Latest California Healthline Stories
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.
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.
Exchange Success Helps Nudge First Budget Near a Half-Billion Dollars
Those 1.2 million exchange enrollees came at a price. Covered California ran quite a bit over budget this year in part because of the tremendous success of exchange and Medi-Cal enrollment efforts.
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.
Part of Early Exchange Success Due to Insuring the Already Insured
A significant portion of Covered California’s 1.2 million new enrollees were already insured, but experts say those refugees from the individual market are an important part of the exchange’s mission.
Think ACA Exchange Enrollment Is Over Until November? Think Again.
Enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges isn’t over just yet, even though the Obama administration is already celebrating that 7.1 million people have signed up so far. Besides the upcoming second open enrollment period this year, there are two other ways consumers can sign up for exchange coverage.
1M Cancellations, 1.2M Enrollments: How Many Californians Really Signed Up?
Obamacare’s first open enrollment period has ended, and Covered California reported impressive numbers: A staggering 1.2 million sign-ups, which left the website staggering under “unprecedented” demand, too. But critics say that enrollment figures have been inflated by so many plan cancellations in the state.
The Undecided: A Closer Look at the Decision To Enroll
Health insurance holdouts are making it hard for the Obama administration to reach its enrollment goals for the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges. What factors are driving the uninsured’s decision-making process?
The Whys, Whats, and Hows of Convincing Specific Populations To Enroll in Exchanges
Enrollment advocates nationwide are pushing for people to sign up for coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges. Those who focus on specific populations — such as Latinos or young adults — face unique challenges and claim success in some non-traditional ways.