
Industry Updates
This broad category includes articles concerning health insurance costs, carrier and health plan news, changing benefits technology, and surveys by the Kaiser Family Foundation and others on employee benefits.
The effort reflects the tight timeline McConnell faces in his attempt to hold a vote in July — and the pressure he is under to change the bill to garner enough support to pass it. With both conservatives and centrists pushing different policy solutions, Senate leaders were struggling to craft a rewrite of the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday that would attract votes without torpedoing the CBO’s official score of how the legislation affects coverage levels and federal spending.
Senate Republicans have asked the Congressional Budget Office to score a revised version of their embattled health-care bill that includes Senator Ted Cruz’s proposed changes, as well as a version that does not, according to Axios.
To some, the California Nurses Association’s political tactics in pushing for a single-payer health system seemed a bit, well, extreme.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein issued a stinging rebuke Friday to the push by congressional Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare, condemning her GOP colleagues for advancing a health care bill she said was written in private “by 13 white men.”
Many consumers collected unexpected rebates after the Affordable Care Act became law, possibly with a note explaining why: Their insurer spent more of their revenue from premiums on administration and profits than the law allowed, so it was payback time.
The decision comes just one day after the Congressional Budget Office revealed its analysis of the Senate bill, saying the plan would cause 22 million to lose their health coverage by 2026. The House's American Health Care Act had a similar impact with 23 million projected to lose their coverage.
Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, said Monday that they would vote against even debating the health care bill, joining Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, who made the same pledge on Friday. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin hinted that he, too, would probably oppose taking up the bill on a procedural vote expected as early as Tuesday, meaning a collapse could be imminent.
On June 22, 2017, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the Senate GOP’s version of Affordable Care Act repeal, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017. The Senate bill is in many respects quite different from the House’s American Health Care Act (AHCA), which was introduced on March 6, 2017; AHCA passed on May 6 by a narrow, mostly party line 217 to 213 vote after lengthy negotiations and a series of amendments.
Senate leaders on Wednesday were putting the final touches on legislation that would reshape a big piece of the U.S. health-care system by dramatically rolling back Medicaid while providing a softer landing to Americans who stand to lose coverage gained under the Affordable Care Act.
Health care costs for Bay Area residents who buy their insurance on the individual market would be more expensive under the Senate’s plan to replace the Affordable Care Act compared to the GOP House plan, according to new county-level projections of premiums and tax credits by the Menlo Park-based Kaiser Family Foundation.