The following article by Margot Sanger-Katz and Kevin Quealy was posted on the New York Times website October 27, 2017:
The rates for next year’s Obamacare plans are out, and they show how President Trump’s actions have scrambled the insurance marketplace.
Usually, plans known as gold have higher monthly premiums but lower out-of-pocket costs than “silver” plans, which have tended to cost less each month and have been the most popular plans.
The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website October 13, 2017:
President Trump on October 4, 2017. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
This article has been updated.
Let’s set aside for the moment President Trump’s decision to end Obamacare’s cost-sharing reduction payments (CSRs) to insurers, a system under which insurers are subsidized to help keep costs low for low-income insurance recipients.
Let’s also set aside the other ways in which the Trump administration has been deliberately undermining enrollment in the Obamacare marketplaces. We’ll set aside that the administration has slashed funding to outreach programs by as much as 92 percent, ended partnerships with state groups aimed at getting people enrolled, cut funding for advertising the enrollment period and even decided it would shut down the enrollment website for 12 hours a week for maintenance. Continue reading “Trump’s not going to be able to avoid blame for kneecapping Obamacare”
The following article by Jamila Taylor and Nikita Mhatre was posted on the Center for American Progress website October 6, 2017:
Over the past several months, the Trump-Pence administration, as well as Congress, have attacked women’s health and rights numerous times. Greater access to affordable and effective contraception has been one of the hallmark achievements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But now, the current administration is threatening to limit these gains with the release of sweeping regulations that would allow any employer, insurance plan, school, or individual to use the guise of religious or moral objection to deny access to no-cost contraception.
The following article by Mike DeBonis and Ed O’Keefe was posted on the Washington Post website October 13, 2017:
President Trump’s health-care actions could have ripple effects throughout the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
President Trump’s decision Thursday to cut off crucial health-care subsidies has once again revived the long-running debate over the Affordable Care Act, increasing the potential for a government shutdown in December and making the issue central in next year’s midterm elections.
The following article by Amy Goldstein, Juliet Eilperin and WIlliam Wan was posted on the Washington Post website October 6, 2017:
The Trump administration is limiting the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage mandate. Here’s what you need to know. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)
The Trump administration issued rules Friday that immediately carve broad exceptions to the Affordable Care Act’s promise of no-cost contraceptive coverage, touching off fresh lawsuits and renewed debate about the proper scope of religious liberty.
The rules significantly widen the range of employers and insurers that can invoke religious or moral beliefs to avoid the ACA requirement that birth control pills and other contraceptives be covered by insurance as part of preventive care. Administration officials and their allies on the right downplayed the impact of the change on American women, while women’s rights and civil liberties groups portrayed it as a massive, discriminatory act. Continue reading “Trump administration narrows Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate”
The following article by Juliet EIlperin was posted on the Washington Post website October 5, 2017:
After failing to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Republican leaders said it will “implode.” Health-care experts disagree, saying the ACA is stable under current law — but President Trump and congressional Republicans could change that. (Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)
For months, officials in Republican-controlled Iowa had sought federal permission to revitalize their ailing health-insurance marketplace. Then President Trump read about the request in a newspaper story and called the federal director weighing the application.
The following article by Sam Berger and Emily Gee was posted on the Center for American Progress website September 18, 2017:
From left, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA). Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) hold a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 13, 2017, to unveil legislation to reform health care. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
With only two weeks left to move forward with a partisan health care repeal bill, some Senate Republicans are trying one last time to rip coverage from millions of Americans. Their latest effort, introduced by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), would make devastating cuts to Medicaid and cut and eventually eliminate funding that helps people in the individual insurance market afford coverage, leading to at least 32 million fewer people having coverage after 2026.
Those who did not lose coverage would see their premiums increase significantly. In the first year, premiums would increase by 20 percent. But the increases would be even greater for people with pre-existing conditions because the bill would let insurers in the individual market charge a premium markup based on health status and history, which could increase their premiums by tens of thousands of dollars.
The following article by Sean Sullivan and Kelsey Snell was posted on the Washington Post website September 18, 2017:
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) spoke about his proposal for health-care reform at a news conference on Sept. 13. (Reuters)
A final GOP effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act burst into view this week in the Senate, where leaders began pressuring rank-and-file Republicans with the hope of voting on the package by the end of the month.
The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website August 7, 2017:
Do insurance companies get ‘bailouts’ under Obamacare? Washington Post Fact Checker Glenn Kessler investigates. (Video: Meg Kelly/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
“If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!”
“Bailout” is a pejorative term in Washington. After Republicans in the Senate failed to pass a bill that would replace the Affordable Care Act, the president threatened to end what he termed “bailouts” for insurance companies and members of Congress.
NOTE: Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN-03) voted to make maternity care optional in coverage offered with his vote for the ACHA act.
The following article by Christy M. Gamble and Jamila Taylor was posted on the Center for American Progress website August 7, 2017:
Implications for Black Women’s Maternal Health
A woman holds her newborn daughter in her hospital room at Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago, June 7, 2013. Credit: AP/Scott Eisen
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been instrumental in providing affordable, quality health care to millions of American women. In fact, since the implementation of the ACA, about 13 million women have gained access to maternity services.1 Access to these services has been especially important for black women, who are more likely to be uninsured and experience poorer maternal health outcomes than their white counterparts. Unfortunately, racial and gender disparities in health care access persist: Black women are more likely to experience unintended pregnancies as compared to women of other races; die at a rate that is three to four times the rate of white mothers; suffer from severe maternal morbidity; and have the lowest rate of prenatal care utilization.2 Many health care experts agree that maternal death and morbidity can be avoided by ensuring that mothers have access to adequate prenatal care, skilled attendants during birth, and proper postnatal care, all of which are available through maternity care coverage.3Continue reading “Maternity Care Under ACA Repeal”
