Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: November 21, 2014
Kaiser Health News: Former HHS Official Calls For ‘Smarter’ Networks That Deliver Cost-Effective Care
Many consumers who signed up for health coverage through online insurance exchanges discovered their doctors were not in their plans’ networks. While narrow networks aren’t new, they have emerged as one of insurers’ major levers for keeping costs down under the Affordable Care Act. Lawsuits in California allege that some insurers duped customers into thinking their networks were larger by posting inaccurate provider lists. But such plans can be designed right, says Gary Cohen, a former Obama administration official who helped oversee the launch of the federal health website. Cohen sat down recently with Kaiser Health News’ Julie Appleby (Appleby, 11/21).
Kaiser Health News: A Quarter Of Uninsured Say They Can’t Afford To Buy Coverage
Just days before the health law’s marketplaces reopened, nearly a quarter of uninsured said they expect to remain without coverage because they did not think it would be affordable, according to a poll released Friday. That was by far the most common reason given by people who expect to stay uninsured next year, according to the latest tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Carey, 11/21)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Overstates Health Care Enrollees
The Obama administration said it recently overstated how many people had paid-up health coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges because of the incorrect inclusion of dental coverage sign-ups, marking an embarrassing disclosure as the health-care markets open for their second year of operation. Some 6.7 million people had paid-up health coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges as of mid-October, about 400,000 less than the government had reported last week, the Obama administration said Thursday. (Radnofsky, 11/20)
The New York Times: Health Insurance Enrollment For Exchanges Was Overcounted
The Obama administration acknowledged on Thursday that it overcounted the total number of people signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. ... The discrepancy was discovered by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which had asked for the enrollment records. (Goodnough, 11/20)
The Washington Post's The Wonkblog: Administration 'Erroneously' Overcounted Obamacare Enrollees
That 7.3 million figure reported by the Department of Health and Human Services was down from the 8 million people who had signed up through the end of April. HHS hasn't provided a comprehensive accounting of why enrollment fell — such as how many people didn't pay their premiums or whether those enrollees found another source of coverage. (Millman, 11/20)
Los Angeles Times: Obama Administration Overstated Obamacare Enrollment Tally
Congressional Republicans nonetheless strongly criticized the administration and questioned its explanation. “Instead of offering the public an accurate accounting, the administration offered numbers that obscured and downplayed the number of dropouts,” said House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Vista.) “Now they’re saying this was just a ‘mistake.’ The claim that this was only [an] accident stretches credulity.” (Levey, 11/20)
USA Today: More Obamacare Troubles: Enrollment Numbers Inflated
The Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday it made a mistake in how it calculated enrollments under the Affordable Care Act, including 380,000 dental plans in its figures for medical plans. Those stand-alone dental plans allowed the Obama administration to claim more than 7 million paid enrollments — the "magic number" that would allow the new health insurance exchanges to be sustainable. The discrepancy was first reported by Bloomberg News, citing data obtained through the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Korte, 11/20)
Politico: Administration Explains Obamacare Enrollment Numbers Error
The Obama administration has admitted that it inflated Obamacare enrollment numbers twice this year — including in testimony to Congress — thanks to an error in the way health insurance numbers were conflated with dental insurance figures. The exaggeration, which HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said was an “unacceptable” mistake, inflated the reported number enrolled in Obamacare by 400,000. House Republicans first spotted the issue, and say that blaming the bad numbers on mistaken data “strains credulity.” If you take the dental insurance customers out of the latest administration Obamacare report, the enrollment number is closer 6.7 million now. (Norman, Pradhan and Kenen, 11/21)
Los Angeles Times: California Enrolls 11,357 In First 4 Days Of Obamacare Open Enrollment
California's insurance exchange said 11,357 new people signed up for Obamacare coverage in the first four days of open enrollment. The second year of sign-ups under the Affordable Care Act began Saturday, and the Covered California exchange said it was ahead of last year's pace. Enrollment runs through Feb. 15. Last year, it took 15 days for the state to reach 11,000 enrollees when the health-law expansion first launched in October 2013. (Terhune, 11/20)
Politico: Undocumented Immigrants Won't Get Obamacare - But Latino Coverage Could Rise
President Barack Obama’s immigration order won’t suddenly swell the rolls of Obamacare with undocumented immigrants, but it will open the door to many more Latinos getting health insurance. Freed from deportation threats, more of the undocumented may be able to take regular jobs with health insurance for themselves and their families, instead of operating in shadow jobs without health insurance. They will not be covered by Obamacare, however. (Wheaton, 11/20)
FactCheck.org/USA Today: Fact Check: The Great Health Care Premium Debate Continues
In the latest round of what's-happening-to-health-care-premiums, Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann wrongly claims that we're seeing "huge increases" in employer-sponsored plans, while President Obama touts historically low health care inflation, which experts say is mainly due to the slow economy, not the health care law. Both Bachmann and Obama were making competing arguments about the success of the Affordable Care Act, specifically on costs to consumers. (Robertson, 11/20)
The Washington Post: State-Level Spending Grew Last Year, Thanks Largely To Obamacare
State spending last year grew at its fastest pace since before the recession, thanks mostly to an infusion of spending through Obamacare. Overall, spending was up 5.7 percent in fiscal 2014, according to a new report from the National Association of State Budget Officers. That’s up from 2.2 percent the year before and 1.1 percent before that. (Chokshi, 11/20)
The Associated Press: N.Y. Medicaid Inspector General Leaving Post
New York's inspector general for Medicaid, the state's largest annual expenditure, says he's leaving. In a message to staff, James Cox says they've done the job he set out to do, establishing 22 audit protocols that led to record recoveries, establishing solid standards and a productive relationship with medical providers. (11/20)
The Washington Post: For Arlington’s Poor, Medical Care Is The Prize In A Free Clinic’s Lottery
One by one, the winning lottery numbers were called, 20 Arlingtonians who suddenly had a shot at medical care they could not afford anywhere else. More than 90 patients-in-waiting had lined up outside the Arlington Free Clinic for the drawing — whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians, many with children in tow. All had little money and big medical worries. All waited to see if this was their day. (Sullivan, 11/20)
