Recent Articles

Obamacare health insurance plans limit consumers’ access to physicians and specialists, according to a new report.

Avalere Health, a strategic advisory firm, says average provider networks for plans offered on the health insurance exchanges created by Obamacare have about 34 percent fewer providers than the average commercial plan offered outside the exchange. The new data quantify anecdotal reports saying exchange networks include fewer providers than traditional commercial plans.

One of the health law’s key protections was to cap how much consumers can be required to pay out of pocket for medical care each year. Now some employers say the administration is unfairly changing the rules that determine how those limits are applied, and they’re worried it will cost them more.

To avoid the Affordable Care Act’s so-called “Cadillac tax” on rich benefit plans, companies are adding surcharges of $100 a month or more to wives and husbands of workers, hoping spouses will seek coverage elsewhere, new employer data shows.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in King v. Burwell, President Obama has claimed that Obamacare is working and here to stay.

In truth, the actual effect of the Supreme Court’s decision leaves Obamacare unchanged, and the law is certainly not working well.

Not only will Obamacare’s current political and operational problems continue, but new ones will crop up as more provisions of the law take effect.

Many Americans who bought health insurance through exchanges operated by states or the federal government have a good understanding of how their plan works, but also are afraid they can’t afford medical services, according to research published Monday by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

Starting in 2017, the Affordable Care Act will allow states to use waivers to pursue virtually any type of proposals for health care reform that they can imagine. It’s a huge opportunity for states interested in expanding or changing how health care is delivered.

But will anyone actually take advantage of it?

Gallup has just released a state-by-state report, concluding Medicaid expansion and establishing a state exchange almost doubled the reduction in uninsured. Of the two, I cannot imagine setting up a state exchange is a big factor, because beneficiaries get the same tax credits in state or federal Obamacare exchanges. Obamacare mostly increased Medicaid dependency.

– See more at: http://healthblog.ncpa.org/gallup-confirms-obamacare-increased-welfare-dependency/#sthash.nipMznZq.dpuf

It’s no secret that health care and insurance are complex. But just how complicated are they to navigate?

Take scheduling a doctor visit to have a rash checked out. Finding out what it will cost requires answering a series of questions: Is the doctor in your insurer’s network? Is the facility? What’s your copay for the visit? If you have a yearly deductible, how much of it have you already fulfilled? If the rash requires a procedure to treat it, will that require seeing a different doctor? If so, is that doctor in your insurer’s network?

Thousands of Louisianians who signed up for health insurance with the Louisiana Health Cooperative were abruptly notified last month the company would discontinue all coverage in 2016. It was likely surprising news to many of the 17,000 customers who relied upon the company to help pay for their health care needs.

It’s now clear that the actual impact of ObamaCare’s individual mandate tax penalty will be far worse than the benign intent that the Obama administration claimed.
“What we’re talking about is a penalty for the few people who will refuse to buy health insurance — even though they can afford it — and who expect the rest of us to pick up the tab for their care,” a September 2009 White House defense of the individual mandate states.