Democrats are accusing the Trump Administration of “sabotaging” Obama Care by discontinuing illegal subsidies to insurers, but last week even an Obama-appointed judge in California said otherwise. The ruling deserves more public attention. Federal Judge Vince Chhabria rejected and ridiculed a petition by 18 states to enjoin the White House from stopping cost-sharing reduction payments…
DetailsSuggestions to improve the bipartisan health care bill from Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) include: 1) Increase the threshold for requiring employers to offer health benefits to 200 full-time employees from the current 50; 2) Broaden the use of tax-advantaged accounts; 3) Add a provision creating a federal reinsurance fund to help…
DetailsIn an odd twist, low-income people in about half of U.S. counties will now be able to get a taxpayer-subsidized ACA policy for free. The Kaiser Family Foundation found that in 1,540 counties a hypothetical 40-year-old making $25,000 a year can get a basic “bronze” plan under the ACA next year for zero monthly premium.…
DetailsThe House and the Trump administration are asking to keep a pause on a years-long court battle over the legality of crucial ObamaCare payments to insurers, while Democratic attorneys general are seeking for the case to proceed. In 2014, the House sued the Obama administration, arguing it was funding key payments to insurers illegally, alleging…
DetailsPresident Donald Trump called Wednesday for repealing the Obamacare individual mandate in a tax overhaul, a day before House GOP leaders planned to unveil a bill without that provision. In a pair of tweets, Trump said: “Wouldn’t it be great to Repeal the very unfair and unpopular Individual Mandate in ObamaCare and use those savings…
DetailsHere’s a strange paradox: Health-care costs have increased by an unsustainable rate of about 8.5% each year over the past decade, according to PwC’s Health Research Institute. Already, the average employer-based family health insurance plans costs more than $18,000 annually. But Medicare spending has been relatively stable. Over the past three years, the program’s payouts to hospitals…
DetailsThe Oct. 26 editorial “Health-care reform that pays off” unfairly maligned a bill introduced by two committee chairmen as “dismantling major pieces of Obamacare.” It does nothing of the sort. Like the bill proposed by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) that the editorial praised, a bill from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and…
DetailsFederal health officials are proposing changes to rules for coverage sold through the ACA’s insurance marketplaces that, starting in 2019, would let states alter the benefits that health plans must provide and limit enrollment help for consumers. In envisioning a larger role for states in setting benefits, the draft rule would still require ACA plans…
DetailsThe Trump administration on Friday proposed new health insurance regulations that could affect basic benefits required by the Affordable Care Act, but not for a couple of years. Loosening “Obamacare” benefit requirements was a major sticking point for congressional Republicans in thus-far fruitless efforts to repeal the law. The complex new plan from the administration…
DetailsPresident Trump’s decisions on cost-sharing subsidies have contributed to the law’s rising premiums and the resulting rise in subsidies. But he’s not responsible for all of this. Competition, for example, took a big hit last year — when President Obama was still in charge.
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