Employer-Based Health Care System ‘Alive And Well’ Under The Affordable Care Act, Analysis Finds
Despite fears that the health law would cause employers to rush to drop benefits for their workers, offering insurance is still viewed as an important recruitment and retention tool.
The New York Times:
Despite Fears, Affordable Care Act Has Not Uprooted Employer Coverage
The Affordable Care Act was aimed mainly at giving people better options for buying health insurance on their own. There were widespread predictions that employers would leap at the chance to drop coverage and send workers to fend for themselves. But those predictions were largely wrong. Most companies, and particularly large employers, that offered coverage before the law have stayed committed to providing health insurance. (Abelson, 4/4)
Meanwhile, researchers say the Internal Revenue Service is wasting an opportunity to help get people subsidies for the federal exchanges, and Republicans put health law programs on the chopping block to woo their conservative wing —
Kaiser Health News:
IRS Could Help Find Many Uninsured People, But Doesn't
Nearly a third of people without health insurance, about 10 million, live in families that received a federal earned income tax credit (EITC) in 2014, according to a new study. But the Internal Revenue Service doesn’t tell those tax filers that their low and moderate incomes likely mean their households qualify for Medicaid or subsidies to buy coverage on the insurance exchanges. That’s a lost opportunity to identify people who are eligible but not receiving government assistance to gain health coverage, the researchers say. (Galewitz, 4/5)
The Associated Press:
GOP Appeals To Conservatives With Health Care, Immigrant Cuts
Trying to win over conservatives, House Republicans are sweetening their budget proposal by putting several programs on the chopping block, including President Barack Obama's health care law and tax credits for children of immigrants living in the country illegally. But cuts to programs like food stamps are on hold and a drive to cap medical malpractice awards has faltered before a GOP-controlled committee, though cuts to Medicaid and a popular program that provides health coverage to children have advanced. (Taylor, 4/5)
