It has been a week of whirlwind, frustrations, and disappointments for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). To better describe it in the words of Senator Max Baucus (D-MO.), “I just see a huge train wreck coming down.” First of all, there has been speculation that lawmakers and Capitol Hill aids could be exempt from entering … Continue reading
1) The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, celebrated its three-year anniversary, but a Kaiser poll shows that Americans are still divided on it. A study from the American Action Forum also estimated that the ACA has cost 111 million paperwork burden hours. 2) Cyprus re-opened its banks on Thursday, with sharp limits on … Continue reading
On Friday the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the unemployment report for February. 236,000 jobs were created and unemployment fell to 7.7% (a .2% decrease from January). This is good news for the slowly recovering economy … we think. One aspect that contributed to the lower unemployment rate was a rise in discouraged workers. These … Continue reading
The big question in healthcare this week is what impact, if any, President Obama’s immigration proposal will have on the ACA. Will those immigrants benefit from the ACA if immigration reform is passed? And will they receive the same health coverage and benefits as the American people? It depends. Currently, under the ACA, naturalized citizens and … Continue reading
By Ji Lee On Monday January 21, 2013, President Barack Obama delivered his second inaugural speech at the United States Capitol building. Having viewed the inauguration, there are a few components related to the future of healthcare that I would like to highlight. President Obama mentioned that “Together we discovered that a free market only … Continue reading
Republican governors are facing a difficult decision. They must choose by tomorrow whether or not their states will be in charge of the impending health insurance exchanges. If they choose to take charge of the insurance exchanges, they have until 14 December to provide the details to the federal government. If they choose to turn … Continue reading
Now that we have an incumbent President Obama, the Affordable Care Act is here to stay. As the Washington Post reported yesterday, though, “We know a lot less…about how that happens.” The states now have a lot of responsibility to get things figured out. States now have about a week (until November 16) to officially decide … Continue reading
With 63 million enrollees, Medicaid provides coverage to low-income families, individuals with disabilities, and elderly individuals on Medicare who need assistance with cost sharing or services not covered under Medicare (dual eligibles). In 2009, the Medicaid program dished out $346 billion on health care services, or $5492 per enrollee (obviously spending varies per person depending … Continue reading
An article in the Washington Post this week stated that only 13 states and the District of Columbia have formally stated that they intend to set up state-based health insurance exchanges. What about the other 37 states? The other states are either behind in their planning, or they have decided not to operate exchanges, the article continued. The … Continue reading
As marked by the uncommon three days of oral arguments, totaling six and a half hours, the decision of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) constitutionality will not be an easy for the nine Justices of the Supreme Court. Lawyers argued four issues in front of the bench: the Anti-Injunction Act, the Individual Mandate, the severability … Continue reading
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