aca Archives

Jun 30, 2017

Senate Leader Needs to Bring the Republicans Together to Pass The Health Care Bill

As mentioned in prior blog posts, the Republicans hold a slim majority in the Senate and need 50 out of 52 Republicans to vote for the health care bill. Both conservatives and centrists want different provisions in the bill, and Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-KY.) is struggling to bring the factions together in a way that will attract the votes of both of these groups. Once rewritten, he still needs to produce a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score of the legislation’s impact on coverage levels and federal spending. Senate McConnell is planning on sending a revised version of… Read more

Jun 28, 2017

Senate Health Care Bill -No July 4th Celebration

Today, Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. KY.) announced that the health care bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will not be put up for a vote in the Senate until after the July 4th holiday. According to the New York Times (6/27, Steinhauer, Subscription Publication), it appears that he “miscalculated in the first round of play.” He is said to have “put his legislative thumb on the scale in favor of conservatives, quickly alienating” other senators including Sens. Susan Collins (R. ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R. AK). Other Senators have also opposed the Medicaid eligibility… Read more

Jun 19, 2017

Senate to Consider Health Law Bill Before End of June?

Last week, a story in the Washington Post (6/15, Sullivan, Snell), stated that the Senate was poised to consider the health care bill by the end of the month, before the summer recess. However, the article also states that other Republicans were “skeptical” that the Senate would be able to vote on the bill before the recess. What we do know is that the “repeal and replace” of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) in the Senate is being conducted behind closed doors by 13 Republican Senators. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) continues to push for a vote before the July… Read more

May 25, 2017

CBO Scores the American Health Care Act Passed by the House – Cuts Deficit and Number of People Insured

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has just released its estimate of the impact of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 4th of this year. (As a reminder, the AHCA was passed by the House before the nonpartisan CBO could determine its impact.) According to the CBO, when compared to the current Affordable Care Act (ACA), the AHCA would leave 23 million more people uninsured while reducing the cumulative federal deficit by $119 billion over the next ten years. The CBO also estimates that insurance premiums under the AHCA will increase by… Read more

Mar 6, 2017

ACA Repeal-and-Replace Bill Released

On Monday, March 6, 2017, the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee of the U. S. House of Representatives released the American Health Care Act (the “Act”), which would repeal and replace portions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”). Notable provisions in the Act that would affect employer-sponsored health plans include: Reduce to zero the penalty for employers that fail to offer minimum essential coverage to their employees. Reduce to zero the individual mandate to obtain health insurance. Replace income-based tax credits for purchasing private insurance with age-based tax credits. Encourage the… Read more

Nov 15, 2013

Rewind on ACA: If You Like Your Current Health Plan, You Can Keep It For Now – If The Insurance Company Lets You

By: Laura Miller Andrew Today, President Obama announced that individuals and small businesses who currently have health insurance policies that do not meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act that have received or will be receiving cancellation notices because of ACA requirements, can renew the policies for another year if they meet certain conditions. The coverage had to be in effect on October 1, 2013 and the health insurance issuer must send a notice to all individuals and small businesses that received (or are scheduled to receive) a cancellation or termination notice. This notice must include specific information including: (1) any… Read more

Oct 24, 2013

HealthCare.gov is Sick- Open Enrollment Period Extended

By Laura Miller Andrew As covered extensively in the media, HealthCare.gov, the online Marketplace for health care coverage under PPACA is not feeling well. After weeks of frustration, President Obama conceded that the website is not working as intended, making it very difficult for the average consumer to sign up for a health care policy. Therefore, it was announced today that the open enrollment period will be extended from October 1st to March 31st. Under PPACA, most individuals who are not covered by health insurance for three months or longer face a financial penalty. In order for the insurance to take effect,… Read more