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☆ Obamacare enrollment to open this spring for people losing Medicaid after pandemic protections end
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The 17 states that run their own marketplaces can implement a special enrollment period but are not required to do so. Individuals who lose Medicaid won't have to provide any additional documentation to shop for Obamacare. Medicaid enrollment swelled during the pandemic after Congress basically banned state governments from kicking people off the program for the duration of the public health emergency. Congress passed a federal spending bill in December that separated the Medicaid coverage protections from the public health emergency. HHS has estimated that 15 million people will lose Medicaid coverage once the pandemic-coverage protections end.

☆ Why urgent care centers are popping up everywhere
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

And there are questions about the quality of care at urgent care centers and whether they adequately serve low-income communities. Additionally, passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 spurred an increase in urgent care providers as millions of newly insured Americans sought out health care. Private-equity and venture capital funds also poured billions into deals for urgent care centers, according to data from PitchBook. Equity concernsSome doctors and researchers worry that patients with primary care doctors – and those without – are substituting urgent care visits in place of a primary care provider. There are also concerns about the oversaturation of urgent care centers in higher-income areas that have more consumers with private health care and limited access in medically underserved areas.

☆ Biden picks Jeff Zients as next chief of staff -statement
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Friday picked his former COVID-19 policy coordinator, Jeff Zients, to be the next White House chief of staff, citing his expertise in health care and the economy. Zients will replace Biden's current chief of staff Ron Klain, the statement said. "I’ve seen Jeff Zients tackle some of the toughest issues in government," Biden said in a statement announcing the move. Klain, a longtime aide and adviser to Democratic presidents and vice presidents, has been chief of staff to Biden since he took office in January 2021. White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients delivers remarks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 13, 2021.

☆ Affordable Care Act Enrollments Reach Record High
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Stephanie Armour | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

More than 16.3 million people selected a plan on the ACA marketplaces, based on data released Wednesday by the Biden administration. Enrollments under the Affordable Care Act have reached an all-time high on the federal and state exchanges, helping drive the nation’s uninsured rate down to record lows despite steeper monthly premium costs. The Biden administration Wednesday provided the most comprehensive look so far at sign-up activity during the ACA’s most recent open-enrollment period, which marks the 10th for the Obama-era health law. The official sign-up window on the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov, began in November 2022 and ended Jan. 15, although a number of states that run their own marketplace exchanges have later deadlines for 2023 coverage.

☆ Republicans' plans to slash Social Security and Medicare are becoming clearer: 'We have no choice but to make hard decisions'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

House Republicans have alluded to cuts they want to make to the federal budget for months. They're becoming more explicit about those cuts involving Medicare and Social Security funds. So popular, in fact, that former President Donald Trump recently warned the GOP to keep them out of debt ceiling negotiations. The White House, and Democratic lawmakers, have criticized the GOP using the debt limit to implement cuts to Medicare and Social Security. "They claim their plan to use the debt ceiling to trigger global economic chaos is about fiscal responsibility.

Donald Trump told the GOP to leave Medicare and Social Security cuts out of debt ceiling negotiations. But former President Donald Trump is warning the GOP to keep social spending programs out of it. "Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security," Trump said in the video. However, in the lead-up to Trump's 2020 run, the former president embraced abandoning a payroll tax that helps fund Social Security. Republicans and Democrats have sparred over Medicare and Social Security for years, with Republicans routinely looking to cut benefits for both programs.

☆ U.S. uninsured rate fell during Covid pandemic as Medicaid and Obamacare coverage grew
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The uninsured rate in the U.S. for people under age 65 dropped from 11% in 2019 to 10.5% in 2021, according to a report released Friday by the Health and Human Services Department. By the first quarter of 2022, the uninsured rate dropped to an all-time low of 8%, according to the report. But pandemic health policies created a safety net for people who lost private coverage and made it easier for them to find insurance. Medicaid enrollment swelled by more than 20 million from February 2020 through September 2022 as a consequence. Many of these people are expected to transition to Obamacare marketplace coverage.

☆ Health insurance upstarts that grew fast while bleeding money now say they want to turn a profit. They're raising premiums, exiting markets, and leveraging their size to get there.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Newly public health insurers Bright, Clover, and Oscar historically have prioritized fast growth. Now that it's become harder to raise capital from investors, the insurers Bright Health, Clover Health, and Oscar Health have shifted their strategies toward making money. Bright Health, in particular, was forced to take extreme measures that will see it cover members in just one state this year, after serving people in 17 states in 2022. Here's what Bright, Clover, and Oscar said they're doing to reach a profit, from raising the premiums of their health plans to exiting the markets they once bet big on. Clover slashed its participation in a federal programClover Health CEO Andrew Toy Clover HealthClover also slashed its footprint in a major program to bring down costs.

☆ The Biden administration just made it easier for Trump to keep a key promise on prescription drugs if he wins in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The Biden administration presented a plan on Wednesday to let the government negotiate drug prices. Trump, who once accused Big Pharma of "getting away with murder," could be president when drug prices fall. Gutting the prescription drug provision would come at a cost to the federal government. President Trump signed a series of four executive orders aimed at lowering prices that for prescription drugs in the United States. "There has been no bigger champion of lowering prescription costs and putting Americans first than President Trump," Steven Cheung, Trump's 2024 campaign spokesman, told Insider.

☆ Nearly 16 million Americans sign up for 2023 Obamacare plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] U.S. President-elect Joe Biden adjusts his face mask after during a news conference, where he discussed health care and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare, at the theater serving as his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., November 10, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstJan 11 (Reuters) - Nearly 16 million Americans have so far signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's marketplace, a 13% jump from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday. Enrollment for 2023 healthcare plans under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is open between Nov. 1 and Jan. 15. About 3.1 million people who have signed up for the plans are new enrollees, HHS said. Obamacare helps low and middle-income Americans who do not have access to affordable health insurance coverage through an employer.

☆ 'Damaging cuts' to Medicare and Social Security are looking more likely with McCarthy as House speaker. Here's what it will mean for retirees.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Those concessions likely include budget cuts that will threaten Medicare and Social Security. Even if that agenda doesn't pass, negotiations could threaten Social Security payments, advocates say. According to a screenshot of the presentation viewed by CNN, the spending priorities were vague but mentioned reforms to "mandatory spending programs" that could include Social Security and Medicare. But it looks like some House Republicans are already strong-arming the policy direction of their renewed majority. Johnson also noted that any sort of stalemate over budget negotiations could endanger the timely payment of Social Security benefits, which would hurt seniors.

☆ Republican Sen. Ben Sasse officially steps down, opening up appointment to seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump, officially resigned from the Senate on Sunday as he prepares to step back into academia as president of the University of Florida. The state's previous governor, Republican Pete Ricketts, has said he would seek the appointment. The university’s Board of Trustees later approved Sasse as the school's next president despite vocal opposition from some faculty and students. Sasse frequently aired grievances with Trump as well as his supporters in the Republican Party. “Those lies had consequences, endangering the life of the vice president and bringing us dangerously close to a bloody constitutional crisis,” Sasse said at the time.

The problem was the Neris had switched to a new, high-deductible health insurance plan to save money. The 2010 Affordable Care Act expanded access to health insurance, so companies were faced with covering more people than ever before. But the epinephrine auto-injectors — which deliver a shot of epinephrine and are the only emergency medicine available for life-threatening allergic reactions — usually are not. But AHIP (formerly known as America’s Health Insurance Plans), a group that represents such companies, said drug manufacturers are to blame. Fight it with your health care provider, fight it with your insurance company.”“No almost never means no in health insurance,” he said.

☆ How Anti-Abortion Activists Bought Access to the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

In exchange for as little as a few thousand dollars in contributions to the nonprofit, these people received easy access to events where Supreme Court justices would be. Supreme Court Historical society trustee Jay Sekulow, center, represented President Trump during the latter's impeachment trial in 2020. Anti-abortion advocates cheer in front of the Supreme Court after the decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores was announced in 2014. Alito did not respond to a request for comment on his involvement in the Supreme Court Historical Society. Supreme Court justices, though, aren't even required to stay within those weak guardrails because no code of ethics governs justices' behavior.

☆ U.S. likely headed for economic 'soft landing' -White House's Boushey
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. economy appears headed for a soft landing, with recent economic data pointing to an ongoing recovery, not a recession, White House economist Heather Boushey told Reuters on Friday. Asked whether the United States could avoid a recession, Boushey, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said, "There are no indications that that is where we are now." "The steps have been taken and it looks like we are in a very good position to have that soft landing that everyone is talking about," she said. A soft landing is the ideal Federal Reserve policy goal after raising interest rates, a situation in which inflation slows but there are not enough job losses to trigger a recession. President Joe Biden had hoped to enact reforms to fund universal preschool and ensure improvements to the "care economy," but failed to win sufficient support in Congress.

☆ What long Covid patients need to know about health insurance
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty ImagesNavigating the health insurance system is often difficult and overwhelming, even in the best of times. For patients with long Covid, a relatively new condition that frequently leaves patients with a lengthy and unpredictable list of debilitating symptoms, it can be especially nightmarish. Here's what you need to know about navigating health insurance with the condition. Long Covid patients, for example, often seek physical therapy and mental health services, she said. Clinical trials are 'worth investigating'Clinical trials, many of which are covered by health insurance plans, can be a great option for long Covid patients, Donovan said.

The rule will make medication abortion, which accounts for more than half of U.S. abortions, more accessible in states where abortion remains legal, but its impact in states that have banned abortion will be limited. Most significantly, the FDA's new regulation will not help patients get abortion pills in states that have banned abortion, said Amanda Allen of the Lawyering Project, a legal group that defends abortion rights. Nonetheless, Allen said, the rule could make it easier to travel out of state for a medication abortion. Currently, a patient seeking a medication abortion in another state must both obtain the prescription and the pill in that state. Some conservative policy groups and lawmakers have proposed laws that would make it a crime to help someone travel to another state for abortion or mail them abortion pills.

☆ Millions at risk of losing Medicaid in the spring under provision tucked inside $1.7 trillion federal spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Tucked inside a more than 4,000-page, $1.7 trillion bill that funds the federal government through September is a provision that would eliminate the Medicaid coverage protections from the public health emergency. "Whereas right now since the Covid-19 public health emergency started, states were not allowed to terminate Medicaid coverage." The public health emergencyi, first declared in January 2020 by the Trump administration, has been renewed every 90 days since the pandemic began. People generally lose Medicaid coverage if their income rises and falls outside the program's parameters. HHS estimates that about a third of those who will lose Medicaid coverage will qualify for tax credits for marketplace insurance.

☆ Former adversary John Boehner praises 'incredibly effective' outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi in tearful Capitol Hill tribute
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Former Speaker John Boehner had nothing but kind words for Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday. The Ohio Republican praised his one-time foil at her official portrait unveiling on Capitol Hill. "No other speaker of the House ... has wielded the gavel with such authority," Boehner said. The waterworks started earlier, though, as Boehner recounted how his daughters had asked him to "tell the speaker how much we admire her." She handled the career change like a champ then, Boehner said, and he seemed to believe she'll be fine with whatever comes next too.

☆ You can still sign up for 2023 health insurance through the public marketplace — but waiting past Dec. 15 can delay coverage
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

FamVeldIf you don't have health insurance lined up for next year, there's still time to get private coverage through the public marketplace. The deadline is Dec. 15 — Thursday — to sign up on Healthcare.gov for a health plan to take effect Jan. 1. Most marketplace enrollees — 13 million of 14.5 million — qualify for federal subsidies (technically tax credits) to help pay premiums. For enrollees who get subsidies, coverage is generally dropped after three months if premiums are not caught up. That's been the case even if a worker wanted their dependents covered too — meaning the actual cost of family coverage could far exceed that threshold.

☆ Alexandra Pelosi reflects on her father’s attack: ‘At some point, you’re just done’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Daniella Diaz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

That’s just not right in any way,” Alexandra Pelosi told CNN’s Don Lemon in an exclusive interview on “CNN This Morning.”“It’s just, at some point, you’re just done. Alexandra Pelosi, a documentary filmmaker, spent years filming her mother behind the scenes for “Pelosi in the House,” her film out Tuesday on HBO Max. Nancy Pelosi announced last month that she would step down from her leadership post after leading House Democrats for two decades. I just, I don’t know how to talk about this without going so dark.”Youngkin eventually sent a handwritten note apologizing to Nancy Pelosi for his remarks,“If I watched Fox News, I would hate Nancy Pelosi too, I get it,” Alexandra Pelosi said. And my mother, of course, she would say, ‘I’m proud of my wounds.’ Because she’s proud of the life that she’s lived.

☆ Federal agencies formally warned to prepare ahead of government shutdown deadline
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Betsy Klein | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —While congressional leaders continue to negotiate a spending deal, the federal government has begun the process of preparing for a potential shutdown, participating in the mandatory but standard process of releasing shutdown guidance to agencies ahead of this Friday’s funding deadline. That standard guidance was circulated last Friday, marking seven days before a shutdown could occur absent congressional action. It’s not the first time the government has been on the brink of a shutdown, and it has happened on multiple occasions. The government also shut down for three days over deadlock during the Trump administration in January 2018. And in 2013, then-President Barack Obama presided over a 16-day partial government shutdown caused by a dispute over the Affordable Care Act and other budget disagreements.

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s announcement Friday morning that she was abandoning the Democratic Party to become an independent may require Democrats to modify their catchphrase. Her desperate leap out of the Democratic Party will someday make a compelling story for her book. In response, the Arizona Democratic Party took the serious step of censuring Sinema for her behavior. She’ll almost certainly need to fend off that challenge without the institutional Democratic Party resources she would otherwise have enjoyed. Her desperate leap out of the Democratic Party will someday make a compelling story for her book.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema's Democratic defection without a difference
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Specter’s switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party briefly gave Democrats a filibuster-proof majority and allowed them to pass the Affordable Care Act. Joe Lieberman, the moderate Democrat and former longtime senator, lost a Democratic primary in Connecticut in 2006, largely over his support for the Iraq war. A defection without a differenceArizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema appears to be different as she becomes the 22nd senator to change party affiliation while in office. A Senate independence trioSinema will be the first independent senator who isn’t from New England in more than a generation. The most complete political evolution may be that of Lincoln Chafee, the Rhode Island politician who was a Republican senator, independent governor and failed Democratic and Libertarian presidential candidate.

☆ Cyberattack on top Indian hospital highlights security risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

NEW DELHI — The leading hospital in India’s capital limped back to normalcy on Wednesday after a cyberattack crippled its operations for nearly two weeks. Online registration of patients resumed Tuesday after the hospital was able to access its server and recover lost data. The attack was followed by a series of failed attempts to hack India’s top medical research organization, the Indian Council of Medical Research. “We are digitizing (everything), but then there is an attack on the country’s most important medical institute,” he said. Altaf Qadri / APOn Nov. 30, there were repeated but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to breach the website of the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

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