Vermont officials are seeking to regulate the Trump administration’s association health plan proposal, introduced in January and finalized by the Department of Labor last month, amid concerns that the plans would make health insurance inaccessible and prone to fraud.
Introduced under the guise of providing consumers with more choice and cheaper options, association health plans (AHP) allow businesses to form associations based on geography or industry and can provide insurance plans...
Affordable Care Act
Trump promised to protect people with pre-existing conditions. He just abandoned them in court.
The Trump administration told a federal court Thursday evening that it would no longer defend the Affordable Care Act (ACA), arguing that protections for people with pre-existing conditions are unconstitutional.
The Justice Department filed the brief supporting a lawsuit from Texas and 19 other Republican-led states. In their complaint, the states argue the courts must invalidate the entire ACA because Congress zeroed out the individual mandate, the penalty for not having insurance....
Virginia governor signs Medicaid expansion bill into law
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed a two-year $115 billion budget that includes Medicaid expansion Thursday, making the state one of more than 30 that have expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The bill will provide health coverage to about 300,000 to 400,000 low-income residents, and many individuals — about 138,000 people fall in the state’s coverage gap — could be insured for the first time.
“It has been a long road to get...
As Kentucky rushes to remake Medicaid, advocates try to protect health care for the homeless
Adrienne Bush isn’t a fan of Medicaid work requirements — or as she, the executive director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky, puts it, “coercing people into minimum wage jobs.” In 32 days, Kentucky will begin rolling out its new Medicaid program that conditions insurance on work, along with a host of other new eligibility requirements. So, now, Bush’s priority is harm reduction.
“Right now I’m very worried about implementation and people fal...
New research reveals one of the bad things about a higher minimum wage
Ever since there have been economists, there have been debates between economists about the impact of a minimum wage (pdf). Few research topics feature so many twists and turns. Many economists once presumed that higher w...
Hundreds of Pittsburgh-area nurses rally for raises, better working conditions
Hundreds of nurses rallied in the Pittsburgh area Tuesday, calling on their employer, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) of McKeesport, to recognize their union rights and negotiate a contract that would include more staff and better quality jobs.
Nearly 170 nurses have been working at the hospital without a contract since April, local CBS affiliate KDKA reported.
“We want some reasonable raises, we want some of the things that the rest of the nurses in the s...
New insurance rates prove Trump’s policies have increased Obamacare premiums
Early signs show health insurance companies are trying to exponentially raise prices for plans sold on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace — and for people who don’t qualify for federal assistance, there’s no relief in sight.
Insurers in Maryland and Virginia are asking for double-digit premium increases to 2019 monthly plans. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield CEO Chet Burrell said that Maryland’s exchange is in the “advanced stages of a death spiral.̶...
Two transgender residents sue Wisconsin over discriminatory Medicaid rule
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) refused to cover Cody Flack’s top surgery.
Top surgery, a common reference for chest reconstruction surgery for transgender patients, is a widely accepted and effective surgical procedure for treating gender dysphoria. But DHS told Flack, who was born female but identifies as male, last summer that the procedure isn’t covered by Wisconsin’s Medicaid program. The state contends the surgery is “medically unneces...
Trump’s big idea for health insurance excludes maternity care and barely covers addiction treatment
The Trump administration’s “affordable alternative” to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is short-term health plans, but a new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) study published on Monday shows just how bare-bones this coverage actually is.
A KFF review of short-term health health plans offered on two large private insurance websites, eHealth and Agile Health Insurance, in 45 states and Washington, D.C. shows these plans rarely if at all pay for essential coverage: no plan...
Trump administration issues new rule chipping away at Obamacare
The Trump administration issued a ton of regulatory changes Monday that chip away at the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Moving forward, states will have more flexibility to set their own standards and people will be given new exemptions to avoid the health care law’s individual mandate penalty.
The 523-page regulation is one that comes out every year, and is intended to outline what ACA plans will look like for consumers next year.
Monday’s rule gives consumers two ne...