Affordable Care Act – Page 2

Insurers see way to dodge federal healthcare law next year

A little-known loophole in President Obama’s landmark legislation enables health insurers to extend existing policies for nearly all of 2014. By Chad Terhune for the Los Angeles Times – A new fight is brewing over health insurance companies letting millions of Americans renew their current coverage for another year — and thereby avoid changes under…

Why Tea Party Gov. Rick Scott Flip-Flopped on Obamacare

By Stephanie Mencimer for Mother Jones – Florida Gov. Rick Scott was elected in 2010 almost entirely thanks to his activism opposing the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Scott spent $20 million of his own considerable fortune attacking the law, and the Republican backed the state’s lawsuit challenging its constitutionality all the way…

A Cruel Blow to American Families

From the New York Times – The Internal Revenue Service has issued a hugely disappointing ruling on how to calculate the affordability of health insurance offered by employers. Its needlessly strict interpretation of the Affordable Care Act could leave millions of Americans with modest incomes unable to afford family coverage under their employers’ health insurance…

Welcome to the Future of Your Health Insurance. It Sucks.

By Yves Smith for Naked Capitalism – There have been numerous reports about the shortcomings of Obamacare which its boosters have either ignored or shouted down. And troublingly, the attitude is often “I got mine” as in “My kids are now covered under my policy” without questioning what the narrow and broader issues are. Well,…

Health Changes Spur Test of More Part-Time Workers

By the Associated Press – The owner of Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants is putting more workers on part-time status in a test aimed at limiting costs from President Barack Obama’s health care law. Darden Restaurants Inc. declined to give details but said the test is only in four markets across the country. The…

Worse Than War: Deaths from Uninsurance

‘We’re not done with health care reform yet’ By Johnathon Ross for Common Dreams – A recently released Census Bureau report reveals that 48.6 million Americans lack health insurance. We know that being uninsured is dangerous to your physical and fiscal health. Research has shown that for every million uninsured, 1,000 preventable deaths occur due…

Overhaul offers multi-billion dollar growth opportunity for health insurers

By the AP, Washington Post – The health care overhaul is poised to pour billions of dollars into an insurance industry thirsty for customers, according to health care consultant PwC. The massive federal law aims to cover millions of uninsured people and will take a major step toward that goal in 2014, when the government…

TX Gov. Rick Perry Pressured to Expand Medicaid

By Ken Kenegos, Healthcare for All – Texas – On Friday September 21st, advocates for healthcare rights brought together by The Texas Organizing Project, SEIU, Good Jobs = Great Houston, Mi Familia Vota, Health Care for All Texas and others converged on the Texas State Capitol in Austin. Buses from Houston, San Antonio and Dallas…

Many States Not Prepared for Healthcare Law

By Sandhya Somashekhar for the Washington Post – More than three dozen states could be unprepared or unwilling to set up the insurance marketplaces called for under the 2010 health-care law, leaving at least part of the task up to the federal government, according to a new report. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia…

Obama Excludes Immigrants From Health Care Law

By Robert Pear for the New York Times – The White House has ruled that young immigrants who will be allowed to stay in the United States as part of a new federal policy will not be eligible for health insurance coverage under President Obama’s health care overhaul. The decision — disclosed last month, to…