Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Employers, Consumers Want Their Share Of Obamacare Dividend
Los Angeles Times: Uninsured Rates Fell Under Obamacare, But Who's Reaping The Benefit?
Hospitals and health insurers have reaped a financial windfall from the 2014 rollout of the federal health law, even beyond what was expected. Now, employers and consumers are seeking a share of the Obamacare dividend. For years, insurance companies and hospitals told Americans that one reason their insurance bills were so high was because they were paying the hidden cost of medical care for the uninsured. The Affordable Care Act sought to remedy much of that by unleashing the biggest expansion of insurance coverage in half a century. Ten million Americans became newly insured, and federal officials estimate that $5.7 billion in uncompensated care was wiped out this year as hospitals received more paying patients. Now it's time to share the bounty from Obamacare, said Bill Kramer, director of national health policy at the Pacific Business Group on Health, which represents big employers like Wells Fargo and Chevron. (Terhune, 12/13)
The Wall Street Journal: Health Law Hurts Some Free Clinics
Some free health clinics serving the uninsured are shutting their doors because of funding shortfalls and low demand they attribute to the Affordable Care Act’s insurance expansion. Nearly a dozen clinics that have closed in the past two years cited the federal health law as a major reason. The closings have occurred largely in 28 states and Washington, D.C., which all expanded Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for low-income people, and are being heralded by some clinic officials as a sign the health law is reducing the number of uninsured. But the closures have irked some patients and left pockets of uninsured people not covered by the law with fewer venues for care. Some of the roughly 1,200 U.S. free and charity clinics are struggling with a drop in funding because donors believe there is no longer a need for free or low-cost care in the wake of the health law. (Armour, 12/12)
Earlier, related KHN coverage: Obamacare Creates ‘Upheaval’ At Free Clinics (Galewitz, 8/7)
Kaiser Health News: Small Businesses Drop Coverage As Health Law Offers Alternatives
For two decades Atlanta restaurant owner Jim Dunn offered a group health plan to his managers and helped pay for it. That ended Dec. 1, after the Affordable Care Act made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Health-law subsidies for workers to buy their own coverage combined with years of rising costs in the company plan made dropping the plan an obvious – though not easy – choice. (Hancock, 12/15)
The San Jose Mercury News: California Health Insurance Exchange Aims To Increase Latino Enrollment
Many low-income Latinos say they're just scraping by and can't afford health insurance while others fear that signing up could alert immigration authorities to the undocumented family members who live with them. And some Latinos seem hesitant to enroll after seeing last month's uproar when President Barack Obama announced his controversial plan to give temporary legal status to millions of illegal immigrants. (Seipel, 12/14)
In other news, Senate staff members stand to be forced out of the health plan for federal workers under a policy adopted by the Senate Republican Conference -
The Washington Post: More Senate GOP Staffers Face Losing Federal Worker Health Care Coverage
More Senate staff members stand to be forced out of the health plan for federal workers under a policy adopted Wednesday by Senate Republicans. The Senate Republican Conference accepted a resolution from Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to add to the number of Capitol Hill staff already made ineligible for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program because of the Affordable Care Act. The resolution makes it the policy of Senate Republicans to make staff members they employ ineligible for the FEHBP “regardless of whether they work in a member’s personal office, committee office, leadership office, the cloakroom or any other office.” (Yoder, 12/12)
