Study: Subsidy Quirk Means Young People Pay More For Bronze Plans
How the government calculates insurance subsidies makes the cheapest bronze plans more costly for young people relative to those aged 54 to 64, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. Meanwhile, Oregon budgets $2 million for a lawsuit fight with Oracle over its health insurance marketplace.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Subsidy Formula Makes Some Policies Costlier For The Young
Young adults are paying as much or more in premiums for the cheapest bronze plans purchased on the Affordable Care Act marketplace as people ages 54 to 64, according to a University of Tennessee Health Science Center study. The study, published online last week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that the reverse premium age curve -- premiums should be cheaper for younger people, who use less health care -- is the result of how tax credit subsidies are calculated under the law. It could mean that paying the penalty for not buying insurance as required by the individual mandate would be less than the monthly premiums for those low-premium policies (Calandra, 9/14).
The Associated Press: State Budgets $2M For Cover Oregon Lawsuit
Oregon has budgeted $2 million for its legal fight with software giant Oracle over the state's failed health care exchange website. The state sued the Redwood City, California, company in Marion County Circuit Court last month, claiming that Oracle officials lied, breached contracts and engaged in "a pattern of racketeering activity." Meanwhile, the company has sued the state in federal court alleging breach of contract. Oracle was the largest technology contractor working on Oregon's health insurance enrollment website, known as Cover Oregon. The public website was never launched, forcing the state to hire hundreds of workers to process paper applications by hand. The issue became a political liability for Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber (9/14).
The New York Times: A Rebound Takes Root In Michigan, But Voters’ Gloom Is Hard To Shake
Yet the economic recovery taking root in Michigan -- among the states hit hardest by the 2008 recession -- has not translated into an improved political environment for officials in either party. ... On the lower end, the worst of the desperation has subsided, helped in part by government action. Barbara Grinwis, 63, executive director of Oasis of Hope, a free health clinic on Leonard Street, spends much of her time signing up patients for Michigan’s insurance exchange or expanded Medicaid under the president’s health care law (Weisman, 9/12).
Also, developments in the Medicaid expansion debates in Texas and Florida are tracked --
Texas Tribune: In Health Care, Organizers Find Issue To Spur Hispanics
When Armando Rodriguez opened the front door of his home here on the city’s west side, Chris Ornelas of the Texas Organizing Project met him with one question. “What are some of the biggest concerns you have in your life right now?” Ornelas asked in Spanish. Health care, Rodriguez replied, and whether his family could afford it. The conversation was familiar for Ornelas, who goes door to door to talk to residents as part of efforts by the Texas Organizing Project to increase voter participation among minorities. The group’s field organizing team often meets minority voters who list health care as a top concern, and it is looking to leverage that issue to get more Hispanic voters to the polls in November (Ura, 9/14).
Orlando Sentinel: Crist Team Explores Medicaid Expansion
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist said his team is researching the prospect that he could sign an executive order on his first day in office to immediately and unilaterally expand the state's Medicaid program to cover uninsured Floridians. In a day of dueling politics in Orlando – with both Crist and Gov. Rick Scott appearing – Crist started by announcing his interest in an executive order while speaking to the Florida Nurses Association on Saturday at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center (Powers, 9/13).
