Tag: Obamacare

White House report uses fuzzy logic to tout ‘insurer profitability’ in Obamacare

The following article by by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website April 6, 2018:

The president misleadingly correlates insurance company’s rising stock prices to profits related to Obamacare, but they are not one in the same. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“Health insurer profitability in the individual market has risen due to substantial premium increases, government premium tax credits that pay for those premium increases, and the large, government-funded, Medicaid expansion. Since ACA implementation on January 1, 2014, health insurance stocks outperformed the S&P 500 by 106 percent.”
— executive summary, “The Profitability of Health Insurance Companies,” White House Council of Economic Advisers, March 2018

This fact check has been updated. Continue reading “White House report uses fuzzy logic to tout ‘insurer profitability’ in Obamacare”

How the ACA changed American incomes

The following article by Sam Baker was posted on the Axios website March 20, 2018:

The Affordable Care Act’s tax increases were concentrated among the wealthiest 1% of Americans, while its benefits were spread broadly among the poorest 40%, according to new data from the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO examined how the law affected household incomes in 2014, the first year many of its key provisions took effect. Continue reading “How the ACA changed American incomes”

How the ACA changed American incomes

The following article by Sam Baker was posted on the Axios website March 20, 2018:

The Affordable Care Act’s tax increases were concentrated among the wealthiest 1% of Americans, while its benefits were spread broadly among the poorest 40%, according to new data from the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO examined how the law affected household incomes in 2014, the first year many of its key provisions took effect.

Data: Congressional Budget Office; Chart: Chris Canipe/Axios

Continue reading “How the ACA changed American incomes”

Despite Trump attacks, Obamacare sign-ups hold steady, new numbers show

The following article by Noam N. Levey was posted on the Los Angeles Times website February 7, 2018:

Almost 12 million Americans signed up for 2018 health coverage through marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act, according to a new tally that indicates nationwide enrollment remained virtually unchanged from last year despite President Trump’s persistent attacks on the 2010 health law.

The new enrollment numbers — which include totals from California and other states that operate their own marketplaces, as well as states that rely on the federal HealthCare.gov marketplace — offer the most detailed picture to date of the insurance markets.

And they suggest surprising strength in many markets across the country, with consumers steadily signing up for health plans even as Trump and his Republican congressional allies derided the markets as crumbling and unaffordable. Continue reading “Despite Trump attacks, Obamacare sign-ups hold steady, new numbers show”

Years of Attack Leave Obamacare a More Government-Focused Health Law

The following article by Robert Pear was posted on the New York Times website December 27, 2017:

Volunteers in the Maine People’s Alliance office before going door to door to urge voters to back Medicaid expansion in Bangor, Me., in October. Credit Sarah Rice for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Affordable Care Act was conceived as a mix of publicly funded health care and privately purchased insurance, but Republican attacks, culminating this month in the death of a mandate that most Americans have insurance, are shifting the balance, giving the government a larger role than Democrats ever anticipated.

And while President Trump insisted again on Tuesday that the health law was “essentially” being repealed, what remains of it appears relatively stable and increasingly government-funded.

In short, President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement is becoming more like what conservatives despise — government-run health care — thanks in part to Republican efforts that are raising premiums for people without government assistance and allowing them to skirt coverage. Continue reading “Years of Attack Leave Obamacare a More Government-Focused Health Law”

ObamaCare proves surprisingly resilient

The following article by Peter Sullivan was posted on the Hill website December 25, 2017:

ObamaCare is showing its resilience after a year where in which it took a beating but survived.

A surprisingly high number of people signed up under the law in the enrollment period that ended last week: 8.8 million, just short of the 9.2 million from last year.

And that was despite the Trump administration’s attacks on the health-care law, cutbacks on outreach and an enrollment period that was half as long as previous ones. Continue reading “ObamaCare proves surprisingly resilient”

Obamacare Sign-ups at High Levels Despite Trump Saying It’s ‘Imploding’

The following article by Robert Pear was posted on the New York Times website December 21, 2017:

Kelley Mui helped a client sign up last week in Chicago for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. The number of people who signed up through the federal marketplace was only slightly lower than last year despite a shorter enrollment time. Credit Scott Olson/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Thursday that 8.8 million people had signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s federal marketplace, a surprisingly large number only slightly lower than the total in the last open enrollment period, which was twice as long and heavily advertised.

The numbers essentially defied President Trump’s assertion that “Obamacare is imploding.” They suggested that consumers want and need the coverage and subsidies available under the Affordable Care Act, even though political battles over the law, President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, are sure to continue in Congress and in next year’s midterm election campaigns. Continue reading “Obamacare Sign-ups at High Levels Despite Trump Saying It’s ‘Imploding’”

Trump Falsely Claims to Have ‘Repealed Obamacare’

The following article by Linda Qiu was posted on the New York Times website December 20, 2017:

WASHINGTON — President Trump celebrated the tax bill that Congress approved on Wednesday by characterizing it as a two-for-one victory, falsely claiming that it also made good on his promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“When the individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is being repealed,” Mr. Trump said in a cabinet meeting. “We have essentially repealed Obamacare, and we will come up with something that will be much better.” Continue reading “Trump Falsely Claims to Have ‘Repealed Obamacare’”

The stealth repeal of Obamacare

The following article by Joanne Kenen was posted on the Politico website December 19, 2017:

The health law has been wounded in a year of Trump.

The manadate’s repeal is only one of several heavy blows to the health law since President Donald Trump and the GOP swept in nearly a year ago. | Evan Vucci/AP

Obamacare survived the first year of President Donald Trump, but it’s badly damaged.

The sweeping Republican tax bill on the verge of final passage would repeal the individual mandate in 2019, potentially taking millions of people out of the health insurance market. On top of that, the Trump administration has killed some subsidies, halved the insurance enrollment period, gutted the Obamacare marketing campaign, and rolled out a regulatory red carpet for skimpy new health plans that will change the insurance landscape in ways that are harmful to former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. Continue reading “The stealth repeal of Obamacare”

Those That Shall Not Be Named: Cost Sharing Reductions

The following article by Lindsey McPherson was posted on the Roll Call website December 14, 2017:

Speaker Paul D. Ryan once panned a measure that would restore cost-sharing reduction subsidies for health insurance companies. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

In Congress, where most lawmakers are hesitant to spill secrets about ongoing negotiations, answers are often found in what lawmakers are not saying. And House Republican leaders are not saying much about subsidies for health care insurers lately.

GOP leaders’ continued refusal in recent weeks to rule out funding the cost-sharing reduction subsidies, or CSRs, which President Donald Trump’s administration has stopped paying, is not a guarantee that Congress will do so. But it’s certainly a green light for negotiations to continue. Continue reading “Those That Shall Not Be Named: Cost Sharing Reductions”