HHS Is Upgrading Healthcare.gov’s Window Shopping Option For Insurance
The ability to quickly browse plans is popular with consumers and needed some repair, The Associated Press reports. At the same time, Politico Pro looks at Republican lawmakers' strategy on the Cadillac tax.
The Associated Press:
Gov't Health Insurance Website Getting Upgrades
Consumers shopping on the government's health insurance website should find it easier this year to get basic questions answered about their doctors, medications and costs, according to an internal government document. A slide presentation dated Sept. 29 says HealthCare.gov's window-shopping feature is getting a major upgrade. Window shopping is a popular part of the website that allows consumers to browse for taxpayer-subsidized health insurance plans. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/7)
Politico Pro:
Republicans Are In No Rush To Kill The Cadillac Tax
Seemingly everyone hates the Affordable Care Act's "Cadillac tax" on health benefits — which is precisely why efforts to repeal it are likely to go nowhere fast. Republicans say they won't simply let Democrats off the hook for creating what's proving to be a wildly unpopular tax. They want Democrats to give them something big in exchange for killing it, such as agreeing to scrap other parts of the health care law. (Faler, 10/6)
In other insurance news -
The Washington Post:
Want To Get Your Partner’s Child Insured? Put A Ring On It, Federal Employees Told.
The Obama administration reversed a policy Monday that had allowed unmarried federal employees and retirees in same-sex domestic partnerships to obtain insurance coverage for children of their partners under certain conditions. The change, applying to the separate insurance programs for health care and for vision and dental care, is a fallout of the June U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring all states to allow and recognize same-sex marriage. It overturns a policy that itself was a result of a ruling by the high court two years earlier and could be a harbinger of other changes in eligibility for federal employee benefits. (Yoder, 10/6)
