Despite concerns that the pandemic would cause much of the population to lose insurance coverage, a new report from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) found the number of uninsured people in the United States barely changed during the first 12 months of the pandemic.
The HHS ASPE Report, which...
The Supreme Court voted 7-2 last week to uphold the Affordable Care Act, putting to rest a lawsuit many saw as an existential threat to the law which now ensures health coverage for over 30 million Americans.
The Court did not consider whether the individual mandate is constitutional or severable from the rest of the ACA, but rather...
According to the Harvard Business Review, the fastest-growing states - including Texas, Florida, and Georgia, consistently rank last when it comes to health and health care.
The reasons for this include:
States have large numbers of uninsured adults
High levels of premature death from treatable conditions
Less investment...News
The Biden administration is looking into making more payment models offered through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) mandatory in the future as it moves forward on value-based care coverage.
Over the past 10 years, CMMI has tested 54 models and only five have been shown to produce effective cost savings for the...Arizona News
Health care enrollment under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is continuing to climb in Arizona and across the country during the special enrollment period (SEP) as benchmark premiums also continue to decline.
According to ABC15, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) logged 17,081 Arizonans have selected plans during the...Arizona News
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a 25% drop in premiums for new enrollees on HealthCare.gov. During the 2021 special enrollment period, and as a result of Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, nearly 940,000 enrollees have joined plans offered on the exchange, according to Healthpayer Intelligence....National News
President Joe Biden gave a public address to Congress last Wednesday and highlighted a number of items in his healthcare agenda, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and drug prices. The Biden administration has also signaled that it intends to begin work on banning menthol cigarettes.
One major highlight of the president's speech...National News
In President Biden's American Families Plan, subsidies under the expanded Obamacare have been extended indefinitely. Rebates or another stimulus check from insurance companies can be expected.
Another stimulus check might be coming from health insurers
The Obamacare subsidies were expanded in March when the COVID relief plan...National News
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a social media campaign aimed at boosting Black American enrollment in Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans this week. Increasing participation in Medicaid is going to be a heavy lift following the harmful policies of the Trump administration and the American Medical...National News
The Biden administration has been clear since the 2020 presidential campaign that it intends to strengthen the Affordable Care Act. This week, the ACA is under threat by a new type of insurance plan, ACA navigators are getting a much needed boost and Congressional Democrats voice their concerns.
The U.S. Labor Department is appealing...
Throughout the 2020 presidential campaign, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris vowed to improve maternal healthcare, especially for women of color, nationwide. While disparities in healthcare between race and gender groups are receiving renewed scrutiny, the Biden-Harris administration is also moving to make sexual and...
Millions of Americans will temporarily have access to health insurance coverage at a lower cost due to the first wide-ranging expansion of the Affordable Care Act. The subsidies for health insurance are part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that was signed into law by President Joe Biden on...National News
Unsurprisingly, the Affordable Care Act has received a lot of attention and support since President Joe Biden took office. The Act got a boost for its special enrollment period from the American Rescue Plan, despite a hefty price tag. And the Biden administration appointed a friend to the ACA in Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier...Government
The American Rescue Plan is set to reduce health care costs, expand access to insurance coverage and address health care disparities. The Biden-Harris Administration is working to ensure that nearly everyone who buys their own individual or family health insurance through a Marketplace can receive a tax credit to reduce their premiums....
As Arizona reached over 16,000 COVID-19 deaths Wednesday, the state lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted to let businesses ignore local mask requirements and Governor Ducey issued an executive order on school openings. As testing continues in the state, high COVID-19 transmission rates continue in Coconino, Yavapai and Pinal...
This week, Congress moved forward on a COVID-19 relief bill that would strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Studies show that Americans are generally confused by health insurance, especially when they don't have plans of their own and undoing Trump era rules that sought to undermine the ACA is turning out to be quite a...National News
President Joe Biden and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took action this week to begin work on expanding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and undo many of the rules put in place by the Trump administration which erode protections within the ACA. These actions include the announcement of a special enrollment period for...National News
A recently study shows that the Affordable Care Act reduced income inequality by 10% in the United States ahead of the potential for a Supreme Court opinion that could overturn the entire law. The incoming administration under President-elect Joe Biden has articulated every intention of strengthening and building on the ACA, but how much...National News
The Trump administration is still full-steam ahead on its end-of-term plans for health care policy. On December 31, President Trump extended pandemic-related ban on green cards and work visas to any applicants through March 31 and a federal appeals court upheld the rule that dictates any incoming immigrants must prove that they have...Data Resources
In a new analysis, the Urban Institute found that coupling a Medicare buy-in with enhanced ACA tax credits would lead to the largest coverage gains.
Without the enhanced credits, a buy-in would not dramatically expand coverage or reduce costs, although it would help some people and could lower overall spending since payment rates...