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Posts Tagged ‘Affordable Care Act’

The Middle Class Tax Break Hardly Anyone Is Talking About

Monday, May 20th, 2013

News @ JAMA reports:

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“There has been no shortage of attention focused on the scheduled expiration of tax cuts for middle class and wealthy Americans at the end of this year. That’s likely to continue to be the case through the election and a potential lame duck session of Congress following it.

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Health insurance and families under the affordable care act

Thursday, May 16th, 2013

The Washington Post reports:

“How does the Affordable Care Act affect children in low-income families and people who want to buy coverage on the new state insurance exchanges? Below find some answers to questions that were posed by readers.

I am the breadwinner for a family of five, including my wife and three kids. The insurance for me is cheap, but for the entire family it’s prohibitively expensive. I’d like to know if the health-reform law is doing anything for the kids of families — like mine — that earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

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ACA Will Test Consumer Loyalty To Doctors

Thursday, May 16th, 2013

Insurance News Net reports:

“A new HealthPocket consumer survey found that 34 percent of respondents are motivated to reduce their health plan costs versus keep their doctor. When survey takers were asked, “If changing from your doctor to another doctor could save you money on your health plan premium costs, how much would you have to save annually to make the switch?” over half of the 34 percent who would switch would do so for the lowest savings amount presented by the survey, $500 to $1,000 annually. Eight percent said they would switch for $1,000 to $2,000 and 7.5 percent for$3,000 or more.

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Health-Care Reform Could Help You Retire Early

Monday, May 13th, 2013

Fox Business News reports:

“Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) things may be looking up for 50 to 64 year-olds who have lost their jobs or want to retire early. Boomers that fall into this age category are often caught in a financial bind and career limbo because they aren’t yet eligible for Medicare and worry about affording health-care costs.

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President Obama may enroll under health law

Monday, May 13th, 2013

Politico reports:

“If President Barack Obama wants to make good on a promise to become one of Obamacare’s first customers, he’ll have to take a route most Americans are unlikely to choose.

He’ll have to enroll in a health plan that lacks a taxpayer subsidy, even though he has access to generous coverage through his day job.

In the days following the passage of the health law in March 2010, the White House confirmed that Obama planned to walk the walk by enrolling in one of the health insurance exchanges his law created, assuming his reelection.

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Counting to 90: ACA and the waiting period

Monday, May 13th, 2013

Employee Benefit Adviser reports:

“Under the Affordable Care Act, once we decide who we have to offer coverage to, then we have to decide when they get the coverage. Generally the new rule is that a waiting period for coverage cannot exceed 90 days. More recently, the IRS has given us proposed rules on the 90 day waiting period. As with all proposed rules, they are not final until they are final, but these do give employers some additional guidance on how to maintain the correct waiting period.

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To cut health bills, boomers need 20-somethings

Monday, May 13th, 2013

Market Watch reports:

“Baby boomers with individual health plans stand to benefit big-time when public insurance exchanges launch on January 1. The centerpiece of the Affordable Care Act, these state-level marketplaces will improve boomers’ access to health coverage and may even bring down underlying premiums for those who don’t qualify for a government subsidy, experts say.  (more…)

Millions eligible for Obamacare subsidies, but most don’t know it

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013

CNN Money reports:

“Nearly 26 million Americans could be eligible for health insurance subsidies next year, but most don’t know it.

That’s because relatively few people are familiar with provisions in the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare,” that will provide tax credits to low- and middle-income consumers to help them purchase health coverage through state-run insurance exchanges.

Most of those who will be able to claim the subsidies are in working families with annual earnings between $47,100 and $94,200, according to a recent analysis by Families USA, a consumer advocacy group. More than a third of those eligible will be young adults between ages 18 and 34. (more…)

Fallout for states rejecting Medicaid expansion

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013

Benefits Pro reports:

“Rejecting the Medicaid expansion in the federal health care law could have unexpected consequences for states where Republican lawmakers remain steadfastly opposed to what they scorn as “Obamacare.”

It could mean exposing businesses to Internal Revenue Service penalties and leaving low-income citizens unable to afford coverage even as legal immigrants get financial aid for their premiums. For the poorest people, it could virtually guarantee that they will remain uninsured and dependent on the emergency room at local hospitals that already face federal cutbacks.

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Roofers union calls for repeal of health care reform law

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013

Business Insurance reports:

“Worried about a potential loss of jobs for its members, a big roofing union is calling for repeal or “complete reform” of the federal health care reform law. Starting in 2014 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, employers with at least 50 employees must offer qualified coverage or pay a penalty of $2,000 for each full-time employee. That mandate will result in a competitive disadvantage for roofing companies offering coverage to their unionized workforces through multiemployer health care plans, says Kinsey Robinson, international president of the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers in Washington. That requirement creates “an unfair bidding advantage” for smaller contractors who will not have to provide coverage, with the potential for union members to lose work, Mr. Robinson said in a statement Tuesday. As a result, Mr. Robinson said, “I am calling for repeal or complete reform of the Affordable Care Act.”The position taken by the head of the 22,000-member roofers union contrasts sharply with the strong support of the health care reform law by other unions, such as the United Auto Workers. Other calls for repeal Last year, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the law, but the Senate did not take up the repeal measure. The House action came after the Supreme Court upheld much of the law, including a core provision that will require, beginning in 2014, most Americans to enroll in a qualified plan or pay a fine. This year, individual Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to repeal parts of law. For example, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, introduced legislation to repeal the employer mandate, while a measure proposed by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, would repeal the law’s individual mandate. No action has been taken on those and other repeal bills that have been introduced.”

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