Cigna Corp. has pulled out of the Maryland health exchange, becoming the latest insurer to exit amid pressure on the individual marketplace. In a filing with the state last month, Cigna requested an average rate increase of 37 percent for its individual market insurance. But the Maryland Insurance Administration on Wednesday confirmed Cigna withdrew its application for rate increases and wouldn't return to the marketplace in 2018. Cigna could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. Cigna becomes…
Reported by bizjournals 30 minutes ago.
Cigna exits Maryland's individual health insurance marketplace
↧
↧
CEOs Say They'll Sell Health Insurance Next Year, But Are Flying Blind
Health insurers have to let the government know Wednesday if they'll be selling policies on the federal exchange next year. But Congress has yet to tell them what those policies will cover.
Reported by NPR 1 hour ago.
↧
Anthem to reduce Obamacare offerings in Wisconsin, Indiana
(Reuters) - Anthem Inc, which has urged lawmakers to commit to paying government subsidies for the Obamacare individual health insurance system, said on Wednesday it would reduce the number of individual plan offerings in Wisconsin and Indiana next year.
Reported by Reuters 36 minutes ago.
↧
Anthem to Exit ACA Exchanges in Wisconsin, Indiana
Anthem said it would pull out of the Affordable Care Act’s health-insurance marketplaces in Wisconsin and Indiana next year.
Reported by Wall Street Journal 14 hours ago.
↧
It just got uglier for Obamacare
Anthem, one of the five biggest insurers in the US, is pulling out of the Obamacare insurance exchanges in Wisconsin and Indiana.In an announcement Wednesday, the company said a combination of decreasing participation in the exchanges and political uncertainty made the company's presence in the two states no longer viable.
"Today, planning and pricing for ACA-compliant health plans has become increasingly difficult due to a shrinking and deteriorating individual market, as well as continual changes and uncertainty in federal operations, rules and guidance, including cost sharing reduction subsidies and the restoration of taxes on fully insured coverage," Anthem said in a statement provided to Business Insider.
Wisconsin and Indiana are the second and third states, respectively, from which Anthem has pulled out recently, following its decision to stop offering plans in Ohio earlier in June.
In comparison to Ohio, Anthem's exit from Indiana and Wisconsin will not leave any areas with no insurer, said Cynthia Cox, associate director at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health policy think tank.
The insurer will continue to offer off-exchange individual health insurance plans in one county in Wisconsin and five counties in Indiana.
Anthem's statement follows a familiar pattern from other insurers who have announced large premium increases or exits from the markets. The statement notes not only the difficult participation circumstances in the market, but also uncertainty in Washington — like the potential discontinuation of cost-sharing reduction payments — that could be a serious blow to their bottom line.
Opponents of the Affordable Care Act were quick to pounce on the news, with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, releasing a statement just a few minutes after the news broke.
"Growing uncertainty in the health insurance market was created by Obamacare’s costly regulations and it is causing higher premiums and a lack of options," Walker said in a statement. "If we do nothing, more companies will back out and more people will lose coverage. Wisconsin families expect and deserve better health care coverage options and the time to act is now."
Anthem's statement also said the company was still working with regulators in other states to continue participation in their exchanges. Wednesday is the deadline for insurers to submit their intention to stay in exchanges in states that use the Healthcare.gov platform.
"Our commitment to members has always been to provide greater access to affordable, quality healthcare, and we will continue to advocate solutions that will stabilize the market and allow us return to a more robust presence in the future," Anthem said. "In those states where Anthem has not yet made a final participation decision, we continue to work with regulators and remain actively engaged in dialogue."
*SEE ALSO: Obamacare faces one of its biggest days yet*
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: 'I'll ask it one more time': Kellyanne Conway won't say whether Trump thinks climate change is a hoax Reported by Business Insider 1 day ago.
↧
↧
Cigna exits Maryland's individual health insurance marketplace
Cigna Corp. has pulled out of the Maryland health exchange for 2018, becoming the latest insurer to exit amid pressure on the individual marketplace. In a filing with the state last month, Cigna requested an average rate increase of 37 percent for its individual market insurance plans. But the Maryland Insurance Administration on Wednesday confirmed Cigna withdrew its application for rate increases and wouldn't return to the marketplace in 2018. Representatives with Cigna could not be reached for…
Reported by bizjournals 22 hours ago.
↧
Government health insurance markets holding up–barely
Enough insurers are planning to sell coverage on the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges next year to keep them working — if only barely — in most parts of the country. Competition in many markets has dwindled to one insurer — or none in some cases — and another round of steep price hikes is […]
Reported by Seattle Times 23 hours ago.
↧
Government health insurance markets holding up, barely
Enough insurers are planning to sell coverage on the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges next year to keep those markets working in most parts of the country. Health insurers had until Wednesday to declare whether they planned to sell coverage next year on the exchanges in most states.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 22 hours ago.
↧
Oregon Health Authority funding measures head to Gov. Brown
Oregon senators passed what Democrats calls "a series of bipartisan votes" that will fund the Oregon Health Authority. The measures will, according to the majority-holding Senate Democrats, "protect health care coverage for hundreds of thousands of low-income Oregonians on the Oregon Health Plan." These are the bills that will now go to Gov. Kate Brown: House Bill 2391"imposes 1.5 percent assessment on commercial health insurance premiums and premium equivalents for managed care organizations…
Reported by bizjournals 23 hours ago.
↧
↧
'You're more likely to get it wrong:' Here's what doctors and patient advocates are saying about the Senate's secret healthcare plan
Doctor and patient organizations have some thoughts on what they'd like to see out of healthcare reform currently being drafted by a group of Senators. In May, the House of Representatives voted in favor of the American Health Care Act, the GOP's Obamacare replacement plan. At the time, many groups spoke out against the bill.
Now, lawmakers in the Senate are working to draft their own bill. Little is known about what will be included with it, and doctors and patients organizations haven't had as much of a chance to share their thoughts on the legislation as they did under the ACA.
The Senate bill is set to be released on Thursday. Here's what doctors and patient groups would like to see in it.
*SEE ALSO: This map shows where people with HIV live in the US — and points to some troubling trends*
*DON'T MISS: Nevada just passed one of the strictest drug pricing transparency laws in the country*
-American Academy of Pediatrics — "Any new health care policies must increase the number of children with access to comprehensive and affordable health insurance."-
The organization, which represents 66,000 pediatricians, has been against the AHCA since March.
Simply, the AAP would like to see healthcare reform that covers more children.
"Any new health care policies must increase the number of children with access to comprehensive and affordable health insurance," the AAP wrote in a letter to Senator Orrin Hatch.
That means increasing coverage to parents, specifically through the expansion of Medicaid that was part of the ACA.
The AAP along with other groups also created a checklist of what healthcare reform has to cover to satisfy them.
Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/874280467914264576
A new health care bill is working its way through the Senate this week. The question we’ll be asking: Can it pass the #KeepKidsCovered Test? pic.twitter.com/zOYBT3LiCW
-American Lung Association and a coalition of patient groups - Healthcare reform should provide adequate coverage.-
Back in March, the American Lung Association and other patient groups laid out three main principles for what they'd like to see come out of healthcare reform: affordability, accessibility, and adequacy. While the first two terms are pretty straightforward, the "adequacy" component refers to making sure that basic healthcare needs are covered, such as patient visits, hospitalizations, and prescriptions.
The coalition of other patient groups that includes: the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, March of Dimes, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, the National MS Society, and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.
That's been hard to communicate since the groups haven't had a chance to voice their opinions to the lawmakers.
"You're never going to get everything right," Erika Sward, the assistant vice president of national advocacy at the ALA told Business Insider. But when you completely exclude patient organizations from the conversations, "you're more likely to get it wrong," she said. -American College of Physicians — "Expand access and coverage."-
The organization, which represents 148,000 internal medicine physicians and medical students, opposes the AHCA bill and isn't too happy about the lack of transparency in the Senate.
In a 16-page document, the ACP outlined what they'd like to see out of healthcare reform. Here's the short version:
1. Expand access and coverage
2. Bring greater value for the dollars spent
3. Reduce the crushing administrative burden on physicians and patients
4. Leverage technology to improve patient care
5. Support a well-trained physician workforce
6. Reduce barriers to care for patients with chronic diseases
7. Support scientific research and policies to improve public health
See the rest of the story at Business Insider Reported by Business Insider 21 hours ago.
↧
Oscar Health looks to expand ACA offerings
Startup health insurer Oscar Health said it has filed to sell insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchanges in six states in -More-
Reported by SmartBrief 22 hours ago.
↧
Real Stories Of Americans Who Will Be Affected By The Proposed Changes To The ACA — And What YOU Can Do To Fight
With the proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), 20 million Americans are at risk of losing their health care coverage.A survey, conducted by Brunswick Partners, found that “*75 percent of Americans agree that the proposed changes to Medicaid in the AHCA are a bad idea*. And that we should not allow 14 million Americans to become uninsured even if there is a potential to reduce Medicaid spending. These results are significant because they find majorities of Americans identifying as conservatives (55 percent), moderates (82 percent) and liberals (90 percent) are opposed to the AHCA’s Medicaid provisions.”
**Some of the proposed changes to the ACA made by the House include:**
·
Over $800 Billion in cuts to Medicaid*·
Elimination of the Medicaid expansion*·
Reversal of the pre-existing conditions clause·
Elimination of many of the essential health benefits (EHB)·
Cuts to behavioral and mental health coverage·
Raises in premiums for those over 65·
30% surcharge for those who don’t have coverage in order to get coverage·
Eliminates Federal subsidies and replaces them with tax credits based on age·
Elimination of many of the workforce diversity provisions·
Inclusion of high-risk pools·
Shift to per capita caps and block grants·
Elimination of women’s healthcare coverage·
Lifetime caps
*These Medicaid cuts and caps are not at all related to the ACA, but are only there to “pay for” for the tax breaks for the wealthy in the bill.
*Terms to Understand:*
*- *Affordable Care Act (ACA) – also dubbed “Obamacare”
- American Health Care Act (AHCA) – also dubbed “Trumpcare,” which is the bill proposed by the House.
- Essential Health Benefits (EHB) – the ACA required that EHBs be covered on all healthcare plans.
- Medicaid – is also called Medical Assistance or MA
Harry Nelson, co-author of the book, “From ObamaCare to TrumpCare: Why You Should Care” estimates that the number of Americans who lose health coverage could be closer to 30 million, and the biggest nightmare of the proposed changes is this fact: those with pre-existing conditions will lose their ability to be insured.
Nelson also states, “the essential health benefits (EHB) that are currently required under all plans was life changing for many families, especially those with addiction treatments and mental health concerns. *The ACA also provided dramatic change to families with children with special needs. *The Republican plan is to get rid of the EHB and pre-existing conditions. The super conservatives see $100 billion in their pockets. They want tax cuts, and in order to balance the budget it means eliminating the overall costs of health care.”
“The working middle-class who have jobs without company insurance are going to be the hardest hit, along with the 50-65 age group,” Nelson added. “The two parts of the ACA that Americans loved most was the elimination of pre-existing conditions, and the ability to keep your children on your policy until age 26. Under the new proposal, if you lose your job you may never be able to get insurance again if you have a pre-existing condition.”
**REAL STORIES OF AMERICANS AFFECTED BY THESE CHANGES:**
*Tymia McCollough*, age 11 – Georgetown, South Carolina
Tymia was born with sickle cell anemia type SS. While her mother is a carrier, she does not have sickle cell. As a Medicaid recipient, Tymia has received blood transfusions, optical care, ER attention, medication in and out of the hospital, and undergone two surgeries. These treatments gave her the chance to thrive and grow through her treatments at MUSC Children’s Hospital. Today, Tymia is an ambassador for the American Red Cross, leader on the police community board, involved with the elderly in her community, enjoys pageantry, modeling, singing and ballet. She is an ambitious young girl, who is best described as BRAVE.
“Medicaid is very important to Tymia because it allows her to see the doctors and specialists who help her sustain a great quality of life. Medicaid has guaranteed that my daughter will receive consistent and effective medical care. Without it, she may not be here today. For this, we are truly grateful.” – Tymia’s mother, Susie.
*Katie Alee*, age 16 – Minnetonka, Minnesota
Katie was diagnosed with complex movement disorder, a rare form of cerebral palsy, when she was a year old. Her condition requires ongoing and constant medical care. Medicaid has assisted Katie’s family from day one with access to quality and affordable care. Katie has grown into a vibrant young woman who can advocate for herself because of the care she has received throughout her life with Medicaid assistance. An example of this is when her elementary school’s playground couldn’t accommodate her power wheelchair, she used her voice and an accessible one was built. Her care at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul and her Medicaid insurance empowered her to speak out.
“Knowing that Medicaid is there for Katie should anything ever happen to me is vital to me and my peace of mind. And Katie’s future needs are not really known at this time, so we need to make sure there is always an affordable healthcare opportunity for Katie.” – Katie’s mom, Edwina Alee
*Apollo Howell*, age 3 – Austin, Texas
Apollo Howell was diagnosed with tracheoesophageal fistula, esophageal atresia, tracheomalacia, lung disease, acute gastroenteritis, reflux disease, chronic gastroparesis, and cyclic vomiting syndrome when he was born. He spent the first 171 days of his life in three different Neonatal Incentive Care Units (NICU). Through his Medicaid insurance and the pediatric surgeons and physicians at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Dell Children’s Hospital, Apollo’s trachea was successfully rebuilt and his esophagus was repaired. Today, Apollo is an unstoppable force of nature, and loves to play with trains and swim.
*Khalil Pereira*, age 22 – North Brunswick, New Jersey
Khalil was returning from college with one of his friends when the driver fell asleep at the wheel and lost control of the vehicle. The car flipped 15 times. During his six-month inpatient stay at Children’s Specialized Hospital, Khalil received phenomenal medical and nursing care and intense physical, occupational, speech and recreational therapy. His family received hope and reassurance during a critical time of shock and uncertainty. After treatment, Khalil was able to talk, walk and do all his daily activities on his own. All of this phenomenal progress was made possible by Medicaid assistance. Despite some persisting cognitive issues, Khalil is now employed and works part-time as a store clerk.
“When I learned of Khalil’s accident I was on my way to work, I was blown away by the news and my family was in shock. Without Medicaid I would not have been able to pay for his medical treatments. At the time of his injury I was a single mom of three boys working only part-time.” –Khalil’s mother, Shanette.
*Kenedi and Kendal Breyfogle, *Pierre, South Dakota
Twin sisters Kenedi and Kendal were diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 3 months old. After 17 months in remission, Kendal relapsed and now, at day +40 from her transplant, the cancer has already returned.
Kenedi and Kendal’s mom, Abby Breyfogle, is one of many #IAmAPreexistingCondition video stories posted on The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Advocacy Facebook page, as Kenedi and Kedal have preexisting conditions.
*Susan Helene Gottfried, *Wexford, PA In January 2016, Susan had a bicycling accident that almost took her right eye. She’s now dependent on daily meds and routine scans of the back of the eye to make sure the damage doesn’t turn into glaucoma, and to make sure the retina repair holds and no new scar tissue forms, requiring more surgery. With every surgery comes decreased vision. Glacuoma, of course, causes damage to the optic nerve that results in blindness. The proposed changes to the ACA will either knock Susan off insurance altogether (given her pre-existing condition) or make her meds and the retinal scans unaffordable to her as a single mother.
*Eryn Paxton, *Charles Town, West Virginia
Eryn works in Virginia as a clinical social worker for adults with a dual diagnosis with IDD and SMI. Eryn explains, “I can say many people I work with would be impacted (and possibly even my job in the long run), but on a more personal level, I have an amazing 17-month-old son who recently was diagnosed with epilepsy as a result of a lesion in his brain. This year alone we will pay at least $22,000 out of pocket to cover just the health insurance costs and make sure he has the treatment he needs. We are moving in two weeks to a more affordable home so that we can meet his current medical needs and cover additional expenses that we may have to travel and seek treatment out of the area.”
Eryn continues, “Even for a family with a moderate income and ‘good insurance,’ the possibility that my son could be denied coverage due to lifetime maximums (he’ll need brain surgery soon, and possibly more surgeries along the road) is terrifying. In addition the proposals to allow states to charge higher costs to individuals who are sick would make it impossible for our family to afford the care my son needs—and will need. We have a long road ahead of us, and I lay awake at night worried for my son, and my family’s financial future. It shouldn’t be that way. I shouldn’t have to worry if we will be able to afford the medical care my son will need to live. It shouldn’t be a choice I have to make, but sadly is the reality for our family. I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it. I just want lawmakers to see my sweet boy and know that this issue has a face.”
*Heather Childs, *Coatesville, Pennsylvania Everyone in Heather’s family has pre-existing conditions. She states, “Three of us have autoimmune diseases that cannot or will not ever be cured. They can be maintained with expensive medications. Except my son, a Type 1 diabetic, who will die without his insulin. I worry about my kids as they finish college, already many thousands of dollars in debt, who may not be able to get insurance because of their conditions—or have to pay more.”
*Amy Zellmer, *Saint Paul, Minnesota Amy is currently on Medicaid through the expansion. As a single adult without children, Amy says that she is fortunate for the expansion that has allowed her affordable healthcare the past few years while she got back on her feet financially after sustaining a traumatic brain injury from a fall on the ice.
*Matthew M. Massee, *Salt Lake City, Utah Matthew explains that he and his wife do not have enough income to add her to his company health insurance without going into debt. Medicare rejected his wife because she is a “documented immigrant” (their words). The proposed change to the ACA—that will add a 30% premium surcharge to people who do not currently have insurance—will add another financial barrier that prevents this family from entering the insurance market.
*Linda Ware, *Bellaire, Texas Linda lives 20 minutes from the famous cancer hospital, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She was lucky to be treated there when she was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in October of 2013. After 30+ years in media, her job was eliminated in January 2016. She stayed on COBRA at almost $1500 per month, which runs out at the end of August 2017. MD Anderson Center is working with her to advance all her appointments to fall within that deadline, but Linda says, “then I’m on my own.”
*Roy Steele, *San Francisco, California
“If the Affordable Care Act is repealed, it will be the most controversial act of cruelty, inhumanity, and political malice in our nation’s history,” Ray said. Before the Affordable Care Act was implemented, Roy was deathly ill and drowning in medical bills. He lost his home when the insurance company terminated his coverage because he reached lifetime spending limits. “I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. I am a cancer survivor. I am living with HIV. I am living with PTSD. I am living with other maladies. I lose sleep nearly every day from the stress related to the Republican party’s promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Medication keeps me alive. The excellent care I receive from the doctors and healthcare professionals at University of California, San Francisco Medical Center keeps me alive. The AHCA will have a tremendous impact on the care I receive today. Reducing essential health benefits, and cutting Medicaid, threatens my physical health, my future, and my long-term survival.”
*Dawn Hamilton, *Los Angeles, California “As parents of a severely disabled child (she went without oxygen at birth and has cerebral palsy and a host of medical conditions as a result), we rely heavily on the combination of private insurance coverage and Medi-Cal (California’s version of Medicaid). Because of the extensive therapy, treatments and medical care we’ve been able to provide my daughter, she is growing and thriving today despite her disability. My husband and I are both self-employed. The thought that pre-existing conditions may make our access to healthcare more difficult or more expensive…the thought that the lifetime limits/caps could return…less options for self employed people…reduced Medicaid resources…less access to the high level care we are dependent on…losing nursing support that allows me to work while my daughter is cared for—all of it is terrifying. My only saving grace in all of this is that we live in California where we have legislators like Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein looking out for our best interests.”
**WHAT YOU CAN DO TO FIGHT:**
Send this article to your senators, along with your own story of how YOU will be affected.
Share this article far and wide on your social networks.
Meet in person with your members this week! Share you story!
If you cannot meet in person, call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request
Social media – (sample tweets at the end of this toolkit): http://www.c-c-d.org/fichiers/June-6-Day-of-Action-Toolkit.pdf
Additionally, you may send this letter https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/20170616-Bipartisan-Governors-Letter-to-Senate-Leadership.pdf
Info on Per Capita Caps/Block Grants: http://c-c-d.org/fichiers/CCD-MedicaidLeaveBehind_05162017_Final.pdf
Info on what the ACA has done: http://c-c-d.org/fichiers/CCD_ProtectACA_05162017_Final.pdf
More national and state-specific info: https://medicaid.publicrep.org/
Additional information on Medicaid: www.protectourmedicaid.org
Amy Zellmer is an award-winning author, speaker, and advocate of traumatic brain injury (TBI). She is a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post, and has created a privateFacebook group for survivors and also produces a podcast series. She sits on the Brain Injury Advisory Council (BIAC) through the Brain Injury Association of America’s and is involved with the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance. She travels the country with her Yorkie, Pixxie, to help raise awareness about this silent and invisible injury that affects over 2.5 million Americans each year.
In November, 2015 she released her first book, “Life With a Traumatic Brain Injury: Finding the Road Back to Normal” which received a silver award at the Midwest Book Awards in May, 2016. Her second book, “Surviving Brain Injury: Stories of Strength and Inspiration”is a collection of stories written by brain injury survivors and caregivers and was released November 2016. for more information:www.facesoftbi.comTweets by amyzellmer
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 6 hours ago.
**Some of the proposed changes to the ACA made by the House include:**
·
Over $800 Billion in cuts to Medicaid*·
Elimination of the Medicaid expansion*·
Reversal of the pre-existing conditions clause·
Elimination of many of the essential health benefits (EHB)·
Cuts to behavioral and mental health coverage·
Raises in premiums for those over 65·
30% surcharge for those who don’t have coverage in order to get coverage·
Eliminates Federal subsidies and replaces them with tax credits based on age·
Elimination of many of the workforce diversity provisions·
Inclusion of high-risk pools·
Shift to per capita caps and block grants·
Elimination of women’s healthcare coverage·
Lifetime caps
*These Medicaid cuts and caps are not at all related to the ACA, but are only there to “pay for” for the tax breaks for the wealthy in the bill.
*Terms to Understand:*
*- *Affordable Care Act (ACA) – also dubbed “Obamacare”
- American Health Care Act (AHCA) – also dubbed “Trumpcare,” which is the bill proposed by the House.
- Essential Health Benefits (EHB) – the ACA required that EHBs be covered on all healthcare plans.
- Medicaid – is also called Medical Assistance or MA
Harry Nelson, co-author of the book, “From ObamaCare to TrumpCare: Why You Should Care” estimates that the number of Americans who lose health coverage could be closer to 30 million, and the biggest nightmare of the proposed changes is this fact: those with pre-existing conditions will lose their ability to be insured.
Nelson also states, “the essential health benefits (EHB) that are currently required under all plans was life changing for many families, especially those with addiction treatments and mental health concerns. *The ACA also provided dramatic change to families with children with special needs. *The Republican plan is to get rid of the EHB and pre-existing conditions. The super conservatives see $100 billion in their pockets. They want tax cuts, and in order to balance the budget it means eliminating the overall costs of health care.”
“The working middle-class who have jobs without company insurance are going to be the hardest hit, along with the 50-65 age group,” Nelson added. “The two parts of the ACA that Americans loved most was the elimination of pre-existing conditions, and the ability to keep your children on your policy until age 26. Under the new proposal, if you lose your job you may never be able to get insurance again if you have a pre-existing condition.”
**REAL STORIES OF AMERICANS AFFECTED BY THESE CHANGES:**
*Tymia McCollough*, age 11 – Georgetown, South Carolina
Tymia was born with sickle cell anemia type SS. While her mother is a carrier, she does not have sickle cell. As a Medicaid recipient, Tymia has received blood transfusions, optical care, ER attention, medication in and out of the hospital, and undergone two surgeries. These treatments gave her the chance to thrive and grow through her treatments at MUSC Children’s Hospital. Today, Tymia is an ambassador for the American Red Cross, leader on the police community board, involved with the elderly in her community, enjoys pageantry, modeling, singing and ballet. She is an ambitious young girl, who is best described as BRAVE.
“Medicaid is very important to Tymia because it allows her to see the doctors and specialists who help her sustain a great quality of life. Medicaid has guaranteed that my daughter will receive consistent and effective medical care. Without it, she may not be here today. For this, we are truly grateful.” – Tymia’s mother, Susie.
*Katie Alee*, age 16 – Minnetonka, Minnesota
Katie was diagnosed with complex movement disorder, a rare form of cerebral palsy, when she was a year old. Her condition requires ongoing and constant medical care. Medicaid has assisted Katie’s family from day one with access to quality and affordable care. Katie has grown into a vibrant young woman who can advocate for herself because of the care she has received throughout her life with Medicaid assistance. An example of this is when her elementary school’s playground couldn’t accommodate her power wheelchair, she used her voice and an accessible one was built. Her care at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul and her Medicaid insurance empowered her to speak out.
“Knowing that Medicaid is there for Katie should anything ever happen to me is vital to me and my peace of mind. And Katie’s future needs are not really known at this time, so we need to make sure there is always an affordable healthcare opportunity for Katie.” – Katie’s mom, Edwina Alee
*Apollo Howell*, age 3 – Austin, Texas
Apollo Howell was diagnosed with tracheoesophageal fistula, esophageal atresia, tracheomalacia, lung disease, acute gastroenteritis, reflux disease, chronic gastroparesis, and cyclic vomiting syndrome when he was born. He spent the first 171 days of his life in three different Neonatal Incentive Care Units (NICU). Through his Medicaid insurance and the pediatric surgeons and physicians at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Dell Children’s Hospital, Apollo’s trachea was successfully rebuilt and his esophagus was repaired. Today, Apollo is an unstoppable force of nature, and loves to play with trains and swim.
*Khalil Pereira*, age 22 – North Brunswick, New Jersey
Khalil was returning from college with one of his friends when the driver fell asleep at the wheel and lost control of the vehicle. The car flipped 15 times. During his six-month inpatient stay at Children’s Specialized Hospital, Khalil received phenomenal medical and nursing care and intense physical, occupational, speech and recreational therapy. His family received hope and reassurance during a critical time of shock and uncertainty. After treatment, Khalil was able to talk, walk and do all his daily activities on his own. All of this phenomenal progress was made possible by Medicaid assistance. Despite some persisting cognitive issues, Khalil is now employed and works part-time as a store clerk.
“When I learned of Khalil’s accident I was on my way to work, I was blown away by the news and my family was in shock. Without Medicaid I would not have been able to pay for his medical treatments. At the time of his injury I was a single mom of three boys working only part-time.” –Khalil’s mother, Shanette.
*Kenedi and Kendal Breyfogle, *Pierre, South Dakota
Twin sisters Kenedi and Kendal were diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 3 months old. After 17 months in remission, Kendal relapsed and now, at day +40 from her transplant, the cancer has already returned.
Kenedi and Kendal’s mom, Abby Breyfogle, is one of many #IAmAPreexistingCondition video stories posted on The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Advocacy Facebook page, as Kenedi and Kedal have preexisting conditions.
*Susan Helene Gottfried, *Wexford, PA In January 2016, Susan had a bicycling accident that almost took her right eye. She’s now dependent on daily meds and routine scans of the back of the eye to make sure the damage doesn’t turn into glaucoma, and to make sure the retina repair holds and no new scar tissue forms, requiring more surgery. With every surgery comes decreased vision. Glacuoma, of course, causes damage to the optic nerve that results in blindness. The proposed changes to the ACA will either knock Susan off insurance altogether (given her pre-existing condition) or make her meds and the retinal scans unaffordable to her as a single mother.
*Eryn Paxton, *Charles Town, West Virginia
Eryn works in Virginia as a clinical social worker for adults with a dual diagnosis with IDD and SMI. Eryn explains, “I can say many people I work with would be impacted (and possibly even my job in the long run), but on a more personal level, I have an amazing 17-month-old son who recently was diagnosed with epilepsy as a result of a lesion in his brain. This year alone we will pay at least $22,000 out of pocket to cover just the health insurance costs and make sure he has the treatment he needs. We are moving in two weeks to a more affordable home so that we can meet his current medical needs and cover additional expenses that we may have to travel and seek treatment out of the area.”
Eryn continues, “Even for a family with a moderate income and ‘good insurance,’ the possibility that my son could be denied coverage due to lifetime maximums (he’ll need brain surgery soon, and possibly more surgeries along the road) is terrifying. In addition the proposals to allow states to charge higher costs to individuals who are sick would make it impossible for our family to afford the care my son needs—and will need. We have a long road ahead of us, and I lay awake at night worried for my son, and my family’s financial future. It shouldn’t be that way. I shouldn’t have to worry if we will be able to afford the medical care my son will need to live. It shouldn’t be a choice I have to make, but sadly is the reality for our family. I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it. I just want lawmakers to see my sweet boy and know that this issue has a face.”
*Heather Childs, *Coatesville, Pennsylvania Everyone in Heather’s family has pre-existing conditions. She states, “Three of us have autoimmune diseases that cannot or will not ever be cured. They can be maintained with expensive medications. Except my son, a Type 1 diabetic, who will die without his insulin. I worry about my kids as they finish college, already many thousands of dollars in debt, who may not be able to get insurance because of their conditions—or have to pay more.”
*Amy Zellmer, *Saint Paul, Minnesota Amy is currently on Medicaid through the expansion. As a single adult without children, Amy says that she is fortunate for the expansion that has allowed her affordable healthcare the past few years while she got back on her feet financially after sustaining a traumatic brain injury from a fall on the ice.
*Matthew M. Massee, *Salt Lake City, Utah Matthew explains that he and his wife do not have enough income to add her to his company health insurance without going into debt. Medicare rejected his wife because she is a “documented immigrant” (their words). The proposed change to the ACA—that will add a 30% premium surcharge to people who do not currently have insurance—will add another financial barrier that prevents this family from entering the insurance market.
*Linda Ware, *Bellaire, Texas Linda lives 20 minutes from the famous cancer hospital, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She was lucky to be treated there when she was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in October of 2013. After 30+ years in media, her job was eliminated in January 2016. She stayed on COBRA at almost $1500 per month, which runs out at the end of August 2017. MD Anderson Center is working with her to advance all her appointments to fall within that deadline, but Linda says, “then I’m on my own.”
*Roy Steele, *San Francisco, California
“If the Affordable Care Act is repealed, it will be the most controversial act of cruelty, inhumanity, and political malice in our nation’s history,” Ray said. Before the Affordable Care Act was implemented, Roy was deathly ill and drowning in medical bills. He lost his home when the insurance company terminated his coverage because he reached lifetime spending limits. “I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. I am a cancer survivor. I am living with HIV. I am living with PTSD. I am living with other maladies. I lose sleep nearly every day from the stress related to the Republican party’s promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Medication keeps me alive. The excellent care I receive from the doctors and healthcare professionals at University of California, San Francisco Medical Center keeps me alive. The AHCA will have a tremendous impact on the care I receive today. Reducing essential health benefits, and cutting Medicaid, threatens my physical health, my future, and my long-term survival.”
*Dawn Hamilton, *Los Angeles, California “As parents of a severely disabled child (she went without oxygen at birth and has cerebral palsy and a host of medical conditions as a result), we rely heavily on the combination of private insurance coverage and Medi-Cal (California’s version of Medicaid). Because of the extensive therapy, treatments and medical care we’ve been able to provide my daughter, she is growing and thriving today despite her disability. My husband and I are both self-employed. The thought that pre-existing conditions may make our access to healthcare more difficult or more expensive…the thought that the lifetime limits/caps could return…less options for self employed people…reduced Medicaid resources…less access to the high level care we are dependent on…losing nursing support that allows me to work while my daughter is cared for—all of it is terrifying. My only saving grace in all of this is that we live in California where we have legislators like Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein looking out for our best interests.”
**WHAT YOU CAN DO TO FIGHT:**
Send this article to your senators, along with your own story of how YOU will be affected.
Share this article far and wide on your social networks.
Meet in person with your members this week! Share you story!
If you cannot meet in person, call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request
Social media – (sample tweets at the end of this toolkit): http://www.c-c-d.org/fichiers/June-6-Day-of-Action-Toolkit.pdf
Additionally, you may send this letter https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/20170616-Bipartisan-Governors-Letter-to-Senate-Leadership.pdf
Info on Per Capita Caps/Block Grants: http://c-c-d.org/fichiers/CCD-MedicaidLeaveBehind_05162017_Final.pdf
Info on what the ACA has done: http://c-c-d.org/fichiers/CCD_ProtectACA_05162017_Final.pdf
More national and state-specific info: https://medicaid.publicrep.org/
Additional information on Medicaid: www.protectourmedicaid.org
Amy Zellmer is an award-winning author, speaker, and advocate of traumatic brain injury (TBI). She is a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post, and has created a privateFacebook group for survivors and also produces a podcast series. She sits on the Brain Injury Advisory Council (BIAC) through the Brain Injury Association of America’s and is involved with the Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance. She travels the country with her Yorkie, Pixxie, to help raise awareness about this silent and invisible injury that affects over 2.5 million Americans each year.
In November, 2015 she released her first book, “Life With a Traumatic Brain Injury: Finding the Road Back to Normal” which received a silver award at the Midwest Book Awards in May, 2016. Her second book, “Surviving Brain Injury: Stories of Strength and Inspiration”is a collection of stories written by brain injury survivors and caregivers and was released November 2016. for more information:www.facesoftbi.comTweets by amyzellmer
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 6 hours ago.
↧
The one issue that could decide the fate of the Republican healthcare bill
Senate Republican leadership will release a draft of their healthcare bill on Thursday, and few lawmakers know what's inside.But one of the bill's thorniest issues will likely come in how it deals with Medicaid, the government program that helps low-income Americans access health insurance.
Based on the Congressional Budget Office's score on May 24, the House's American Health Care Act would cut $834 billion over the next 10 years from the program.
That's mainly for two reasons: First, the cutback of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, which extended the income limit for qualifying Medicaid recipients to 138% of the federal poverty limit. Second, the shift to per-capita caps for federal funding to Medicaid, which would give federal aid based on the number of people and adjust this for a person's age and any disabilities.
The Senate version is expected to adhere similarly to those cuts, but based on reports outlining the discussions, some changes could make the bill more politically palatable for GOP lawmakers.
Here are the two big issues surrounding Medicaid to look out for in the Senate healthcare bill:
1. *When will Obamacare's Medicaid expansion be phased out? *That will be critically important for GOP senators in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. West Virginia, Ohio, Alaska, Nevada, Arkansas, and Maine all have Republican senators and expanded the program. They originally asked for a seven-year phase out of federal funding for the program after 2020, but some reports have suggested that it could be as little as three to cater to more conservative senators. As of now, 11 million people have access to coverage through the expansion, so these states could either take on the financial burden or allow people to drop off the rolls over time.
2. *How quickly will Medicaid spending grow? *To compute the rate of growth for federal Medicaid caps after 2020, there are a number of formulas under consideration. The House version currently uses the consumer price index (CPI) for medical costs, which tracks the price increase for out-of-pocket medical costs, plus 1%. Currently, reports suggest the Senate bill will use simple CPI for all goods instead after 2025. The overall CPI is much lower than the CPI for medical costs, and would mean that after 2025, the cuts to the program would be even deeper. Either way, the growth rate would not be fixed, and there is typically a significant variance in the annual cost increase of Medicaid in each state.
The answers to these questions will likely shape how a number of Republican senators approach the legislation. For one thing, senators from Medicaid expansion states would have a tougher time swallowing a faster phase out of the expansion.
On the other hand, a more generous phase-out of the expansion and higher Medicaid growth caps could alienate conservatives that want substantial savings from the bill.
From a non-vote perspective, the Congressional Budget Office's estimate that 23 million fewer people will have health insurance in 2026 than under the current system was based in large part due to losses in Medicaid coverage losses. How Senate alterations affect the coverage score, if at all, could color public reaction to the bill.
Republicans can only afford to lose two votes for the bill to pass without Democratic support.
*SEE ALSO: The Republican healthcare bill is the least popular major bill in decades*
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: What it’s like living in North Korea — according to a North Korean defector Reported by Business Insider 19 hours ago.
↧
↧
We're starting to get a sense of what will be in the Senate's version of 'Trumpcare'
The Senate Republican healthcare bill is set to be released on Thursday, but we're already starting to get some indications of what it will look like.Several reports have begun to detail the contours of the bill, including provisions on Medicaid, tax credits, and more. Here's what we've seen and heard so far:
· *Tax credits: *The Senate bill reportedly proposes tax credits to help people pay for insurance based on income level, like Obamacare, rather than flat credits based on age, like the House version of the bill. The bill would reportedly make anyone earning up to 350% of the poverty level eligible for credits, a slightly lower level than Obamacare.
· *Medicaid expansion: *Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, which extended the program to those making between 100% and 138% of the federal poverty limit, would be phased out over three years starting in 2020.
· *Medicaid spending growth: *The Senate bill will still contain the House's per-capita cap for federal Medicaid spending. After 2025, however, growth in spending would shift from the consumer price index (CPI) for medical care to the CPI for all goods, a lower level of growth.
· *Cost-sharing subsidies:* The bill would allocate money for cost-sharing subsidies through 2019. The payments offset the costs for insurers to offer low-income Americans plans with smaller out-of-pocket costs. The uncertainty around these payments has led to instability in the individual insurance market.
· *State waivers for Obamacare regulations:* The Senate bill would reportedly allow states to obtain a waiver to do away with Obamacare's so-called essential health benefits, which mandate all plans must cover 10 basic types of care. That was a key sticking point in the House legislation, one that allowed it to ultimately pass. However, the Senate bill would not allow states to repeal community rating, the provision that mandates all people in a certain area of the same age be charged the same amount. That's a change from the House bill, which drew criticism from health policy experts who said a repeal of community rating would allow insurers to charge people with preexisting conditions more.
· *Repeal Obamacare's taxes:* Much like the House version, the Senate would do away with things like the Obamacare 3.8% tax on investment income.
· *Shift around key funding to prevent it from going to healthcare providers involved in abortion procedures:* The House bill's $115 billion state-stability fund that would help to stabilize the individual markets currently contains language to prevent it from being used to fund a healthcare organization that provides abortions. That would not fly under the Senate's strict rules for the process, through which the healthcare bill will proceed. The Senate version would funnel this money through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) which is already subject to the abortion rule, essentially a roundabout way to restrict money from going to abortion providers.
The full text of the bill will be posted online on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said.
*SEE ALSO: The one issue that could decide the fate of the Republican healthcare bill*
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: 'Where is Sean?': Things got awkward when April Ryan asked Sarah Sanders why Spicer didn’t attend the WH briefing Reported by Business Insider 19 hours ago.
↧
McConnell's Big Gamble
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is about to make a big legislative throw of the dice Thursday, when he (finally) unveils the super-secret Senate Republican health care bill not only to the public, but also to the rest of his own caucus. It’s a pretty big gamble for McConnell, since he has no way of knowing if he’s got the votes to pass it or not. Either way ― whether successful or not ― McConnell says the effort will be over by the Independence Day holiday. Either they pass the bill, or the Senate will just move on to other agenda items.
McConnell has taken the drafting of the bill entirely upon himself, at this point. He hasn’t yet gotten his own caucus to agree on any coherent plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. Please remember, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed a full seven years ago. In all that time, Republicans have never gotten behind a single replacement plan, so it’s not all that surprising they can’t manage to do so now. A group of 13 Republican senators was supposed to come up with a draft bill this year, but even this small a group could not agree on what to put in it. So McConnell just took over the process entirely. Senator Mike Lee ― one of those 13 senators ― just posted a video complaining that even he had no idea what will be in tomorrow’s bill. So at this point, whatever is released tomorrow will have to logically be called “McConnellcare.” His will be the only fingerprints on it, so it seems fitting.
Will McConnellcare be any better than Ryancare (the House bill that has been resoundingly rejected by the public at large)? Will it, in the words of Donald Trump, be less “mean”? We’ll all find out, starting tomorrow.
Of course, McConnell may not see this as a particularly risky gamble. He knows that even if the Senate passes a bill, it will have to be reconciled with Ryancare in a House-Senate joint effort, which may prove to be impossible. And if it doesn’t pass, McConnell will at least be able to say: “Hey, we tried,” and push any blame for the bill’s failure off on whichever individual Republicans vote against it. That’s not exactly a political win/win situation for McConnell, but it’s pretty close.
There are a handful of GOP senators that may well indeed vote against whatever McConnellcare bill emerges tomorrow. There’s a real divide between those Republican senators who care that hundreds of thousands of their constituents got health insurance through Obamacare and don’t want to see them tossed aside for purely ideological reasons, and those Republicans who have never even bought into the idea of the “replace” part in the first place ― people like Rand Paul, who just want a clean repeal of Obamacare with no other federal involvement in the health insurance industry whatsoever. This is the divide that so far has been impossible to bridge within the Republican caucus, and this is also one of the reasons McConnell is delaying the release of his bill’s text as long as possible. Not everyone is going to be applauding the bill (no matter what’s in it) even within his own party, and McConnell knows it.
The pressure on Republican senators is going to be intense, over the next week. On one side, there will be calls to pass anything, so they can go campaign on finally replacing Obamacare (which they’ve been promising their voters for the past seven years). On the other hand, senators represent entire states, not just cherry-picked Republican House districts, and many of them are already aware how unpopular Ryancare has proven to be. Paul Ryan did a masterful job of twisting arms in the House to get his bill passed, but that’s going to be a lot harder in the Senate, for three basic reasons.
The first is that McConnell has already annoyed a large number of his Republicans by the secretive process he’s attempting to use to jam a revision of one-sixth of the American economy through the Senate. One week from the public unveiling until they vote on it? That doesn’t leave a lot of time for discussion or debate, and senators care about such things more than House members do.
The second big reason arm-twisting in the Senate is tougher is that only one-third of them are up for re-election next year. The others are either three or five years away from facing the voters (who have notoriously short attention spans as it is). So they feel less pressure, by design.
And the third big reason McConnell is going to have a tough time is the slim margin he’s got for passing the bill. All it will take is three GOP senators deciding to vote no, and the bill will die. Rand Paul is probably already in this category. That means only two other Republicans have to review the McConnellcare bill and decide they simply cannot support it for one reason or another.
So the question will become whether the pressure from the party apparatus to “chalk up a victory ― any victory will do!” is greater than any three GOP senators’ resolve not to vote for a bill that probably will have many of the House bill’s shortcomings. This could mean Tea Party senators who decide McConnellcare is too generous as well as moderate senators who recoil from how many millions of people’s lives would be negatively affected. Issues that have barely been talked about could become major roadblocks, such as whether McConnellcare defunds Planned Parenthood, or whether it includes money to address the opioid crisis. These are key sticking points for individual Republican senators, but there are also other Republicans on the other side of these issues as well. This is why this needle has been so hard to thread up until now ― it’s not just how many people will lose insurance or how much Medicaid will be slashed. There are a whole host of issues that may become just as contentious.
McConnell is going to sound quite confident when he unveils the bill tomorrow, that’s pretty much of a given. He’s going to announce that he’s successfully bridged the divide within his own party, and that McConnellcare is the best thing to come along since sliced bread. Beyond this posturing, though, I wonder whether this isn’t all an exercise in futility for him.
If three or more Republicans stand firm against McConnellcare, then it will be voted down next week. The usual option in such a situation is that McConnell would quietly withdraw the vote from the schedule after getting a whipcount, in order to save both himself and the Republican Party some embarrassment. But it sure seems like McConnell is ruling this option out. If he personally pulls the bill and no vote is taken, then a whole lot of blame is going to be laid at his door. But if he holds the vote and the bill fails, then he can deflect the blame to the individuals who vote no. Politically, at this point, that’s a safer option for McConnell.
Holding a vote that fails would also allow McConnell to do what he really wants to do anyway, which is to put the whole fiasco in his rearview mirror and move the Senate on to other pressing business. This may be the whole point of the exercise, in fact. A week or so ago, the members of the GOP group trying to hammer out a bill were beginning to walk back expectations that the bill would get a vote by the end of June. If McConnell truly thought it was possible to achieve consensus by giving them a few more weeks, he probably would have done so. But he didn’t. He kept to his artificial self-imposed schedule anyway. This may signify that, to McConnell, the Senate legislative calendar is more important than continuing on the wild goose chase of finding the perfect Republican health care bill. He seems to be saying: “If it’s going to fail, then it’s going to fail, so let’s just get it over with and move on.”
Whatever happens, tomorrow is going to kick off one of the most intense weeks in the Senate in a long time. The Congressional Budget Office score of the bill is expected early next week, which will only add fuel to this fiery debate. There won’t be much time to cut any deals or hammer out any compromises within the Republican caucus. The situation is basically going to be McConnellcare ― take it or leave it. The pressure from all sides will be enormous on every Republican senator.
Buckle up, everyone, because it’s going to be a wild ride, that’s for sure.
*― *Chris Weigant
Chris Weigant blogs at:
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 4 hours ago.
McConnell has taken the drafting of the bill entirely upon himself, at this point. He hasn’t yet gotten his own caucus to agree on any coherent plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. Please remember, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed a full seven years ago. In all that time, Republicans have never gotten behind a single replacement plan, so it’s not all that surprising they can’t manage to do so now. A group of 13 Republican senators was supposed to come up with a draft bill this year, but even this small a group could not agree on what to put in it. So McConnell just took over the process entirely. Senator Mike Lee ― one of those 13 senators ― just posted a video complaining that even he had no idea what will be in tomorrow’s bill. So at this point, whatever is released tomorrow will have to logically be called “McConnellcare.” His will be the only fingerprints on it, so it seems fitting.
Will McConnellcare be any better than Ryancare (the House bill that has been resoundingly rejected by the public at large)? Will it, in the words of Donald Trump, be less “mean”? We’ll all find out, starting tomorrow.
Of course, McConnell may not see this as a particularly risky gamble. He knows that even if the Senate passes a bill, it will have to be reconciled with Ryancare in a House-Senate joint effort, which may prove to be impossible. And if it doesn’t pass, McConnell will at least be able to say: “Hey, we tried,” and push any blame for the bill’s failure off on whichever individual Republicans vote against it. That’s not exactly a political win/win situation for McConnell, but it’s pretty close.
There are a handful of GOP senators that may well indeed vote against whatever McConnellcare bill emerges tomorrow. There’s a real divide between those Republican senators who care that hundreds of thousands of their constituents got health insurance through Obamacare and don’t want to see them tossed aside for purely ideological reasons, and those Republicans who have never even bought into the idea of the “replace” part in the first place ― people like Rand Paul, who just want a clean repeal of Obamacare with no other federal involvement in the health insurance industry whatsoever. This is the divide that so far has been impossible to bridge within the Republican caucus, and this is also one of the reasons McConnell is delaying the release of his bill’s text as long as possible. Not everyone is going to be applauding the bill (no matter what’s in it) even within his own party, and McConnell knows it.
The pressure on Republican senators is going to be intense, over the next week. On one side, there will be calls to pass anything, so they can go campaign on finally replacing Obamacare (which they’ve been promising their voters for the past seven years). On the other hand, senators represent entire states, not just cherry-picked Republican House districts, and many of them are already aware how unpopular Ryancare has proven to be. Paul Ryan did a masterful job of twisting arms in the House to get his bill passed, but that’s going to be a lot harder in the Senate, for three basic reasons.
The first is that McConnell has already annoyed a large number of his Republicans by the secretive process he’s attempting to use to jam a revision of one-sixth of the American economy through the Senate. One week from the public unveiling until they vote on it? That doesn’t leave a lot of time for discussion or debate, and senators care about such things more than House members do.
The second big reason arm-twisting in the Senate is tougher is that only one-third of them are up for re-election next year. The others are either three or five years away from facing the voters (who have notoriously short attention spans as it is). So they feel less pressure, by design.
And the third big reason McConnell is going to have a tough time is the slim margin he’s got for passing the bill. All it will take is three GOP senators deciding to vote no, and the bill will die. Rand Paul is probably already in this category. That means only two other Republicans have to review the McConnellcare bill and decide they simply cannot support it for one reason or another.
So the question will become whether the pressure from the party apparatus to “chalk up a victory ― any victory will do!” is greater than any three GOP senators’ resolve not to vote for a bill that probably will have many of the House bill’s shortcomings. This could mean Tea Party senators who decide McConnellcare is too generous as well as moderate senators who recoil from how many millions of people’s lives would be negatively affected. Issues that have barely been talked about could become major roadblocks, such as whether McConnellcare defunds Planned Parenthood, or whether it includes money to address the opioid crisis. These are key sticking points for individual Republican senators, but there are also other Republicans on the other side of these issues as well. This is why this needle has been so hard to thread up until now ― it’s not just how many people will lose insurance or how much Medicaid will be slashed. There are a whole host of issues that may become just as contentious.
McConnell is going to sound quite confident when he unveils the bill tomorrow, that’s pretty much of a given. He’s going to announce that he’s successfully bridged the divide within his own party, and that McConnellcare is the best thing to come along since sliced bread. Beyond this posturing, though, I wonder whether this isn’t all an exercise in futility for him.
If three or more Republicans stand firm against McConnellcare, then it will be voted down next week. The usual option in such a situation is that McConnell would quietly withdraw the vote from the schedule after getting a whipcount, in order to save both himself and the Republican Party some embarrassment. But it sure seems like McConnell is ruling this option out. If he personally pulls the bill and no vote is taken, then a whole lot of blame is going to be laid at his door. But if he holds the vote and the bill fails, then he can deflect the blame to the individuals who vote no. Politically, at this point, that’s a safer option for McConnell.
Holding a vote that fails would also allow McConnell to do what he really wants to do anyway, which is to put the whole fiasco in his rearview mirror and move the Senate on to other pressing business. This may be the whole point of the exercise, in fact. A week or so ago, the members of the GOP group trying to hammer out a bill were beginning to walk back expectations that the bill would get a vote by the end of June. If McConnell truly thought it was possible to achieve consensus by giving them a few more weeks, he probably would have done so. But he didn’t. He kept to his artificial self-imposed schedule anyway. This may signify that, to McConnell, the Senate legislative calendar is more important than continuing on the wild goose chase of finding the perfect Republican health care bill. He seems to be saying: “If it’s going to fail, then it’s going to fail, so let’s just get it over with and move on.”
Whatever happens, tomorrow is going to kick off one of the most intense weeks in the Senate in a long time. The Congressional Budget Office score of the bill is expected early next week, which will only add fuel to this fiery debate. There won’t be much time to cut any deals or hammer out any compromises within the Republican caucus. The situation is basically going to be McConnellcare ― take it or leave it. The pressure from all sides will be enormous on every Republican senator.
Buckle up, everyone, because it’s going to be a wild ride, that’s for sure.
*― *Chris Weigant
Chris Weigant blogs at:
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 4 hours ago.
↧
The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, CDC, and Leavitt Partners Launch the National Diabetes Prevention Program Coverage Toolkit
The National DPP Coverage Toolkit contains resources and information on topics such as contracting, delivery, billing and coding, and data and reporting that are designed to support health insurance plans, employers, and state Medicaid agencies in making the decision to cover the National DPP lifestyle change program.
ATLANTA (PRWEB) June 22, 2017
Today, the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD), in partnership with CDC and Leavitt Partners, launches the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) Coverage Toolkit, nationaldppcoveragetoolkit.org/.
The National DPP Coverage Toolkit contains resources and information on topics such as contracting, delivery, billing and coding, and data and reporting that are designed to support health insurance plans, employers, and state Medicaid agencies in making the decision to cover the National DPP lifestyle change program. A future release of the site will include content personalized for Medicare Advantage plans.
John Robitscher, CEO of NACDD, says, “NACDD understands the need to increase access to evidence-based prevention programs when addressing chronic disease in this country. Our goal is to provide answers to common questions public and private payers ask about the program, such as how to determine eligibility, how to code and bill, and how to represent the program’s services in contract language, among others.”
Governor Michael O. Leavitt, former Health and Human Services secretary and founder for Leavitt Partners, says, “This toolkit is a tremendous resource for payers interested in covering the National DPP lifestyle change program. By focusing on prevention efforts, payers can achieve cost efficiencies and improve the quality of care for its members, two keys to success in a value-based health care economy.”
NACDD works with state public health departments and public and private payers to increase awareness of prediabetes and access to the National DPP lifestyle change program. Leavitt Partners joined this effort with NACDD because of the firm’s strong commitment to value and prevention in health care.
The Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided funding to develop the toolkit.
About Prediabetes
It is estimated that 86 million Americans (one in three) have prediabetes. A person with prediabetes has a blood sugar level higher than normal, and their risk for developing type 2 diabetes is increased. People with type 2 diabetes, on average, have medical expenditures approximately 2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of type 2 diabetes. Investing in type 2 diabetes prevention can slow or prevent the development of the disease in adults with prediabetes, resulting in reduced costs and healthier populations.
About the National Diabetes Prevention Program
To address the growing problems of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, CDC established the National DPP, which provides the framework for type 2 diabetes prevention efforts in the US. The National DPP includes an evidence-based, year-long, lifestyle change program that encourages modest behavior changes to lose weight to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown that a loss of even 5-7% of body weight could reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% in adults with prediabetes and by 71% in adults older than 60.
There are currently more than 1,400 CDC-recognized organizations offering the National DPP lifestyle change program, who have enrolled more than 100,000 eligible participants. Approximately 65 commercial health plans provide some coverage for the program, and Medicare will start to reimburse for this program in 2018.
About the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors
The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) is a national, public health nonprofit, serving more than 6,500 members and all 50 state and territorial health departments working in chronic disease prevention and control. For more information, visit chronicdisease.org.
About Leavitt Partners
Leavitt Partners is a health care intelligence business. The firm helps clients successfully navigate the evolving role of value in health care by informing, advising, and convening industry leaders on value market analytics, alternative payment models, public health, Medicaid and state policy, federal strategies, and insurance market insights. Through its family of businesses, the firm provides investment support, data and analytics, member-based alliances, and direct services to clients to support decision-making strategies in the value economy. For more information, visit leavittpartners.com. Reported by PRWeb 8 hours ago.
ATLANTA (PRWEB) June 22, 2017
Today, the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD), in partnership with CDC and Leavitt Partners, launches the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) Coverage Toolkit, nationaldppcoveragetoolkit.org/.
The National DPP Coverage Toolkit contains resources and information on topics such as contracting, delivery, billing and coding, and data and reporting that are designed to support health insurance plans, employers, and state Medicaid agencies in making the decision to cover the National DPP lifestyle change program. A future release of the site will include content personalized for Medicare Advantage plans.
John Robitscher, CEO of NACDD, says, “NACDD understands the need to increase access to evidence-based prevention programs when addressing chronic disease in this country. Our goal is to provide answers to common questions public and private payers ask about the program, such as how to determine eligibility, how to code and bill, and how to represent the program’s services in contract language, among others.”
Governor Michael O. Leavitt, former Health and Human Services secretary and founder for Leavitt Partners, says, “This toolkit is a tremendous resource for payers interested in covering the National DPP lifestyle change program. By focusing on prevention efforts, payers can achieve cost efficiencies and improve the quality of care for its members, two keys to success in a value-based health care economy.”
NACDD works with state public health departments and public and private payers to increase awareness of prediabetes and access to the National DPP lifestyle change program. Leavitt Partners joined this effort with NACDD because of the firm’s strong commitment to value and prevention in health care.
The Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided funding to develop the toolkit.
About Prediabetes
It is estimated that 86 million Americans (one in three) have prediabetes. A person with prediabetes has a blood sugar level higher than normal, and their risk for developing type 2 diabetes is increased. People with type 2 diabetes, on average, have medical expenditures approximately 2.3 times higher than what expenditures would be in the absence of type 2 diabetes. Investing in type 2 diabetes prevention can slow or prevent the development of the disease in adults with prediabetes, resulting in reduced costs and healthier populations.
About the National Diabetes Prevention Program
To address the growing problems of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, CDC established the National DPP, which provides the framework for type 2 diabetes prevention efforts in the US. The National DPP includes an evidence-based, year-long, lifestyle change program that encourages modest behavior changes to lose weight to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown that a loss of even 5-7% of body weight could reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% in adults with prediabetes and by 71% in adults older than 60.
There are currently more than 1,400 CDC-recognized organizations offering the National DPP lifestyle change program, who have enrolled more than 100,000 eligible participants. Approximately 65 commercial health plans provide some coverage for the program, and Medicare will start to reimburse for this program in 2018.
About the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors
The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) is a national, public health nonprofit, serving more than 6,500 members and all 50 state and territorial health departments working in chronic disease prevention and control. For more information, visit chronicdisease.org.
About Leavitt Partners
Leavitt Partners is a health care intelligence business. The firm helps clients successfully navigate the evolving role of value in health care by informing, advising, and convening industry leaders on value market analytics, alternative payment models, public health, Medicaid and state policy, federal strategies, and insurance market insights. Through its family of businesses, the firm provides investment support, data and analytics, member-based alliances, and direct services to clients to support decision-making strategies in the value economy. For more information, visit leavittpartners.com. Reported by PRWeb 8 hours ago.
↧
Senate Republicans To Reveal Secret Health Care Plan
WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - A seven-year push by U.S. Republicans to dismantle Obamacare and kill the taxes it imposed on the wealthy will reach a critical phase on Thursday when Senate Republican leaders unveil a draft bill they aim to put to a vote, possibly as early as next week.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his lieutenants have worked in secret for weeks on the bill, which is expected to curb Obamacare’s expanded Medicaid help for the poor and reshape subsidies to low-income people for private insurance.
Those subsidies are expected to be linked to recipients’ income in the Senate bill, a “major improvement” from a measure approved last month by the U.S. House of Representatives that tied them solely to age, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said.
Some of the Senate bill’s provisions could be political land mines, with individual senators’ reactions to it crucial to determining whether or not the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, survives a Republican attack that has been under way since its passage in 2010.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the bill would seek to repeal most of the taxes that pay for Obamacare, give states more latitude to opt out of its regulations and eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood, a healthcare provider that offers abortion services.
Former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement has been a target of Republican wrath for years. But even with control of both chambers of Congress and the White House since January, the party has struggled to make good on its bold campaign promises to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The law is credited with expanding health insurance to millions of Americans. Republicans say it costs too much and involves the federal government too much in healthcare. President Donald Trump made Obamacare repeal a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign and celebrated the House-passed bill.
Democrats accuse Republicans of sabotaging Obamacare, and say the Republican bill will make healthcare unaffordable for poorer Americans while cutting taxes for the wealthy.
TOUGH SELL
But McConnell may have a tough job convincing enough Republican senators that the Senate bill improves on the House version. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found nearly 60 percent of adults believed the House bill would make insurance costlier for low-income Americans and people with pre-existing conditions. Only 13 percent said it would improve healthcare quality.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the House bill would kick 23 million people off their healthcare plans. Healthcare is a top priority for voters and many Republicans fear a legislative misstep could hurt them.
Collins said she would weigh the CBO’s upcoming assessment of the Senate bill’s impact on costs and coverage.
Conservative Republican Senator Rand Paul, who wants a full repeal of Obamacare, said he feared that with the legislation being developed, “we’re actually going to be replacing Obamacare with Obamacare,” referring to the continuing role of government.
If legislation is to prevail in the Senate, McConnell can lose the support of only two of his 52 Republicans, assuming all 48 Democrats and independents oppose the bill, as expected.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 4 hours ago.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his lieutenants have worked in secret for weeks on the bill, which is expected to curb Obamacare’s expanded Medicaid help for the poor and reshape subsidies to low-income people for private insurance.
Those subsidies are expected to be linked to recipients’ income in the Senate bill, a “major improvement” from a measure approved last month by the U.S. House of Representatives that tied them solely to age, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said.
Some of the Senate bill’s provisions could be political land mines, with individual senators’ reactions to it crucial to determining whether or not the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, survives a Republican attack that has been under way since its passage in 2010.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the bill would seek to repeal most of the taxes that pay for Obamacare, give states more latitude to opt out of its regulations and eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood, a healthcare provider that offers abortion services.
Former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement has been a target of Republican wrath for years. But even with control of both chambers of Congress and the White House since January, the party has struggled to make good on its bold campaign promises to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The law is credited with expanding health insurance to millions of Americans. Republicans say it costs too much and involves the federal government too much in healthcare. President Donald Trump made Obamacare repeal a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign and celebrated the House-passed bill.
Democrats accuse Republicans of sabotaging Obamacare, and say the Republican bill will make healthcare unaffordable for poorer Americans while cutting taxes for the wealthy.
TOUGH SELL
But McConnell may have a tough job convincing enough Republican senators that the Senate bill improves on the House version. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found nearly 60 percent of adults believed the House bill would make insurance costlier for low-income Americans and people with pre-existing conditions. Only 13 percent said it would improve healthcare quality.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the House bill would kick 23 million people off their healthcare plans. Healthcare is a top priority for voters and many Republicans fear a legislative misstep could hurt them.
Collins said she would weigh the CBO’s upcoming assessment of the Senate bill’s impact on costs and coverage.
Conservative Republican Senator Rand Paul, who wants a full repeal of Obamacare, said he feared that with the legislation being developed, “we’re actually going to be replacing Obamacare with Obamacare,” referring to the continuing role of government.
If legislation is to prevail in the Senate, McConnell can lose the support of only two of his 52 Republicans, assuming all 48 Democrats and independents oppose the bill, as expected.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 4 hours ago.
↧
↧
Obamacare Premiums for 2018 Projected to Make Health Insurance Unaffordable for Many, eHealth Analysis Finds
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--eHealth projections indicate that health insurance premiums will be unaffordable for many in 2018, exempting many from the Obamacare tax penalty.
Reported by Business Wire 4 hours ago.
↧
Report: GOP healthcare bill could slash megadonor Sheldon Adelson's tax bill by more than $40 million
Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson could stand to benefit heavily from the House plan to overhaul America's healthcare system.A new report from the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, found that Adelson could see his tax bill slashed by millions of dollars if the American Health Care Act becomes law.
A Business Insider analysis of the report determined that Adelson could see his tax bill decline by about $43.5 million in 2017 if the AHCA is passed and the tax effect is retroactive to the current year.
The primary way Adelson would benefit is the repeal of Obamacare's Net Investment Income Tax, which adds a 3.8% tax to investment income — from dividends and capital gains — for people with over $200,000 in annual earnings (or couples with over $250,000).
Based on Adelson's most recent Form 4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the megadonor and his family own 392,735,403 shares of his casino company, Las Vegas Sands.
Las Vegas Sands pays an annualized dividend of $2.92 per share, meaning that with Adelson's current ownership stake he would receive about $1.14 billion in income via those dividends in 2017.
Adelson would be subject to the 3.8% tax NIIT. If the AHCA repeals that tax, the casino magnate will avoid nearly $44 million in payments.
This does not account for any capital gains that Adelson may accrue through sales of his shares or any income from other investment vehicles Adelson owns, which means the savings could be even larger.
The money from this tax goes to fund the expenditures like the expansion of Medicaid and tax credits that offset the cost for people to get insurance from the individual health insurance exchanges.
Adelson is worth roughly $36 billion. Based on the spending per Medicaid recipient in 2014, a $44 million break would be equivalent to the government's Medicaid bill to cover about 7,670 Americans.
*SEE ALSO: It just got uglier for Obamacare*
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Here are the 6 best memes from Trump's first trip abroad Reported by Business Insider 3 hours ago.
↧
Senate Reveals Details Of TrumpCare Bill; Vote Expected Next Week
After weeks of drafting in private, much to the dismay of Chuck Schumer, details of the Senate's healthcare bill are set to be revealed today. While we're still awaiting the official text of the bill, the New York Times, courtesy of leaks from some D.C. lobbyists, has previewed some of the details which apparently include large cuts to Medicaid, an end to the "mandate" that requires everyone to have health care and a repeal of "*virtually all the tax increases imposed by the Affordable Care Act."*Senate Republicans, who have promised a repeal of the Affordable Care Act for seven years, took a major step on Thursday to achieve that goal as they *unveiled a bill to end the health law’s mandate that nearly everyone have health care*, remake and cut the Medicaid program and create a new system of federal tax credits to help people buy health insurance.
The Senate bill — once promised as a top-to-bottom revamp of the health bill passed by the House last month — instead maintains its structure, with modest adjustments. The Senate version is, in some respects, more moderate than the House bill, offering more financial assistance to some lower-income people to help them defray the rapidly rising cost of private health insurance.
But the Senate measure, like the House bill, would *phase out the extra money that the federal government has provided to states as an incentive to expand eligibility for Medicaid*. And like the House measure, it would *put the entire Medicaid program on a budget, ending the open-ended entitlement that now exists.*
It would also *repeal virtually all the tax increases imposed by the Affordable Care Act to pay for itself,* in effect handing a broad tax cut to the affluent, paid for by billions of dollars sliced from Medicaid, a health care program that serves one in five Americans, not only the poor but two-thirds of those in nursing homes. The bill, drafted in secret, is likely to come to the Senate floor next week, and could come to a vote after 20 hours of debate.
Bloomberg has provided additional details:
The plan, to be released Thursday after a private Senate GOP meeting, includes *$15 billion a year in market-stabilizing funds over the next two years and $10 billion a year in 2020 and 2021, the person said.*
It also would provide *$62 billion allocated over eight years to a state innovation fund, which can be used for coverage for high-risk patients, reinsurance and other items.* The draft bill would phase out Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid over three years, starting in 2021.
The assessment being made by senators will be shaped in part by an analysis of the bill to be released by the Congressional Budget Office, the official scorekeeper on Capitol Hill.
Of course, time is of the essence as the *deadline for insurers to finalize their coverage and pricing plans for 2018 is just around the corner on August 16th.*
What's next for the ACA marketplaces? Two more important dates, which @bjdickmayhew described to me perfectly. https://t.co/csGWOAopXJ pic.twitter.com/nlyey0lRvb
— Bob Herman (@bobjherman) June 22, 2017
Meanwhile, with the bill now up for debate and all 48 Democrats expected to vote 'no', the race is on to figure out which Republicans will join them. Of course, Mitch *McConnell can only afford to lose 2 Republican votes which would result in a tie and leave Mike Pence the deciding tie-breaker vote.* Reported by Zero Hedge 3 hours ago.
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
