Remembering the Bad Old Days of High-Risk Pools
There seems to be a lot of nostalgia among lawmakers for “high-risk pools” these days. In the past, high-risk pools offered high-cost health insurance to people with pre-existing conditions who would have been denied standard coverage by insurers. First, the latest amendment to the federal health care repeal bill would let states gut coverage guarantees […]
ACA Repeal Scheme is Back with a New, Terrible Twist
Media outlets are reporting that two members of Congress – the leaders of the far-right Freedom Caucus and the moderate Tuesday Group, both composed of Republican members—have agreed to an amendment for the stalled U.S. House’s Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) repeal bill. The amendment would make a bad bill worse by gutting protections […]
New ACA Marketplace Rules, Good for Insurance Companies Bad for Consumers
On April 13, 2017 the Department of Health and Human Services released its final “marketplace stabilization” rule. (You may remember that we blogged about the proposed rules when they were released in February.) Regardless of that title, the Marketplace showed signs of stabilization in 2016 under current law. The administration could have capitalized on that progress but instead these rules just fulfill […]
How the ACA Fights the Opioid Epidemic
Every day, on average, 78 Americans die from opioid abuse.[1] But did you know that the Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare) has been the key way that states have developed tools to fight the opioid epidemic across America? The ACA’s expansion of healthcare coverage—including benefits for prevention, treatment and harm reduction—continues to help lessen the epidemic and save lives. […]
Administration, Congress Considering More Damaging New Twist on ACA Repeal: Texas Implications
Media reports indicate that President Trump and Congressional Republicans are working to revive their bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with the same harmful provisions plus two new ones. States would be able to opt out of “essential health benefits” and the requirement that health plans not charge people more because they are […]
Repeal Bill Threatens Texas Medicaid
Last week’s Congressional Budget Office (CBO) official “score” for the House’s ACA Repeal bill found that it would cut Medicaid spending by 880 billion over 10 years, with 14 million fewer Americans receiving Medicaid coverage in 2026 than under current federal law. The bill also slashes today’s tax credit subsidies for health insurance by 44%, […]
Congressional health scheme would cause 24 million in U.S. to lose insurance
The Congressional health care proposal is not a real plan for maintaining or increasing health care coverage in this country. It’s an ill-conceived scheme that would massively expand the uninsured population and threaten Americans’ well-being.
VIDEO: What does the Congressional health care proposal mean for Texas?
By Anne Dunkelberg This week I joined CPPP Senior Policy Analyst Stacey Pogue for a Facebook Live discussion about what Congressional health care proposals might mean for Texas. You can watch a recording of the discussion here. Overall: The most distressing part of the Congressional plan is that it doesn’t provide a pathway to reach […]
Hopeful legislation could help address our Texas-sized surprise medical billing problem
Surprise medical bills happen when insurers and doctors or other health care providers – fighting over prices – jointly pass the buck to a patient, who received out-of-network health care unknowingly. Texas technically has a “mediation” system for surprise medical bills but the hurdles patients must overcome just to get in the door, prevent most […]
Congress’ Latest ACA “Replacement” Plan Falls Far Short
Congressional Republicans are reportedly adding to an initial plan to repeal and “replace” the Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or Obamacare), which will result in fewer people being able to afford insurance—especially low- and moderate-income individuals—and insurance plans that cover less. The plan certainly fails to live up to President Trump’s vow that the ACA replacement […]
