Third ACA Sign-Up Period to Focus on 10.5 Million Uninsured Americans

As a third open-enrollment season nears under the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration plans to focus on 10.5 million uninsured Americans, trying to persuade them to sign up for coverage that they have ignored or rejected in the past. According to estimates released Tuesday by Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, that is ...

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Lawmakers Jumpstart Efforts to Plug Billion-Dollar Hole in Medi-Cal’s Budget

Efforts are underway to jump-start negotiations to come up with an equitable tax on health plans that will fill a $1.1 billion gap in the Medi-Cal budget. Legislative leaders announced conference committee appointments Wednesday, after lawmakers failed to come up with a fix before the regular legislative session ended Sept. 11. That wasn’t a formal ...

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Employers Shifting More Medical Costs to Workers

Employers are leaving a bigger chunk of the bill for care to workers who use their health insurance, and benefits experts see few signs of this trend slowing. Most companies now offer health coverage that requires employees to pay an annual deductible before insurance kicks in, and the size of that deductible has soared in ...

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GOP Targets ObamaCare Taxes in Fast-Track Process

Republicans will seek to repeal a range of ObamaCare taxes as well as the healthcare law’s mandates to buy insurance through the fast-track process known as reconciliation. President Obama is sure to veto the measures, but reconciliation will allow them to at least reach his desk, bypassing an expected Senate Democratic filibuster. The process is ...

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Two Halves of California Have Wide Gap in Health Costs

When it comes to health care costs, it’s clear: Where you live matters. And in California, the gap is especially sharp between the north and south. Take, for instance, common procedures like a cesarean section or a total knee replacement. The total average price tag for a typical C-section in the four-county Sacramento area is ...

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Healthcare Costs Rise Again, and the Burden Continues to Shift to Workers

American workers saw their out-of-pocket medical costs jump again this year, as the average deductible for an employer-provided health plan surged nearly 9% in 2015 to more than $1,000, a major new survey of employers shows. The annual increase, though lower than in previous years’, far outpaced wage growth and overall inflation and marked the continuation ...

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