Obamacare open enrollment period: What you need to know
November 17, 2014
New York Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/obamacare-open-enrollment-period-article-1.2013270
It’s hard to believe: A year has passed since the historic launch of the health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. Who could forget Obamacare’s rough start, from the website mishaps to the fierce partisan battles still being fought today? In the end, some 7.1 million Americans enrolled in qualified health plans through federal and state exchanges, including 370,604 on New York State’s marketplace, New York State of Health. Now it’s time to get to work again. The second annual open enrollment period for Obamacare has just begun. If you are thinking about buying health insurance, or want to make changes to insurance you bought last year, you have until Feb. 15 to do so. After the deadline passes, unless you experience some type of life-changing event, you won’t be able to buy a new plan. The insurance choices you make now will affect your coverage in 2015. “It’s time to go shopping,” said Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society, which runs a navigator network that helps New Yorkers enroll on the exchange. But for many, there is still a huge information gap. As of October, nine out of 10 of the uninsured still didn’t know that open enrollment begins in November, and two-thirds said they knew only a little or nothing at all about it, according to a poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
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ObamaCare costs to increase for many
The Hill
November 14, 2014
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/224254-o-care-costs-to-rise-for-many
A trove of data released Friday by the Obama administration shows premiums on the exchanges will tick up by mostly single digits next year, though changes vary widely by geography and plan. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released premium data for the marketplaces fewer than 12 hours before they are scheduled to open for a second year of enrollment. Initial analyses showed that many current enrollees will be better off switching coverage to avoid a premium increase. The Obama administration is encouraging current participants in the exchange to window shop to avoid paying more every month. "Today’s data provide further evidence that the Affordable Care Act is working to improve competition and choice among Marketplace plans in 2015," said CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner in a statement. "Consumers should shop around, with new options available this year they’re likely to find a better deal."
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Obamacare Premiums Climb 3% on Average as 2015 Shopping Begins
Bloomberg
November 14, 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-14/obamacare-premiums-climb-3-on-average-as-2015-shopping-begins.html
People buying Obamacare plans for 2015 can expect to pay about 3 percent more on average for the cheapest coverage -- a small increase by historical standards -- though premium changes vary widely by state. “Bronze”-level insurance, the least expensive full-coverage plans available, will cost at least $307 a month on average for a 50-year-old nonsmoker next year, according to U.S. data released today and analyzed by Avalere Health, a Washington consulting firm. The cheapest “silver” plans, the category most popular with consumers, would cost the same person $381 on average, a 4 percent increase from a year before. Premiums for insurance sold under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act can be substantially discounted by tax credits, and about 85 percent of customers qualified for that assistance this year. While the increases are smaller than in years past, the cost of coverage under the Affordable Care Act is generally higher than plans predating the law that provided fewer benefits and weren’t available to sick people.
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CMS Tests Prior Approval for Repetitive Ambulance Services
Roll Call
November 14, 2014
http://blogs.rollcall.com/healthopolis/cms-tests-prior-approval-for-repetitive-ambulance-services/?dcz=
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services today announced a trial program requiring Medicare prior-authorization approval for persons seeking repetitive, non-emergency ambulance transportation. The prior authorization trial, which begins on Dec. 1, is limited to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. CMS records the three states as having the highest rates improper payments fraud. The issue has been a festering for many years as all ambulance transport requests have been increasing. A 2012 GAO report noted an increasing demand for basic life support non-emergency transportation but also cited the possibility that local governments are more inclined to bill Medicare for services that used to be provided free of charge. Additionally, Department of Health and Human Services auditors estimated as long ago as 2006 a 25 percent improper billing rate for non-emergency transportation.
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U.S. court rejects religious objection to Obamacare contraception deal
Reuters/Yahoo News
November 14, 2014
https://news.yahoo.com/u-court-rejects-religious-objection-obamacare-contraception-deal-164613992.html
In a win for the Obama administration on insurance coverage for contraception under Obamacare, a U.S. appeals court on Friday ruled that Catholic non-profit groups' religious rights were not violated by a compromise already achieved on the volatile issue. Catholic groups had sued over the compromise, saying they should not have to pay for or facilitate access to contraception or abortion, but a judge wrote in the ruling that under the compromise, "the regulations do not compel them to do that." Handed down by a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Circuit, the unanimous decision is the third by an appeals court to rule in favor of the government. The issue could yet be decided by the Supreme Court.
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Challenge to Obamacare on Contraceptives Rejected
ABC News
November 14, 2014
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/challenge-obamacare-contraceptives-rejected-26911502
A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a path devised by the Obama administration that allows religious nonprofit groups to avoid paying for contraception under the president's health care law. In a 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a challenge by the groups, which claimed that the accommodation still imposes a substantial burden on their expression of religion. The Affordable Care Act requires that women covered by group health plans be able to acquire Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods at no additional cost. In response to an outcry from religious groups, the government devised the accommodation, but the groups continued to oppose the regulations. To be eligible for the accommodation, a religious organization must certify to its insurance company that it opposes coverage for contraceptives and that it operates as a nonprofit religious organization. The religious groups argued that the notice to insurance companies requesting the accommodation is a trigger that will result in the government hijacking their health plans and using them as conduits for providing contraceptive coverage to their employees and students.
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Administration doing lower-key outreach on health-insurance sign-ups
The Washington Post
November 13, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/administration-doing-lower-key-outreach-on-health-insurance-sign-ups/2014/11/13/f43f7592-6b40-11e4-b053-65cea7903f2e_story.html?tid=hpModule_9d3add6c-8a79-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e
Three months before the debut of HealthCare.gov last year, Hollywood celebrities huddled with President Obama at the White House over their plans to urge Americans to buy health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The president took to late-night television himself to spread the word. And on the eve of the launch, an op-ed by the nation’s top health official appeared in major newspapers across the country, proclaiming that “better options for better health are just a click . . . away.” But now, as the second sign-up time arrives this weekend for Americans to buy health coverage through the law’s insurance marketplaces, the administration’s high-wattage 2013 sales campaign has given way to a 2014 strategy that is shorter, more targeted and lower-key. Last Friday afternoon, when Obama held a conference call with nearly 7,000 enrollment workers and volunteers nationwide, the session did not appear on his public schedule. And on Saturday, the opening day of what will be a three-month sign-up period this time, the president will be in Australia.
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Health law’s small-business enrollment fell far short of expectations, GAO finds
The Washington Post
November 13, 2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/health-laws-small-business-enrollment-fell-far-short-of-expectations-gao-finds/2014/11/13/db6c0728-6ae7-11e4-a31c-77759fc1eacc_story.html
Small-business enrollment on new insurance marketplaces set up under the president’s health-care law has fallen well short of the administration’s expectations, according to government report released Thursday. The Government Accountability Office examined enrollment totals for the online small-business exchanges, commonly called SHOP exchanges, in states that built their own health insurance portals. Most states defaulted to a federally operated small-business marketplace — a complementary site to the more widely known individual exchange. Both exchanges are slated to relaunch this weekend. During the first eight months, fewer than 12,000 small businesses signed up for plans through exchanges in the 18 states that built their own marketplaces, GAO found. Collectively, those companies enrolled about 78,000 workers.
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Will Congress fix Medicare during the lame-duck session?
The News Journal
November 12, 2014
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/11/12/will-congress-fix-medicare-lame-duck-session/18911491/
America’s best hope for fixing the beleaguered Medicare system and adding dramatic improvements for future generations is riding on Congress’ ability to move forward with a bipartisan framework for modernizing the troubled payment system that can be accepted by both chambers and the President during the upcoming lame-duck session. But will Congress seize the moment that has eluded them for far too long? Swift action seems like a no-brainer and an easy way for Congress to actually get something done. After all, the original proposed framework developed earlier this year was the byproduct of months of bipartisan and bicameral work in Congress, represents a broad consensus, and occurs after years of coping with a broken payment system. The time for reform is now! Not only is this the fiscally responsible thing to do, but it will assure access to care for Medicare recipients.
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D.C. Circuit Puts Latest Health Care Challenge on Hold
National Law Journal
November 12, 2014
http://www.nationallawjournal.com/legaltimes/home/id=1202676224543/DC-Circuit-Puts-Latest-Health-Care-Challenge-on-Hold?mcode=1202615432600&curindex=0&back=NLJ&slreturn=20141014173736
A federal appeals court in Washington will not wade into the latest fight over the federal health care reform law until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in a related challenge. The high court last week agreed to hear a case challenging the provision of tax credits to low- and middle-income individuals who bought insurance through federally run exchanges. Opponents argue the law only authorizes subsidies for consumers who buy insurance through state-run programs. The case in the Supreme Court, King v. Burwell, came out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. A three-judge panel in July sided with the federal government’s interpretation of the law. The challengers appealed directly to the Supreme Court, instead of asking a full sitting of the Fourth Circuit to reconsider. The high court granted the petition on Nov. 7.
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Medicare Plans to Pay for Lung Cancer Screening
NBC News
November 10, 2014
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/medicare-plans-pay-lung-cancer-screening-n245511
Medicare plans to start paying for lung cancer screening for people at high risk, a move that advocates say could save thousands of lives every year by catching the disease earlier. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made a formal proposal Monday to start paying for low-dose CT scans to look for lung tumors for people with a high risk of the world’s No. 1 cancer killer. “I think after a long effort to get to this point, CMS got it right,” said Laurie Fenton Ambrose, president and CEO of Lung Cancer Alliance. “This has the potential of being one of the most significant cancer mortality-reducing efforts to date. We are finally focusing on what is a quarter of all cancer, and that’s lung cancer,” Ambrose told NBC News. “We are going to see the meter move on cancer’s mortality. It’s an extraordinary time for our community and we are thrilled.”
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