Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Subsidy Recipients, Insurers Watch High Court Anxiously
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: UnitedHealth, Medica Among Insurers With Stake In Health Subsidy Decision
Dannette Coleman, vice president for individual health insurance sales at Minnetonka-based Medica, does not mince words about a possible Supreme Court decision that would outlaw tax credits in 34 states that did not sponsor insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). “It would be a public policy nightmare,” she said. ... If a majority of the justices agree, the nation’s health insurers, including Medica and Minnetonka-based UnitedHealthcare, will lose millions of policyholders. (Spencer, 3/5)
The Detroit Free Press: Michiganders React To Health Care Challenge
Kathe Koja is a self-employed writer and event producer; Vanita Johnson, a security guard. Both are among the hundreds of thousands of Michiganders who receive federal subsidies without which they could not afford health insurance. "It's essential," said Koja, 55, of Berkely, who with her husband pays about $200 a month for a $700-per-month Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan silver plan. "Without the subsidy, we're dead in the water. I can't put it any blunter than that." Johnson, 48, of Highland Park: "It basically means life or death." (Spangler, 3/4)
Georgia Health News: A Few Words Could Affect Millions Of People
The fate of the insurance subsidies – and the future of the Affordable Care Act in general – were on the line as the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on the legality of the credits in the exchanges in Georgia and 36 other states. (Miller, 3/4)
