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☆ Show me the money: The highest revenue raising taxes in Biden's proposed budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Many of the proposed taxes are more of messaging signals as the president prepares to launch a potential re-election bid and enter the 2024 campaign season. Raise corporate tax rate to 28%: $1.326 trillionBiden's budget calls for increasing the corporate income tax to 28% from the current 21%. Increasing taxes on the highest earners, including large corporations, is central to its implementation. Impose minimum income tax on 0.01%: $436.61 billionIncrease the wealthy's ACA tax: $344.37 billionBiden's budget calls for increasing the 3.8% Affordable Care Act tax to 5% on Americans earning more than $400,000. If enacted, the income tax hike would reverse cuts made by former President Donald Trump in his 2017 tax bill.

How 31 Presidential Budgets Compared With RealityYear of budget 1994 Deficits Budgets Reality Spending Taxes and other revenueYou have probably heard of the main reason for this: The president’s budget has no force of law. But the president’s budget is often not predictive for another reason: Unexpected, cataclysmic events end up changing the trajectory of federal spending far more than shifts in any line item in a budget table. Bill ClintonDeficits Budgets Reality Spending Taxes and other revenueMr. Clinton’s budgets matched actual spending and revenue far more than those of the presidents who followed him. Another was the Budget Control Act, a bipartisan bill that reduced federal spending across the government that Mr. Obama had not proposed. And as we’re often reminded during budget season, budgets are also important because they tell you about a president’s goals and values.

☆ Fact Check-Michigan incentive program for children’s vaccines paid far less than $40,000 to individual providers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The posts read, “DID YOU KNOW: Blue Cross Blue Shield pays pediatricians a $40,000 bonus for fully vaccinating 100 patients under the age of 2. The full document does describe an incentive program offered to Michigan providers in 2016, and the excerpt seen in the posts about childhood vaccines is on the document’s page 15. “While vaccinations may fall into that category, they would not be the sole performance measure,” said a spokesperson for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), which represents the insurer’s affiliates in multiple states. Each of the 34 Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies “sets its own value-based contracts and determines which performance measures would be taken into account for incentives,” she added. A 2016 Michigan program paid individual providers smaller maximum amounts for vaccinating children than claimed online.

☆ The FBI is warning that House lawmakers and hundreds of their staff had their personal information stolen due to a data breach at an online health insurance marketplace
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

DC Health Link is the District of Columbia's health insurance marketplace. A data breach at DC Health Link may have exposed thousands of enrollees' personal information. Information for hundreds of House members and staff was also stolen, according to a memo. The FBI notified Szpindor that the "account information and (Personal Identifiable Information) of hundreds of Member and House staff were stolen" during that breach. To enroll, lawmakers and their staff rely on DC Health Link to choose their specific plans.

☆ Biden calls for tax on the wealthy to extend Medicare funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Kate Dore | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his plan to protect Americans access to affordable health care in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Feb. 28, 2023. President Joe Biden this week called for higher taxes on wealthy Americans to boost Medicare as part of his 2024 budget, aiming to help fund the program for at least 25 years. The plan would increase the net investment income tax from 3.8% to 5% for earnings of more than $400,000, including regular income, capital gains and so-called pass-through business income, which flows to individual tax returns, according to the White House. Enacted through the Affordable Care Act, the net investment income tax currently applies to earnings above $200,000 for single filers and $250,000 for married couples filing together. "By asking those with the highest incomes to contribute modestly more, we can keep the Medicare program strong for decades to come."

☆ Biden proposes to raise taxes on high earners to avert Medicare funding crisis- WaPo
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 7 (Reuters) - The White House will propose raising taxes on people earning more than $400,000 and reduce what Medicare pays for prescription drugs in a bid to keep the program stable, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. "The president's budget extends the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by at least 25 years," the report said citing the plan. The White House's proposal would raise the net investment income tax, created by the Affordable Care Act, from 3.8% to 5% for all Americans earning more than $400,000 per year, according to the report. The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ States and healthcare organizations join forces to help people prepare for Medicaid redeterminations
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Unitedhealthcare | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

As many as 18 million Americans may lose Medicaid coverage this year. Over the past three years, Medicaid recipients remained eligible thanks to a Congressional bill that provided funds to maintain continuous Medicaid coverage. But this April marks the end of this pandemic-era policy that helped people maintain their Medicaid coverage. That means the continuous enrollment provision will expire and states will return to their pre-pandemic policies of requiring people to renew their Medicaid coverage annually. Any individuals or families who lose Medicaid coverage through this redetermination process will need assistance securing replacement health insurance coverage.

Chart showing the percentage cut the committee would make to each area of government spending to balance the budget over 10 years. 8 8 8 Deficit 6 6 6 4 4 4 Spending Spending Spending Revenue Revenue Revenue 2 2 2 2023 2033 2023 2033 2023 2033 Current projections Deficits are projected to grow to $2.7 trillion by 2033. 8 8 8 Deficit 6 6 6 4 4 4 Spending Spending Spending Revenue Revenue Revenue 2 2 2 2023 2033 2023 2033 2023 2033 Eliminate by increasing taxes Current projections Eliminate by cutting spending Deficits are projected to grow to $2.7 trillion by 2033. plan to balance budget 50% Projections 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 Current trajectory 200% of G.D.P. plan to balance budget 50% Projections 1930 1960 1990 2020 2050 Sources: Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget; Congressional Budget Office; Republican Study Committee Note: Both plans were released in 2022 and are based on outdated baseline projections; their debt reduction may differ modestly.

☆ Walmart to nearly double its U.S. health center locations in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, March 2 (Reuters) - U.S. retailer Walmart Inc (WMT.N) said on Thursday it would open 28 new healthcare centers in the United States next year, including its first ones in Missouri and Arizona. By the end of 2024, the nation's largest retailer by revenue will have more than 75 Walmart Health centers across the United States, it said in a statement. Located inside Walmart Supercenters, the new Health centers will cover about 5,750 square feet and offer services including primary care, dental care, behavioral health, labs and X-ray, audiology and telehealth. The company operated 32 Walmart Health care centers at the end of 2022 and plans to open 17 more this year. Walmart will open the first of the new Health centers in the first quarter of 2024, and end the year with 10 locations in Dallas, eight in Houston, six in Phoenix and four in Kansas City, it said.

☆ Republicans want to replace federal taxes with a flat sales tax. It'll either add trillions to the national deficit or you'll have to pay a lot more for everything.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some Republicans want to abolish the IRS and replace most federal taxes with a flat sales tax. However, a report from Brookings finds that the sales tax at the currently proposed rate would add to the deficit. Buddy Carter, who introduced the legislation, said the US "doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem." "Our country doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. This is on top of the $3 trillion that Republicans want to add to the debt with tax giveaways to wealthy tax cheats, Big Pharma, big corporations, and other special interests.

☆ Watch live: Biden warns of GOP plans to curb access to health-care
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Republicans have insisted that Biden cuts spending as part of a deal to raise the debt limit — a proposition Biden won't negotiate. Biden met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House earlier this month to discuss the topic, but no agreements were made. Biden has asked House Republicans to lay out their own budget proposal with the desired spending cuts before nitpicking at his. Because McCarthy has yet to present a budget proposal, it is unclear how many of the ideas cited by Biden are being actively considered by House GOP. McCarthy has said cuts to the popular Social Security and Medicare programs are "off the table" in any debt ceiling talks.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia, Feb 28 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that his March 9 budget proposal to the U.S. Congress will include some higher taxes, including on billionaires, but will not violate his pledge not to raise rates on Americans making less than $400,000 a year. "On March the 9th, I'm going to lay down in detail every single thing, every tax that's out there that I'm proposing, and no one ... making less than $400,000 is going to pay a penny more in taxes," Biden told an audience in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I'm gonna raise some taxes," the Democratic president added, before suggesting that "billionaires" would be called upon to pay more. Biden, under pressure from Republicans who are threatening not to raise the U.S. debt limit unless he agrees to sharp spending cuts, has vowed to cut the deficit by $2 trillion over 10 years in the upcoming budget proposal. During the 2020 campaign, Biden pledged not to increase taxes on taxes on people making less than $400,000 a year.

☆ Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel will testify before Senate next month on Covid vaccine price hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Moderna CEO, Stephane Bancel attends 2019 Forbes Healthcare Summit at the Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 05, 2019 in New York City. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel will testify before the Senate health committee in March over the company's plans to hike the price of its Covid-19 vaccine. Sanders, in a letter to Bancel last month, slammed the proposed price hike as "outrageous" given that the vaccine was developed in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health using taxpayer money. When the federal supply runs out, uninsured adults may have to pay the full price for the shots. There is a federal free vaccine program for children whose families or caretakers can't afford the shots.

☆ Ron DeSantis backed deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare while in Congress. Trump is ready to hammer him for it ahead of 2024.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Trump has made it clear that he will attack DeSantis' past support for changes to Social Security and Medicare. It would have also increased the full retirement age for Social Security to 70 as well. The AARP tore into Ryan's proposal at the time, particularly for its proposed changes to social security. Trump has made it clear that he would not propose cuts to Social Security and Medicare and is ready to attack 2024 nomination challengers who have in the past. Insider couldn't find any comments he made at the time, but he was far from the only Republican or even the only Florida Republican to vote against the bill.

The tumult that broke out last month during the election of Kevin McCarthy for speaker illustrated the potential for profound dysfunction in the new House Republican majority. Here is a closer look at the fractious House Republican caucus. Chart of House Republicans highlights members who denied the 2020 election results, were supported by the House Freedom Fund, or both. Representative Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, who has also denied the 2020 election results, defeated Representative Liz Cheney in the primary. A Venn diagram shows the Republican newcomers in the House who either denied the 2020 election results, were supported by the House Freedom Fund, or both.

☆ The Covid emergency in the U.S. ends May 11. HHS officials say here's what to expect
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Liao Pan | China News Service | Getty ImagesThe Health and Human Services Department on Thursday laid out what will change and will remain the same when the three-year-long Covid public health emergency ends in May. HHS officials in call with reporters laid out what the the public can expect when the emergency ends. Immediate changes:People with private health insurance may have to pay for Covid tests, both over-the-counter and lab, depending on their plan. These protections were once tied to the public health emergency, but Congress then decided to phase them out separately. In short, states can start kicking people off Medicaid as early as April if they no longer meet eligibility requirements for the public health insurance program.

☆ Biden doubles down on needling Republicans over proposed Social Security and Medicare cuts: 'I'm your nightmare'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

"I guess I shouldn't say any more," he said, "but particularly on Social Security and Medicare." Rubio, who is in the rumored mix for the 2024 GOP nomination, said anybody who supports slashing Social Security or Medicare is delusional. "You have to listen to what the president said the last couple of years about protecting and fighting for Medicare and Social Security." "I've never ever said I would reduce Medicare or Social Security benefits. As for Social Security, its trust funds are expected to be insolvent by 2035, which would trigger 20% in cuts across the board.

☆ See the 12-slide presentation that a health-insurance startup used to land $58 million after its public competitors tumbled
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Angle Health wants to use tech to transform health insurance where other upstarts have failed. Angle Health raised $58 million to disrupt employer-sponsored health benefits using this pitch deck. Companies like Oscar Health, Clover Health, and Bright Health raked in investor cash on the promise that they could transform health plans with tech, and each went public in 2021 at a lofty valuation. Angle Health provided Insider with the pitch deck it used to raise $58 million in Series A funding from Portage and other investors. Here's the pitch deck Angle Health used to land a $58 million Series A.

☆ The arms race for doctors is on. CVS is hoping a $10.6 billion deal will help it compete with Amazon and UnitedHealthcare.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

CVS Health just said it wants to buy primary-care company Oak Street Health for $10.6 billion. CVS Health is finally entering the arms race among health insurers and big retailers to employ doctors. Oak Street gets most of its revenue from relationships with CVS-owned Aetna rivals Humana, Centene, and UnitedHealthcare. And though Aetna is a big Medicare Advantage player, it also has millions of members who get insurance through their employers. Mike Pykosz, Oak Street Health CEO Oak Street HealthGuertin also noted that the improved health outcomes and better experience provided in Oak Street clinics would help Aetna hold onto its Medicare Advantage patients.

☆ McCarthy warns Republicans not to misbehave at State of the Union, promises no 'childish games' like Pelosi's infamous speech tearing moment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Oma Seddiq | Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

McCarthy swiped at Pelosi ahead of Biden's state of the union address on Tuesday. "We're not going to do childish games tearing up a speech," he told CNN. Pelosi infamously ripped up a copy of Trump's speech after his 2020 SOTU address. Pelosi made headlines when she ripped up a copy of Trump's speech after he delivered his third state of the union address three years ago. McCarthy, the newly elected House speaker, will take Pelosi's previous seat on the platform behind Biden during his address on Tuesday night.

☆ Alignment Healthcare's CEO shared 3 reasons he thinks the upstart will win in health insurance — and why it won't unravel like Bright Health
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Young health insurers that went public in 2021 have bled money. Some health insurers that went public in 2021 at high valuations have struggled since then. Several young insurers have bled money as they've grown quickly. Bright Health, another Medicare Advantage insurer, came close to insolvency and had to shut down its health plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Growing steadily with a narrow focusBefore the recent market slowdown, growing fast had been a common strategy for newly public health insurers and digital health broadly.

☆ U.S. plans to stop buying Covid shots for the public this fall. Here's what that means
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

There is a federal program to provide free vaccines to children whose families or caretakers can't afford the shots. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., slammed the vaccine price hike in a letter to Moderna's CEO last month. Under the ACA, private health insurance is required to cover all immunizations recommended by the CDC at no cost to the consumer. There may be a small number of legacy private health insurance plans from before the ACA that are not required to cover Covid vaccines, Cox said. Consumers could also see their health insurance premiums increase if Pfizer and Moderna hike the price of the shots, Cox said.

☆ The era of health insurance disruptors is over
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Today, they're mostly the poster children of just how challenging it is to break into the insurance industry. Clover Health; Bright Health; Oscar Health; Olivia Reaney/Business InsiderOscar, founded in 2012, and Bright, in 2015, set out to sell health plans to people buying coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Elevance Health, the parent company of Anthem health plans, is No. Health insurance remains overly complex and mind-numbingly frustrating. Established health insurers haven't been able to stem the rise in health costs, which are mostly determined by the prices for medical care.

☆ U.S. govt proposes expanding Obamacare coverage for birth control
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

A sign on an insurance store advertises Obamacare in San Ysidro, San Diego, California, U.S., October 26, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake(Reuters) - The U.S. government on Monday proposed a new rule to expand coverage of the Obamacare health insurance plans for all women who need or want birth control. Regulations in 2018 expanded exemptions for religious beliefs and moral convictions allowing private health plans and insurers to exclude coverage of contraceptive services. The new rules proposed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the Departments of Labor and the Treasury would remove the moral exemption and retain the existing religious exemption. The rules would ensure that “tens of millions of women across the country” who have access to birth control coverage under the Affordable Care Act would get access to contraception, the HHS said.

☆ U.S. seeks to expand birth control coverage under Obamacare
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Ahmed Aboulenein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A sign on an insurance store advertises Obamacare in San Ysidro, San Diego, California, U.S., October 26, 2017. REUTERS/Mike BlakeWASHINGTON (Reuters) -Women whose employers have opted out of covering contraceptives under their health insurance plans on religious grounds would gain no-cost access to birth control under a rule proposed by the Biden administration on Monday. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, requires private insurance plans to cover recommended preventive services including contraception without any patient cost-sharing, but current regulations grant exemptions for religious or moral objections. If the new rule is implemented, women enrolled in plans governed by the ACA would gain birth control coverage regardless of employer exemption, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a statement. The rule would also remove employer moral objections as grounds for exemption from coverage but keep religious ones in place.

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