Policy and Legislation
Montana has become the 30th state to expand Medicaid, with federal officials on Monday signing off on a plan to expand coverage to low-income residents through a federal waiver that requires beneficiaries to pay premiums of up to 2 percent of their income.
By emphasizing the impact on taxpayers, supporters are framing the issue in terms of economics rather than humanitarian concerns.
The average 2016 premium for a 40-year-old in Anchorage is $719 a month - more than double the national average, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Bill stops CMS from paying hospitals outpatient rates at newly-acquired off-site locations.
California risks losing billions in health care dollars if the state and federal governments can't agree this week on a plan to fund reforms of the Medicaid program, hospital officials and experts said.
Only a third of providers interviewed believe the ACA will lower the per-patient cost of healthcare, compared to two-thirds a year ago, according to a 2015 Mortenson Healthcare Industry study.
Premiums will increase an average of 7.5 percent for the second-lowest-cost silver insurance plan to be offered next year in the 37 states where the federal government operates health marketplaces, according to an analysis by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The House on Friday approved a budget reconciliation bill that repeals parts of the Affordable Care Act, including the "Cadillac tax," medical device tax and the individual and employer mandates.
Four companies running urgent care centers in New York have agreed to disclose more fully which insurance plans they accept, following an inquiry by the state's attorney general that found unclear or incomplete information on their websites that could result in larger-than-expected bills for consumers.
Opponents of the tax fear that more out-of-pocket costs for consumers will add to the difficulty many Americans already have paying their medical bills, now that high-deductible health plans are commonplace.