The Health Law’s Two Americas: Those Who Qualified For Help And Those Who Didn’t
For those who were able to get federal subsidies, the health law was a blessing. The ones who didn't were left feeling angry and short-changed.
The Associated Press:
Health Law Created Winners And Losers When Buying Insurance
Michael Schwarz is a self-employed business owner who buys his own health insurance. Subsidized coverage through "Obamacare" offers protection from life's unpredictable changes and freedom to pursue his vocation, he says. Brett Dorsch is also self-employed and buys his own health insurance. But he gets no financial break from the Affordable Care Act. "To me, it's just been a big lie," Dorsch says, forcing him to pay more for less coverage. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2/22)
In other news —
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Seeks Delay In Lawsuit Over Health-Law Subsidies
The Trump administration and House Republicans on Tuesday asked a court for a further delay in a lawsuit over certain Affordable Care Act subsidies, a move that may help assuage insurers debating whether to participate in the health law’s 2018 exchanges. In May, a federal district court judge ruled that the government was improperly reimbursing insurers to help them cover discounts they were required to give some low-income consumers, potentially a major blow to the insurers. (Hackman, 2/21)
The Hill:
Two Tax Issues Dividing Republicans On ObamaCare
Republican lawmakers are objecting to two key elements of their party's plan to replace ObamaCare, creating obstacles in the road to repeal. Conservatives worry a tax credit to assist people with the cost of insurance, which would help people maintain or get coverage, will be too costly and that recipients might abuse the government help...Objections also are being raised against a proposal to open up some employer-sponsored health insurance plans to taxation. Some Republicans worry that proposal is essentially a new version of ObamaCare’s much-reviled “Cadillac tax." (Sullivan, 2/21)
The Associated Press:
'It Saved My Life': Talk Of Obamacare Repeal Worries Addicts
While the Affordable Care Act has brought health coverage to millions of Americans, the effects have been profound, even lifesaving, for some of those caught up in the nation's opioid-addiction crisis. In Kentucky, which has been ravaged worse than almost any other state by fentanyl, heroin and other drugs, Tyler Witten went into rehab at Medicaid's expense after the state expanded the program under a provision of the act. Until then, he had been addicted to painkillers for more than a decade. "It saved my life," he said. (Beam and Johnson, 2/22)
Modern Healthcare:
Doctors, Payers May Dislike Changes To Primary-Care Model
A tweak in the way some providers are reimbursed under a new primary-care payment model could deter providers from joining the Medicare initiative. The CMS is looking to expand its ambitious primary-care model known as Comprehensive Primary Care Plus. But there hasn't been as much interest in the pilot as anticipated, and now the agency wants to pay incentives only to some participating providers and not others. (Dickson, 2/21)
The Washington Post:
U.S. Life Expectancy Will Soon Be On Par With Mexico’s And The Czech Republic’s
Life expectancy at birth will continue to climb substantially for residents of industrialized nations — but not in the United States, where minimal gains will soon put life spans on par with those in Mexico and the Czech Republic, according to an extensive analysis released Tuesday. South Korean women and Hungarian men are projected to make the largest overall gains (with South Koreans second among males). There is a better-than-even chance that South Korean women will live to an average of 90 years old by 2030, which would be the first time a population will break the 90-year barrier, according to the research published in The Lancet. (Bernstein, 2/21)