Accountable care organizations were among the key initiatives of the Affordable Care Act, designed to help control soaring Medicare costs. ACOs were expected to save the government nearly $5 billion by 2019, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It hasn’t come anywhere close. Last week, the Trump administration proposed an overhaul to the program, which was designed…
Judge Blocks Kentucky Medicaid Work Requirement
A federal judge on Friday struck down a Trump administration decision allowing states to force low-income adults to work to qualify for Medicaid. The 60-page ruling, which is likely to be appealed, was hailed by advocates for the poor. But it could limit the number of states expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. “The Secretary never…
Federal Officials Say No-Go To Lifetime Limits On Medicaid
The Trump administration’s promise of unprecedented flexibility to states in running their Medicaid programs hit its limit Monday. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rejected a proposal from Kansas to place a three-year lifetime cap on some adult Medicaid enrollees. Since Medicaid began in 1965, no state has restricted how long beneficiaries could remain in the…
ACA’s Popularity Grows, Even As GOP Lauds Change To Requirement To Have Coverage
Despite President Donald Trump’s boasting that “we have essentially repealed Obamacare,” a new poll shows the Affordable Care Act is more popular than ever. In fact, many people don’t know Congress repealed the ACA’s penalty for not having insurance. The poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found 54 percent of Americans had a favorable view of the…
Running On Empty: CHIP Funding Could Run Out January 19 For Some States
Some states are facing a mid-January loss of funding for their Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) despite spending approved by Congress in late December that was expected to keep the program running for three months, federal health officials said Friday. The $2.85 billion was supposed to fund states’ CHIP programs through March 31. But some…
Uninsured Rate Falls To Record Low Of 8.8 Percent
Three years after the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansion took effect, the number of Americans without health insurance fell to 28.1 million in 2016, down from 29 million in 2015, according to a federal report released Tuesday. The latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau showed the nation’s uninsured rate dropped to 8.8 percent. It had been…
GOP Medicaid Cuts Hit Rural America Hardest, Report Finds
Rural America carried President Donald Trump to his election night upset last November. Trump Country it may be, but rural counties and small towns also make up Medicaid Country — those parts of the nation whose low-income children and families are most dependent on the federal-state health insurance program, according to a report released Wednesday. Medicaid’s enrollment…
Insurers, Hospitals Clash Over Help Paying Obamacare Premiums
Having health insurance is vital for 21-year-old Mercedes Nimmer, who takes several expensive prescription drugs to manage multiple sclerosis. So Nimmer was thrilled to get health insurance last year through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace and qualify for a federal subsidy to substantially lower her cost. Yet, the government assistance still left her with a…