“Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All” push has upended Democratic politics almost as thoroughly as it would upend the health care system.
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How your health care would change under “Medicare for All”
Monday, April 15th, 2019Lower costs, fewer benefits in new health insurance option
Tuesday, June 19th, 2018“The Trump administration’s new health insurance option offers lower premiums for small businesses and self-employed people, but the policies are likely to cover fewer benefits.
Another caveat: if healthy people flock to the new plans as expected, premiums will rise for those who need comprehensive coverage.
One Illinois medical center lands on list of best U.S. hospitals
Friday, August 18th, 2017Crains Chicago Business reports:
“Northwestern Memorial Hospital is the only Illinois medical center to land among the best 20 hospitals nationwide, according to new rankings by U.S. News & World Report.
No one thinks the GOP health bill is a good idea for Illinois
Friday, March 24th, 2017Crains Chicago Business reports:
“There are not many things that Republicans and Democrats in Illinois agree on. But there’s near universal consensus that House Republicans’ proposed Obamacare replacement would do serious harm to Chicago and the state as a whole.
Big news for Chicago-area Obamacare insurance exchange: Cigna seeks to join
Tuesday, July 26th, 2016“One of the nation’s largest health insurance companies plans to enter the Obamacare marketplace in the Chicago area for the first time, bringing new competition as other insurers exit or go out of business.
The Tribune has confirmed that Cigna, based in Bloomfield, Conn., has filed plans to sell health policies to individuals and families who purchase their own coverage in the individual market. If the plans are approved by Illinois regulators, Cigna will start selling policies Nov. 1, when enrollment for 2017 Obamacare coverage opens.
Feds Tightening Use Of Short-Term Health Insurance
Tuesday, June 14th, 2016The Obama administration wants to limit consumers’ use of short-term insurance plans, which a growing number of Americans have been buying in response to the Affordable Care Act’s requirements to have health coverage.
This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed limiting short-term health policies to a term of three months. Currently, short-term policies can be issued for a term of up to one year.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Confirms Obamacare Death Spiral
Thursday, April 28th, 2016According to The Beacon:
” The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, which represents 36 Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans covering 105 million Americans, has just released a study of its members’ claims data in Obamacare exchanges 2014 and 2015. It confirms that Obamacare exchange enrollees are sicker and more expensive than enrollees in pre-Obamacare individual plans or employer-based plans.
Here I quote four of the study’s findings:
- Members who newly enrolled in BCBS individual health plans in 2014 and 2015 have higher rates of certain diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, depression, coronary artery disease, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C than individuals who had BCBS individual coverage prior to health-care reform.
- Consumers who newly enrolled in BCBS individual health plans in 2014 and 2015 received significantly more medical care, on average, than those with BCBS individual plans prior to 2014 who maintained BCBS individual health coverage into 2015, as well as those with BCBS employer-based group health insurance.
The Federal Government’s $146 Billion Obamacare Boo-Boo
Thursday, April 28th, 2016According to The Motley Fool:
” Bad things can happen when a government forecast proves to be way off.
There are mistakes, and then there are big mistakes. What the Congressional Budget Office’s latest report on federal subsidies revealed was a mistake of monstrousproportions on the part of the federal government.
Here’s what a forecasting error looks like
The Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, has been making projections on the future of Obamacare, and healthcare in general, for years. Initially, the CBO had projected that up to 21 million people would sign up for private health insurance using Obamacare’s transparent marketplace exchanges by 2016. However, that estimate has been substantially reduced to just 12 million. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, Obamacare enrollment totaled “about 12.7 million” as of the end of third enrollment period (Jan. 31, 2016). Ultimately, the CBO foresees private health enrollment via Obamacare topping out at between 18 million and 19 million people between 2018 and 2026.
Why such a huge difference in actual enrollment versus initial projections? To begin with, the government appears to have overestimated just how many people would sign up on private exchanges versus being enrolled via their employer. The data has thus far shown that nowhere near as many people as expected dropped out of employer-sponsored insurance to sign up on Obamacare’s marketplace exchanges, meaning there was a considerably smaller uninsured pool than initially anticipated. (more…)
Obamacare Encounters Another Bump in the Road
Thursday, April 28th, 2016According to News Max Finance:
” Well, the hammer has fallen: The largest health insurer in the U.S. has started pulling out of select Obamacare exchanges.
Five months ago UnitedHealth, which had been singing sunny songs to investors about its bright future on the exchanges, abruptly began crooning the blues. In an earnings call barely a month after executives assured investors that all was going swimmingly, they confessed that they were losing a ton of money on their Obamacare policies and described a pattern that sounded as if consumers were gaming the system — signing up for a few months, using a ton of services, and then canceling their policies. If this continued, they said, they would have no choice but to pull out of the exchange business. (more…)
