Decades-Old Law Lets Insurer Skirt Health Law Regulations, Providing Tempting Model For GOP
Tennessee Farm Bureau Health Plans is still allowed to use patients' health status to determine their rates and eligibility, which is illegal elsewhere under the Affordable Care Act. In other news, The New York Times looks at how red states have been subsidizing blue states' health insurance for years.
Stat:
This Tennessee Insurer Doesn’t Play By Obamacare’s Rules — And The GOP Sees It As The Future
When Phil Yates walked into a tiny strip mall storefront last month, he was hopeful he might walk out with an affordable health insurance plan. Here in the Volunteer State, the 61-year-old retiree had a decent shot: Another 61-year-old retiree could have walked into that same office and enrolled in a relatively basic plan for as little as $283 per month, far less than the $860 a month Yates paid this year for an Obamacare plan. (Mershon, 11/13)
The New York Times:
What Red States Are Passing Up As Blue States Get Billions
For years, red states have effectively been subsidizing part of health insurance for blue states. By declining to expand their Medicaid programs as part of the Affordable Care Act, many of those states have passed up tens of billions of federal dollars they could have used to offer health coverage to more poor residents. That means that taxpayers in Texas are helping to fund treatment for patients with opioid addiction in Vermont, while Texans with opioid problems may have no such option. (Sanger-Katz and Quealy, 11/13)
