Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Insurers Seeking More Obamacare Aid Could Wait Years
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Affordable Care Act Aid Could Take Years To Reach Insurers
Health insurers that lost millions of dollars last year under the Affordable Care Act may wait years for the government to deliver the aid it promised them. Companies, including Downtown-based insurer Highmark, want about $2.87 billion to help cover their first-year losses from online insurance marketplaces — a centerpiece of the landmark health care law. But a federal relief program meant to limit their risk is more than $2 billion short, leaving the companies to collect only 12.6 percent of those requests late this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said this month. (Smeltz, 10/8)
Los Angeles Times: Many Obamacare Dropouts In California Picked Up Employer Coverage, State Says
Nearly half of the estimated 700,000 Californians who have dropped their Obamacare policies during the past two years have enrolled in an employer-based plan, a new report from the Covered California exchange shows. In a news conference Thursday, Peter Lee, the organization’s executive director, said there were about 1.3 million Californians enrolled in the exchange’s plans as of June 30. That was about two-thirds of the 2 million who have enrolled in the exchange since it opened Oct. 1, 2013. (Sisson, 10/8)
The Associated Press: Wyoming Loses 1 Of Its 2 Affordable Care Act Insurers
One of the two companies offering health insurance coverage in Wyoming under the federal health care law has decided to drop out of the program after receiving word that the federal government would be providing drastically less financial help than it expected. The news comes as state leaders debate whether the federal government can be trusted to help pay for expansion of a health insurance program for the working poor. (Moen, 10/8)
Also, lawmakers in New Jersey ask the attorney general there to delay proposed insurance plans from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield that are meant to save money --
The Associated Press: New Health Insurance Plan Sparks Debate In New Jersey
Two New Jersey senators have asked the state attorney general to delay the biggest health insurer in the state from offering a set of insurance plans that are being sold as money-saving ways to cover health care. Critics fear the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield plans could hurt some patients and hospitals. Democratic Sens. Nia Gill and Joseph Vitale say the state should first set up a way to oversee how health insurers rate health care providers when they set up tiered systems. Here's a look at the issue. (Mulvihill, 10/8)
Colorado's cooperative insurance plan faces an uncertain future over cost concerns, and a patient advocacy group rates California's best HMO and PPO plans --
The Associated Press: Low-Cost Health Insurer In Colorado Faces Uncertain Future
Colorado's biggest nonprofit health insurer faces an uncertain future, and its 80,000 or so customers don't know whether their insurer will be able to offer new polices when next year's enrollment period begins soon. Colorado HealthOP, which emerged from the Affordable Care Act, faces possible insolvency because the U.S. government said it won't be able to cover payments to help stabilize premiums in federal insurance markets. (Wyatt, 10/8)
Los Angeles Times: California Agency Ranks Kaiser As Best HMO, Anthem And Cigna As Best PPOs
Kaiser Permanente was the highest-rated HMO and Anthem Blue Cross and Cigna the top-rated PPOs in a new state report. The California Office of the Patient Advocate released ratings Wednesday of 10 HMOs, six PPOs and more than 200 medical groups, just as Californians prepare to choose their health plans for next year from their employers or Covered California, the state's Obamacare exchange. (Pfeifer, 10/8)
