Questions And Answers On The Latest ACA Delay
The administration pressed the pause button on part of the health law again. Here’s what the new timeline for the employer mandate means for businesses, workers — and for politicians.
Insurers Eye Market For Supplemental Health Coverage To Fill Gaps Left By Obamacare, Employer Plans
While these plans represent one of the fastest growing components of the employer benefits marketplace, some experts warn they might cause consumer confusion.
Humana ACA Enrollees Younger Than Expected
Here’s more fodder for the debate over whether older, sicker members will swamp insurance plans created by the Affordable Care Act. Insurers have wondered whether enough younger, healthier “invincibles” would sign up through online exchanges to subsidize folks with poorer health. The worry was that, without their premiums, expenses for older folks would drive up average […]
WellPoint Discloses Big Sign-Ups Through Health Exchanges
The biggest player in the Affordable Care Act’s online insurance marketplaces delivered encouraging news to Obamacare supporters Wednesday. After weeks of uncertainty about how many people have been applying for coverage that started Jan. 1, their age spread and whether or not they’re paying premiums, WellPoint disclosed higher-than-expected early membership growth and said it expects to make […]
WellPoint Optimistic On Exchanges Despite Slow Start
WellPoint Inc. and its Anthem Blue Cross plans made one of the biggest bets on selling insurance to individuals and families through the health law’s online exchanges. No regrets, CEO Joseph Swedish said Tuesday, despite the balky beginning. “Despite the near-term uncertainty, we believe exchanges will be growing as a big part of the market […]
Maryland’s Bold Hospital Spending Plan Gets Federal Blessing
Maryland hospitals have agreed to new spending limits and big changes in the way they are paid, creating what could be a national model.
Study: Supplemental Plans Raise Medicare Costs 22 Percent
A new study takes the closest look yet at the relationship between Medigap coverage and Medicare spending.
Detailed Report Delivers Good News On Health Costs, But Will It Last?
Definitive 2012 numbers show continued, historically low increases in medical prices and the use of medical services. Health spending rose 3.7 percent, up slightly from 2011 but far below the 8 percent increases of the early 2000s, according to figures released Monday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Health spending has grown faster than incomes and […]
Maryland Plan Offers Retroactive Coverage Due To Sign-up Problems
Dr. Peter Beilenson may be the only health insurance CEO who picks up the phone when reporters call. So Kaiser Health News bothers him a lot. We caught up with the boss of Maryland’s Evergreen Health Co-op late last week to learn how one insurer moved from Obamacare theory to Obamacare practice. “They have their […]
Alabama Blue Cross Shares Obamacare Tax Woes With Customers
Insurance companies aren’t crazy about their share of the health law’s taxes, but mostly they’ve complained to politicians and regulators. At least one health plan wants to bring consumers into the loop. “Affordable Care Act Fees and Taxes” is a separate line item on bills Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama is sending to individual […]
Young Invincibles’ Decision: To Get Coverage Or Not
Health law backers have stepped up efforts to persuade people aged 18 to their mid-30s to give Obamacare a chance. Reaching this demographic group is viewed by many as one of the overhaul’s biggest challenges.
Health Insurers Scramble Toward Jan. 1 Coverage Deadlines
Rule changes and deadline shifts have complicated the efforts of health insurance companies to prepare for a wave of new customers and “post-enrollment snafus.”
Study: It’s All Healthy People — Not Just Young Adults — Who Are Critical To ACA Success
Pushing back against those who warn that low levels of younger subscribers could threaten coverage sold under the health law, analysts for the Kaiser Family Foundation say enrollment of young adults “is not as important as conventional wisdom suggests.” Even if insurance pools contain only 25 percent young adults rather than the hoped-for 40 percent, […]
Latest Federal Rules, Requests Put New Pressure On Insurers, Says Moody’s
Insurers responded softly if not sweetly to the Obama administration’s latest requests and rule changes for individuals trying to buy coverage in online marketplaces by Jan. 1. Moody’s Investor Service, which is watching Obamacare from the outside, isn’t so tactful. The latest changes “impose additional financial risks” on the companies, Moody’s said in a Monday […]
‘Narrow Networks’ Trigger Push-Back From State Officials
Criticism of limited provider networks is emerging in at least a half a dozen states as consumers realize that their Affordable Care Act insurance may not include the physicians or hospitals they’ve been seeing.
For Insurers, Obama’s Proposed Cancellation ‘Fix’ Changes Health Law Calculations
Wellpoint and other insurers face a new set of decisions as a result of the Obama administration’s proposed “fix,” which would allow them to renew individual plans that don’t include all the benefits required by the overhaul.
What Consumers Need To Know About The Obama Plan For Canceled Health Policies
Under the president’s plan, insurers will be permitted to extend this year’s policies into next year, but it’s far from clear that insurers will want to follow through. Some state regulators may not even let them.
Will Low Online Enrollments In The Fall Hobble The Health Law?
Numbers released by the government Wednesday deepened doubts about the law’s immediate viability, and proposed fixes have shortcomings.
Labor Unions May Get Health Law Tax Relief
Unions want their plans exempted from the reinsurance tax, but the Obama administration may not do so until 2015.
In Alabama, Lack Of Competition May Be Behind Insurance Premium Costs
The health law is being blamed for policy cancellations and replacement rate shock. But in Alabama, some say a lack of competition among insurance companies is a big part of the problem.
