Tag Archives: ACA
Hillary Clinton’s healthcare proposals a mixed bag for nonprofits, Trump plan lacks detail, Fitch says
Clinton’s plan to expand Medicaid in the 19 states that declined to do so would benefit nonprofit hospitals in those states, Fitch says.
CVS Health to cut 600 corporate jobs
http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/cvs-health-to-cut-600-corporate-jobs-1/429798/
CVS Health employs more than 240,000 people in the U.S., many of whom work in retail positions or as pharmacists at its 9,600 pharmacies. But with increased competition in the drugstore retail space, CVS Health is starting to let some of those positions go.
Recently, the retailer has been buffeted by the likes of Walgreens, Rite Aid, and Wal-Mart Stores jockeying for sales of medications and health care services. Today’s drugstores compete with doctors and healthcare clinics as well as with retailers like Sephora and Ulta in beauty, and of course, general merchandisers like Target and, increasingly, Amazon, in consumer goods. The retailer may also be wary of the proposed merger between rivals Walgreens and Rite Aid.
An uptick in lower-priced generic pharmacy sales and a decline in store traffic muted CVS Health in its previous quarter. Sales grew 2.1% in Q2, missing analyst expectations for a 2.5% rise and trailing well behind the 4.2% increase that CVS posted in the first quarter of this year. Non-pharmacy same-store sales fell 2.5% in Q2, the company added. The drugstore retailer is due to release its third quarter results next week.
While the Affordable Care Act has expanded some opportunities for drugstore retailers to offer more medical services, the law has also helped lower some healthcare costs, as it was intended to do, which could hit retail sales. CVS also left a lot of money on the table when it ceased sales of tobacco products two years ago.
Paul Ryan Makes Huge (Yet Really Obvious) Admission About Obamacare
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) hasn’t lost his grip on reality, he revealed Monday during an interview with conservative radio host Jay Weber.
Ryan admitted that a victory by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clintonwould mark the end of his quixotic quest to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That may seem like an obvious conclusion, but it qualifies as a noteworthy statement because it’s coming from the man who oversaw dozens of hopeless votes to overturn the 6-year-old health care law.
During the discussion on WISN, Weber laid out a series of “hard truths” with respect to the stakes in the presidential and congressional elections if Republicans fail to win the White House and lose the Senate, including Democrats being able to confirm Clinton’s Supreme Court nominees.
Here’s Weber and Ryan discussing the Affordable Care Act:
http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/ryan-accepts-aca-here-to-stay-if-clinton-wins/429898/
What the 2016 presidential election could mean for the future of the ACA
http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/2016-president-election-ACA-future-healthcare/429843/
At the federal level, the nation’s two major political parties have vastly different visions for the future of healthcare. The election will help to determine which course the nation follows for the foreseeable future. What are the likely outcomes depending on who wins the presidency?
As Insurers Cut Brokers’ Commissions, Consumers May Have One Less Tool For Enrollment
With open enrollment set to begin today, some health insurance brokers are already fielding questions about coverage and whether existing plans will still be available next year. For an increasing number of brokers, there’s also another question: Will they get paid?
Some insurers — including Cigna and Aetna — will not pay licensed agents and brokers a commission for helping people enroll in individual health insurance coverage for 2017 in many states, while others have reduced their commissions. They join United Healthcare, which dropped commissions on new business this year in many states.
That is already prompting some brokers to step back from the exchanges when open enrollment begins this week, which could be a hurdle for consumers who normally would seek help from brokers in navigating the complexities of insurance coverage. (Government-supported navigators are still available.)
In Nevada, where the largest carrier in the state has cut commissions for new business and another has dropped payments to $10 a month per customer, broker Vickie Mayville is weighing her options.
“It sometimes takes four hours to ensure clients have the right plan,” said Mayville, who runs her own agency in Las Vegas. “I will help my clients and anyone referred to me, but I’m not actively seeking out new clients.”
Uninsured In Coal Country: Desperate Americans Still Turn To Volunteer Clinics
http://khn.org/news/uninsured-in-coal-country-desperate-americans-still-turn-to-volunteer-clinics/
Six years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and despite 20 million more Americans gaining health insurance, considerable gaps in health care remain.
The decision by states like Virginia not to expand Medicaid and the lack of dental and vision coverage even for those with insurance have meant that the demand for RAM’s free mobile clinics has stayed strong.
Bad Hombres, Russian Hackers And … A Medical Device Tax?
http://khn.org/news/bad-hombres-russian-hackers-and-a-medical-device-tax/
In an election season in which the presidential campaign “issues” have ranged from “hot mics” to emails, some down-ballot campaign ads highlight a wonky, far less racy topic: a tax on medical devices.
Really? Why?
The tax taps into voters’ feelings about placing such levies on businesses and into opinions about the Affordable Care Act’s future. A provision of the federal health law, it was designed to tax manufacturers of some of the most expensive items on medical bills — from pacemakers to artificial joints. Revenues from the tax were meant to help finance the act, so to some it became a proxy for the act itself. Congress voted to suspend it for two years — until 2018 — after intense lobbying by the medical device industry, and, in states with a heavy industry presence, candidates are being asked to take a stand on whether they’ll push to have the tax repealed.
Where is the tax becoming campaign fodder?
An ACA primer: Much more than insurance
http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/an-aca-primer-much-more-than-insurance/429497/
Remember the Affordable Care Act? Enacted in 2010, it expanded healthcare insurance to millions of uninsured Americans and increased access to care. But the ACA is much more than expanded coverage; it set in motion a variety of reforms in the healthcare delivery systems aimed at lowering costs and improving quality of care.
That fact was lost on presidential candidate Donald Trump, who told Fox News recently, “I don’t use much Obamacare, I must be honest with you, because it is so bad for the people and they can’t afford it.” Trump’s comments imply Obamacare is an insurance plan people can buy, which is not the case. As we wrap up year six since the ACA was enacted, here‘s what the law is really about and how it impacts providers.
Why selling insurance across state lines is an unlikely solution
Proposals to sell insurance across state lines have been floating around for a while. In 2005, Congress considered the first proposal to sell insurance across state lines at the federal level. Many of the candidates running in the recent Republican presidential primary endorsed the idea, including Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. A proposal to sell insurance across state lines is a core component of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s healthcare agenda.
With election day approaching and attention returning to plans that would allow the sale of insurance across state lines, it is worth asking whether these proposals would be effective.
HENRY KOTULA 