Most Insurance Exchanges Just Got Bigger. Covered California Is Getting Smaller.
Bucking national trends, Covered California didn’t add any insurance carriers — and actually shed a plan — ahead of its second year. Is that because the exchange is already competitive, or are leaders too complacent?
Hospital Mergers Are Out. ‘Strategic Alliances’ Are In. Is Obamacare Responsible?
Dignity Health and Kaiser are helping lead a new wave of deal making that focuses less on traditional mergers and more on quality alliances and joint ventures, as providers come together in the wake of the Affordable Care Act.
Lawsuits. Surprise Bills. Are ‘Narrow Networks’ a Speed Bump, or a Scandal?
Complaints about the “narrow networks” in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges have taken a sharp turn, with regulators launching investigations and patients filing lawsuits. Are these simply rollout-related challenges, or are deeper problems to blame?
More Health Plans Ask To Join Obamacare. Surprise: They’re Run By Hospitals
In the latest sign of the industry’s changing dynamics, about a half-dozen insurance plans asking to join the Affordable Care Act’s health exchanges this fall are owned by hospitals.
They Annoy Patients. They Scare Docs. But Narrow Networks Might Be a Good Thing.
With legal challenges, new market entrants and recent CMS regulations, narrow networks may be a little less narrow in year two of Affordable Care Act enrollment. But there are benefits to limited networks, experts say, and patients and doctors’ frustrations with the model may have been overstated.
Then vs. Now: How Dire Predictions About Obamacare (Mostly) Didn’t Come To Pass
Early data suggest that the Affordable Care Act is starting to change the health care industry — and if not for the better, then at least to make the sector stronger. Here’s a look at how several Obamacare provisions are affecting patients, physicians and hospitals.
From Leaders to Laggards: Why Some States Are Giving Up on Exchanges
Several states that wanted to lead on Obamacare implementation have conceded that they failed at the crucial task of rolling out their health insurance exchanges, and they are beginning to turn operations over to the federal government.
Did California Just Save 2,300 Lives by Expanding Obamacare? Let’s Do The Math.
A groundbreaking study suggests that having insurance coverage cuts mortality risk by almost 3%. Here’s how that would play out in California, where as many as 1.9 million people who were previously uninsured may now have coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
It’s Been Four Years. Has Obamacare Improved Health Care Yet?
The Affordable Care Act has led to expanded health coverage and may have slowed down cost growth, too. But the jury’s still out on whether the nation’s major health reform is actually improving the nation’s health.
How California Took the ‘Lead’ on Obamacare — and Why It’s Too Early To Take a Victory Lap
One-point-four million sign-ups on the insurance exchange. One-point-nine million Medicaid enrollees. When it comes to raw Obamacare enrollment figures, no other state comes close to California. The state has claimed its role as the lead car, but it’s still on the first lap of a multiyear race, experts say.