As social distancing and isolation continue throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many states across the country are reporting an increase in reported drug overdoses and suicides, including Arizona.... Read more»
Q: Are hospitals inflating the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths so they can be paid more? A: Recent legislation pays hospitals higher Medicare rates for COVID-19 patients and treatment, but there is no evidence of fraudulent reporting.... Read more»
A 20-year-study by a Tucson physician and researcher found physicians can treat African-American and Latino patients with less rigorous care.... Read more»
Insurance companies have one more day to let Arizona regulators know if they will drop or limit coverage under Obamacare, but this much is already certain: Coverage will still be available, but it will cost more.
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If you offer it, will they come? Insurers and some U.S. senators have proposed offering cheaper, skimpier "copper" plans on the health insurance marketplaces to encourage uninsured stragglers to buy. But consumer advocates and some policy experts say that focusing on reducing costs on the front end exposes consumers to unacceptably high out-of-pocket costs if they get sick. The trade-off, they say, may not be worth it.... Read more»
Want to know how many people have signed up for private insurance under Obamacare? Like the health care law itself, the answer is exceedingly complicated.... Read more»
President Obama jumbled his facts when asked about “skyrocketing” premiums for people who get insurance through work. He was correct to say that, generally, the Affordable Care Act isn’t to blame for “skyrocketing” employer-sponsored premiums, but he made two dubious claims to back up his argument:... Read more»
Michigan Rep. Fred Upton exaggerated the impact of the Affordable Care Act when he claimed that “perhaps as many as 80 to 90 million Americans with employer-based health care are going to lose their plans” by late this year. Upton doesn’t mean that those millions of Americans would no longer have health insurance through their employers. And these workers won’t be receiving cancellation notices in the mail. Instead, he’s talking about health plans losing grandfathered status.... Read more»
The White House did not receive much holiday cheer about Obamacare last month from public opinion pollsters, even though millions of Americans already are benefiting from the law. The numbers show just how big the disconnect is between the reality of what’s occurred in health care since Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and the perception that people have of the law resulting from the relentless campaign of misinformation from the president’s opponents.... Read more»
Few groups have tracked the Affordable Care Act as closely as the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank. Integral to those efforts has been Larry Levitt, senior vice president for special initiatives at the foundation.... Read more»1
Rick Santorum wrongly claimed health plans on the health care exchanges are offering more limited networks of doctors and hospitals “because the Obama bill set prices at such levels” that some doctors and hospitals “do not participate in these programs.” The Affordable Care Act does not set prices for medical care.... Read more»
Media reports about the Affordable Care Act have been dominated by two themes lately: The ongoing glitches with Healthcare.gov and the “rate shock” that some consumers now face after insurance companies canceled their policies. But come January, a second rate shock may hit and could produce more bad news for Obamacare.
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Sen. Ted Cruz’s 21-hour talk-a-thon and President Obama’s joint appearance with former President Clinton will keep us busy for a while, but so far we’ve seen our share of false, misleading and not-quite-right statements.... Read more»
Workers who lose their jobs and their employer-based health insurance will have new coverage options when the Affordable Care Act's state marketplaces open in October. But consumer advocates are concerned many may not realize this and lock themselves into pricier coverage than they need.... Read more»
Rep. Louie Gohmert is wrong when he says a “poor guy out there making $14,000″ is “going to pay extra income tax if he cannot afford to pay the several thousand dollars for an Obamacare policy.” In fact, that “poor guy” will be eligible for Medicaid coverage or heavily subsidized private insurance, depending on where he lives, without fear of being penalized if he cannot afford insurance.
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President Obama claimed that all of the currently uninsured would be able to get coverage on the exchanges “at a significantly cheaper rate than what they can get right now on the individual market” even without federal tax credits. But even Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has said that younger Americans would likely pay more on the exchanges, while those who are older would likely pay less.
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