. UnitedHealthcare announced in April that it would pull out of nearly all of the ACA exchanges because of heavier-than-expected losses from…

House Republicans and the Obama administration are clashing over subpoenas for ObamaCare documents. Republicans are upping the pressure on the administration, saying officials are withholding documents that Congress has every right to see. At issue are two separate portions of ObamaCare. One is the Basic Health Program, which states can choose to implement and is aimed…

Fresh problems for “Obamacare”: The largest health insurer in Texas wants to raise its rates on individual policies by an average of nearly 60 percent, a new sign that President Barack Obama’s overhaul hasn’t solved the problem of price spikes. Texas isn’t alone. Citing financial losses under the health care law, many insurers around the…

Yesterday, the New York Times detailed the highly irregular manner preceding the administration’s decision to make the CSR payments once Congress refused to grant the White House’s request for an appropriation. Despite strong disagreements over the legality of these payments among IRS employees, top political appointees with the administration, including then-Attorney General Eric Holder and…

The not-for-profit insurers that are planned to form the backbone of the Obamacare exchanges, including the Blues health plans, reported yesterday that they lost a lot of money in the first quarter of 2016. It was the same day that United Healthcare announced that it was pulling out entirely from the California exchanges–a state that…

 On May 23, 2016. Congressman Pete Sessions (R. Texas) and Senator Bill Cassidy (R. La.), introduced the “Healthcare Accessibility, Empowerment, and Liberty Act of 2016,” (HAELA). The HAELA is a bold and unconventional proposal. It is 117 pages long  — far shorter than the ACA, but also far less comprehensive in its reach. Unlike most Republican…

House Republicans say that the Obama administration is ignoring subpoenas for documents related to ObamaCare spending they call illegal. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tuesday calling on it to comply. The committees…