Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Election Dust Settles, Newly Insured Kentuckians Worry About What Might Become Of Their Coverage
The Washington Post: Kentucky’s Newly Insured Worry About Their Health Under Next Governor
Such one-by-one life changes are the ground-level stakes ushered in by the election last week of businessman Matt Bevin as Kentucky’s next governor. The second Republican elected to the office in 48 years, he wrapped his campaign around a pledge to dismantle Kynect, the state’s response to the federal health-care law. If he follows through, the Bluegrass State would go from being perhaps the nation’s premier ACA success story to the first to undo the law’s results, razing a state insurance exchange and reversing its considerable expansion of Medicaid. During his first news conference since his unexpected victory, Bevin named abolishing Kynect as a top priority, again contending that the state can’t afford it. He said change would come in “a thoughtful way” and made it clear that he intends for people on Medicaid to pay more for their care — but left other details of his intentions blurry. (Goldstein, 11/9)
St. Louis Public Radio: Stuck In Coverage Gap, With Dreams Of Being A Nurse
In this season of open enrollment for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, there’s a group of people who might be uninsured: nursing students. Nursing schools frequently require, or highly recommend, that students be enrolled in a health insurance plan before participating in clinical work at local hospitals. Because the Missouri legislature has turned down Medicaid expansion three years in a row, students who work part-time or don’t have insurance through their parents may fall into a coverage gap: Their incomes are too high for Missouri’s Medicaid program, and too low for income-based subsidies to help them buy insurance on Healthcare.gov. (Bouscaren, 11/9)
Also in the news -
The Associated Press: NY Officials Take Extra Steps For Health Republic Customers
New York state authorities say they are taking additional steps meant to protect people covered by Health Republic Insurance as it shuts down. The Department of Financial Services and Department of Health say about 100,000 individual members in the cooperative can select a new insurance plan for the rest of this year through the state Health Exchange by Nov. 30. (11/9)
CQ Healthbeat: Slow Crawl To Insuring Kids In Texas
Like the U.S. overall, Texas saw a decline in the number of children without health insurance in 2014. But supporters of the federal health care law say hostility to the 2010 overhaul is preventing the state — which still has the nation’s biggest population of uninsured kids — from making faster progress. The number of uninsured children in Texas fell by 11.7 percent to about 784,000 in 2014, down from around 888,000 in 2013, according to a Georgetown University Center for Children and Families report released in October. (Evans, 11/9)
The San Antonio Express News: Health Insurance Rates Still A Struggle For Some Employers
Renewal dates are fast approaching for many employers’ group health insurance policies, and while it’s difficult to discern a common trend for 2016, it appears some businesses will not face the steep rate hikes of years past. In some cases, independent brokers in San Antonio have successfully negotiated to reduce the suggested price hikes for large employers so their health insurance premiums will stay the same or go up only slightly next year. (O'Hare, 11/9)
