Latest California Healthline Stories
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?
Will New Exemptions Fix the Territories’ ACA Problems?
The federal government has granted U.S. territories several exemptions to the Affordable Care Act, but do the changes go far enough to stabilize their insurance markets? And could the changes have unintended consequences stateside?
Website Glitches. Health Literacy Issues. How Navigators Navigated the ACA Launch
Organizations working to enroll consumers in coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges faced a number of challenges, including low consumer health literacy and technical glitches. As HHS reviews the next batch of grant recipients, there are still some questions about the role of navigators and how crucial they are to enrollment.
From Promise to Reality: Substance Use Disorders and the ACA
Before the Affordable Care Act fully took effect, HHS boasted that the law would foster “one of the largest expansions of … substance use disorder coverage in a generation.” Will that coverage expansion translate into access to care or will barriers prevail?
Calif. Latino Webinar Series Goes National
A series of Spanish language webinars designed to inform and engage Latino businesses in California is going national this month with a broader, less state-specific message about health insurance opportunities for small businesses through the Affordable Care Act.
Landmark Healthy San Francisco Remains Safety Net During Transition Period
San Franciscans unable to afford health coverage through Covered California can continue to receive care through the city’s universal health plan until 2015, while city officials work to create a subsidy program to satisfy federal mandates.
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?
Why Haven’t More States Expanded Medicaid Yet?
It’s been two years since the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act and put the fate of its Medicaid expansion in question. Many experts predicted that all states would eventually embrace the expansion, yet 22 states remain staunchly opposed. What gives?
The ACA May Aggravate the Doc Shortage. What’s the ACA Going To Do About It?
With millions of U.S. residents gaining coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the law is expected to exacerbate predicted primary care physician shortages. However, the law contains several provisions intended to bolster the ranks of PCPs. What are those provisions, and do experts think they’ll work?
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.