Author: Kalup Alexander
Tens of thousands of people with modest incomes are at risk of losing health insurance subsidies in January because they did not file income tax returns, federal officials and consumer advocates say. Under federal rules, anyone who receives an insurance subsidy must file a tax return to verify that the person was eligible and received ...
Sometimes Jane Blumenfeld feels that if she were in prison, she would have a better chance at getting lifesaving drugs to treat her liver disease. Blumenfeld is one of 33,160 people in California who have chronic hepatitis C infection, a liver disease caused by a virus most commonly spread through an exchange of blood. Up ...
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned Friday that gaps in ObamaCare are clearing the way for redundant payments and fraud. The federal watchdog found that some people have duplicate coverage, meaning that they are enrolled both in Medicaid and in private coverage through the law’s marketplaces. The report said that means that the government could ...
The Obama administration said many consumers will see noticeable premium increases when buying health coverage on insurance exchanges in 2016, acknowledging for the first time what many health-care experts had predicted. Federal officials said Monday that the price of the second-lowest-cost midrange “silver plan”—a key metric for premiums around the country—will increase by 7.5% on ...
On Monday, the Obama administration and congressional leaders reached an $80 billion, two-year budget agreement that includes major health care provisions, the Associated Press reports (Taylor,Associated Press, 10/27). Budget Deal Details The bipartisan budget deal would increase current spending limits for domestic agencies by $50 billion during the first year and $30 billion during the ...
Premiums are expected to rise in many parts of the country as a new sign-up season under President Barack Obama’s health care law starts Nov. 1. But consumers have options if they shop around, and an upgraded government website will help them compare. Consumers can see their own premiums for 2016 starting Sunday night on ...
The grim announcements keep coming, picking up pace in recent weeks. About a third, or eight, alternative health insurers created under President Obama’s health care law to spur competition that might have made coverage less expensive for consumers are shutting down. The three largest are among that number. Only 14 of the so-called cooperatives are ...
Nearly seven in 10 people believe ObamaCare’s so-called Cadillac tax should be repealed or delayed, according to a poll released Wednesday. The poll, commissioned by business groups including the Chamber of Commerce, shows that opposition to the tax is growing. A separate poll last month found that 60 percent of people opposed the measure, which ...
A pharmaceutical firm’s recent decision to hike the cost of a prescription drug that treats foodborne illness from $18 to $750 per tablet outraged millions of Americans. The move prompted Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to accuse the Swiss-American company Turing of “price gouging.” The following day, Clinton unveiled her national plan to rein in ...
Heading into Obamacare’s third open enrollment starting Nov. 1, uninsured Californians know more about the stick of federal tax penalties than the carrot of premium subsidies. Officials at the Covered California exchange say that’s a problem because consumers regularly cite high costs as the reason they don’t sign up. Survey data released Thursday show that ...