Obamacare
Commentary
ObamaCare Faces Two Existential Challenges In 2018
It’s a New Year — but not a happy one for ObamaCare’s defenders. Two recent developments could lead to the collapse of the health law’s exchanges. First, the Trump administration will soon announce that it will allow insurers to sell “short-term” health plans that last up to 364 days. Currently, insurers ...
Commentary
Don’t Blame Trump for Obamacare’s Lackluster Open Enrollment Season
Obamacare’s 2018 open enrollment period came to a close in most states on December 15. Roughly 8.8 million people signed up for health plans through Healthcare.gov, the federal exchange that operates in 39 states. That’s a 4 percent decline compared to last year’s total of 9.2 million sign ups through ...
Blog
Getting Out Our 2018 Crystal Ball
With the holiday season upon us, now is the time when pundits in Washington and Sacramento get out their crystal balls and offer their unsolicited predictions on what will happen in politics, policy, and government in 2018. Now that we have the “Right by the Bay” blog at PRI, we’re ...
Commentary
Don’t Blame Trump for Lower Health Insurance Signups. Blame Obamacare.
Obamacare’s fifth open enrollment period ended Friday. In the 39 states using the federal HealthCare.gov insurance exchange, 4.7 million people signed up for 2018 coverage, as of Dec. 9. At this point, that’s about 4.5 million fewer people who signed up than last year. This year’s lower numbers shouldn’t be surprising. Those ...
Blog
Falling Obamacare Enrollment Should Surprise No One
Obamacare’s fifth open enrollment season just ended for the 39 states served by Healthcare.gov — and it was a major failure in terms of enrollees. Fewer than 10 million people signed up for 2018 health plans through the state and federal exchanges, according to one recent projection. That’s down from 12.2 million ...
Commentary
Trump Right To End Obamacare Subsidies
President Trump delivered a surprise to health insurers — he ended billions of dollars in illegal federal payments to them. These payments are Obamacare’s “cost-sharing reduction” subsidies, or CSRs. They’re intended to reimburse insurers for covering out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for certain low-income exchange enrollees. Attorneys general from 18 states and ...
Blog
There’s Plenty To Like About Trump’s HHS Pick, Alex Azar
President Trump’s nomination of Alex Azar for secretary of Health and Human Services is encouraging news for free-market health reformers. Azar possesses precisely the combination of legal acumen, bureaucratic savvy, management experience dealing with a large workforce, and private-sector experience required to eliminate those parts of Obamacare that can be accomplished through ...
Health Care
Azar Pick Signals Regulatory Action on Obamacare
By Erin Durkin The next potential Health and Human Services secretary appears likely to emphasize administrative actions to dismantle Obamacare after congressional Republicans failed to repeal the law this year. Former Eli Lilly and Company executive Alex Azar—who was HHS deputy secretary in the George W. Bush administration— shares former ...
Blog
Maine’s Medicaid Mistake Could Cost Lives
As featured in Kaiser Health News Morning Briefing Maine made history earlier this month by becoming the first state to adopt Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion via ballot initiative. The vote could inspire progressive activists in other states to push for similar referenda. Expanding Medicaid to cover childless, able-bodied adults would blow ...
Health Care
California Shows its Obamacare Support by Outspending U.S. 4-to-1 on Ads
By Ana B. Ibarra and Carmen Heredia Rodriguez The marketing blitz is on. Californians are getting barraged with online pop-up ads, radio spots and television commercials, all aimed at persuading them to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans during this year’s open-enrollment season. Covered California, the state’s Obamacare ...
ObamaCare Faces Two Existential Challenges In 2018
It’s a New Year — but not a happy one for ObamaCare’s defenders. Two recent developments could lead to the collapse of the health law’s exchanges. First, the Trump administration will soon announce that it will allow insurers to sell “short-term” health plans that last up to 364 days. Currently, insurers ...
Don’t Blame Trump for Obamacare’s Lackluster Open Enrollment Season
Obamacare’s 2018 open enrollment period came to a close in most states on December 15. Roughly 8.8 million people signed up for health plans through Healthcare.gov, the federal exchange that operates in 39 states. That’s a 4 percent decline compared to last year’s total of 9.2 million sign ups through ...
Getting Out Our 2018 Crystal Ball
With the holiday season upon us, now is the time when pundits in Washington and Sacramento get out their crystal balls and offer their unsolicited predictions on what will happen in politics, policy, and government in 2018. Now that we have the “Right by the Bay” blog at PRI, we’re ...
Don’t Blame Trump for Lower Health Insurance Signups. Blame Obamacare.
Obamacare’s fifth open enrollment period ended Friday. In the 39 states using the federal HealthCare.gov insurance exchange, 4.7 million people signed up for 2018 coverage, as of Dec. 9. At this point, that’s about 4.5 million fewer people who signed up than last year. This year’s lower numbers shouldn’t be surprising. Those ...
Falling Obamacare Enrollment Should Surprise No One
Obamacare’s fifth open enrollment season just ended for the 39 states served by Healthcare.gov — and it was a major failure in terms of enrollees. Fewer than 10 million people signed up for 2018 health plans through the state and federal exchanges, according to one recent projection. That’s down from 12.2 million ...
Trump Right To End Obamacare Subsidies
President Trump delivered a surprise to health insurers — he ended billions of dollars in illegal federal payments to them. These payments are Obamacare’s “cost-sharing reduction” subsidies, or CSRs. They’re intended to reimburse insurers for covering out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for certain low-income exchange enrollees. Attorneys general from 18 states and ...
There’s Plenty To Like About Trump’s HHS Pick, Alex Azar
President Trump’s nomination of Alex Azar for secretary of Health and Human Services is encouraging news for free-market health reformers. Azar possesses precisely the combination of legal acumen, bureaucratic savvy, management experience dealing with a large workforce, and private-sector experience required to eliminate those parts of Obamacare that can be accomplished through ...
Azar Pick Signals Regulatory Action on Obamacare
By Erin Durkin The next potential Health and Human Services secretary appears likely to emphasize administrative actions to dismantle Obamacare after congressional Republicans failed to repeal the law this year. Former Eli Lilly and Company executive Alex Azar—who was HHS deputy secretary in the George W. Bush administration— shares former ...
Maine’s Medicaid Mistake Could Cost Lives
As featured in Kaiser Health News Morning Briefing Maine made history earlier this month by becoming the first state to adopt Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion via ballot initiative. The vote could inspire progressive activists in other states to push for similar referenda. Expanding Medicaid to cover childless, able-bodied adults would blow ...
California Shows its Obamacare Support by Outspending U.S. 4-to-1 on Ads
By Ana B. Ibarra and Carmen Heredia Rodriguez The marketing blitz is on. Californians are getting barraged with online pop-up ads, radio spots and television commercials, all aimed at persuading them to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans during this year’s open-enrollment season. Covered California, the state’s Obamacare ...
