Limited Insurance Choices Frustrate Some Patients In California
California is seen as an Obamacare success story, but about 30,000 people there are stuck with only one choice of insurer on the exchange.
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California is seen as an Obamacare success story, but about 30,000 people there are stuck with only one choice of insurer on the exchange.
The chief of the Department of Health and Human Services says Democrats and Republicans can reach accord on many issues beyond the health law.
A look at the 10 least and 10 most expensive places for health insurance shows a wide gap in prices for the same type of coverage.
Obamacare provided billions in seed money to help establish insurance companies called co-ops. One of the biggest has now gone under, and its state overseer is telling clients to switch carriers.
Results so far show community agencies haven’t made a big difference in keeping seniors from making return hospital trips. But administration officials say the program has plenty of potential.
The health law requires people to report their coverage situation. Those who get insurance through their jobs will only have to check a box on the usual return, but those without insurance or those who received subsidies will have to fill out new forms.
After sitting out the first full year of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, lawmakers in Montana have moved on to arguing -- not about whether -- but about how much federal cash to pull down.
Some 2.5 million patients are involved in federally funded tests to control costs and reduce injuries, but data on most programs still aren’t available.
In negotiating the creation of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals took a big gamble, with the expectation that they would soon have millions of new Medicaid customers. In states that expanded Medicaid, the bet paid off. Sarah Varney of Kaiser Health News reports on financial gains made by some hospitals as more patients are able to pay their bills, and the heavy price being paid by hospitals in states that opted against expansion.
More than 6 million Americans are already signed up for Obamacare policies for 2015.
The health law offered a two-year pay raise for primary care doctors who see Medicaid patients to entice them to participate, but that expires Dec. 31.
A California woman had a bad experience with the state’s insurance exchange the first time around and struggled with whether to re-enroll her family.
Smart shoppers will dig deep to find out if their family coverage has one deductible for the whole family or separate “embedded” deductibles for each family member. The answer could make a big difference in your out-of-pocket costs.
Sixty percent of people generally favor requiring large firms to provide insurance or pay a fine. But support falls when people are told businesses could cut back workers’ hours and it increases when they learn that most businesses already provide coverage.
Officials say the online site and consumer call centers were extremely busy over the weekend as people sought to buy insurance before the Dec. 15 deadline to have a policy in place for January.
Small employers are canceling medical plans and leaving workers to buy insurance through the law’s online marketplaces — sometimes to everyone’s benefit.
This news analysis examines why consumers should look at more than premiums when shopping for policies.
It is one of 21 states that have enacted laws challenging or opting-out of provisions of the health law, says the National Conference of State Legislatures.
State and federal exchanges report strong interest in 2015 plans, smoother exchange performance and better-trained assisters.
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