Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Uninsured Rate Falls To Record Low Of 8.8%
Census Bureau reports that 28.1 million people in the country were without insurance in 2016, down from 29 million the year before.
If You’re Blindsided By Health Plan Changes, Learn The Root Causes — And Your Rights
Insurers can reduce benefits or change cost sharing, but they are generally supposed to tell enrollees about the change beforehand. And although plans must tell patients when they are denied coverage, sometimes treatment is affected for other reasons.
Quiz: How Well Are You Paying Attention?
To strengthen your core knowledge of health care policy, it helps to be a regular reader of Kaiser Health News. Here’s a pop quiz to gauge what you have learned.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Welcome Back, Congress. Now Get To Work.
In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News discuss the return of Congress and bipartisan efforts to shore up the individual health insurance market for 2018, as well as renew the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
5 Governors Press Congress For Fast Bucks To Secure Obamacare Market In 2018
State leaders tell senators that federal dollars are needed this fall to keep insurers participating in Obamacare next year and prevent big hikes in premiums.
Lawmakers Debate How Much Wiggle Room To Give States In Health Care
The federal health law includes a provision that allows states to alter some of its rules if they can think of a better way to provide health care to their residents, but it’s not clear how far outside the box states can go.
Congress’ Tight Timetable Complicates Renewal Of Children’s Health Plan
The Senate Finance Committee begins hearings Thursday on the program, which provides coverage to more than 9 million children and is up for renewal on Sept. 30.
Insurance Commissioners Say Help Offered By Congress Is Not Enough To Save Market
Making needed fixes to Obamacare before next year may be more difficult — and expensive — than Senate leaders think, state insurance commissioners suggested at a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Vital Health Officials You’ve Never Heard Of: Insurance Commissioners In The Hot Seat
The fate of the Affordable Care Act’s individual insurance marketplaces remains in play as state insurance commissioners take a central role in the debate.
To Insure More Poor Children, It Helps If Parents Are On Medicaid
New research offers evidence that coverage expansion policies for adults have a positive spillover effect for kids.
California, Other States To Extend Obamacare Sign-Up Beyond Federal Limit
Several state-based exchanges and the District of Columbia will allow people more than the 45 days set by the Trump administration.
Estados extenderán la inscripción del Obamacare más allá del límite federal
Varios estados evitarán este año una nueva regla de la administración Trump que reduce a la mitad el tiempo que los consumidores tienen para comprar un seguro médico individual en los mercados establecidos por ACA.
Trump Administration Whacks Millions From Budget Used To Push Obamacare
The federal government plans to spend millions of dollars less this year on advertising and outreach efforts to support the health law’s open enrollment period, which starts Nov. 1.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Hurricane Harvey And Health Costs
In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss the potential health impact of Hurricane Harvey on the Texas Gulf Coast, and what impact the relief effort in Washington could have on an already jampacked September agenda. Also this week: an interview with Elisabeth Rosenthal about why medical care costs so much.
Drástica reducción de fondos para promover el Obamacare
Menos dinero para los navegadores y nuevas fechas para el período de inscripción abierta son dos de las medidas de la administración Trump para bloquear al Obamacare.
5 ideas controversiales para arreglar el mercado de seguros individual
Desde modificar la edad de ingreso al Medicare, hasta tener un Medicaid “a la carta”, estas ideas están sonando y generando polémica en los pasillos del Congreso.
5 Outside-The-Box Ideas For Fixing The Individual Insurance Market
As lawmakers look for ways to stabilize the health law marketplaces, a number of ideas — such as expanding who can “buy in” to Medicare and Medicaid or pushing young adults off their parents’ plans into the marketplaces — might come into play.
What Happens If You’re Forced To Switch Health Plans When You’re Sick?
State lawmakers in California have an answer: legislation that would require your new insurer to keep paying for your current doctors even if they’re not in the network.
¿Qué pasa si debes cambiar de plan de salud… estando enfermo?
El retiro de algunas aseguradoras del mercado ha obligado a miles de consumidores a cambiar de plan. Algo que se complica en el caso de pacientes con condiciones crónicas o graves.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Back To Health Crunch Come September
In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss the continuing efforts in Congress to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, upcoming open enrollment for individual insurance and Congress’ long health care to-do list for September.
