Tag Archives: Health Insurance Coverage

Snapshot of Where Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Stand on Seven Health Care Issues

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Snapshot of Where Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Stand on Seven Health Care Issues

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While health care has not been central to the 2016 Presidential campaign, the election’s outcome will be a major determining factor in the country’s future health care policy. A number of issues have garnered media attention, including the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), rising prescription drug costs, and the opioid epidemic.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have laid out different approaches to addressing these and other health care issues. Central among these is their position on the future of the ACA. Hillary Clinton would maintain the ACA, and many of her policy proposals would build on provisions already in place. Donald Trump, in contrast, would fully repeal the ACA, and although his policy proposals and positions do not offer a full replacement plan, they do reflect an approach based on free market principles.

See where the candidates stand on seven key health policy issues.

21 statistics on high-deductible health plans

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http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/21-statistics-on-high-deductible-health-plans.html

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Remember The ‘Public Option’? Insurance Commissioner Wants To Try It In California

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Remember The ‘Public Option’? Insurance Commissioner Wants To Try It In California

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With major insurers retreating from the federal health law’s marketplaces, California’s insurance commissioner said he supports a public option at the state level that could bolster competition and potentially serve as a test for the controversial idea nationwide.

“I think we should strongly consider a public option in California,” Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said in a recent interview with California Healthline. “It will require a lot of careful thought and work, but I think it’s something that ought to be on the table because we continue to see this consolidation in an already consolidated health insurance market.”

Nationally, President Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats have revived the idea of the public option in response to insurers such as Aetna Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. pulling back from the individual insurance market and many consumers facing double-digit rate hikes.

The notion of a publicly run health plan competing against private insurers in government exchanges was hotly debated but ultimately dropped from the Affordable Care Act when it passed in 2010.

Health insurers have long opposed the idea, and other critics fear it would lead to a full government-run system

Re-engaging in Health Care Reform

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https://newsatjama.jama.com/2016/09/21/jama-forum-re-engaging-in-health-care-reform/?utm_campaign=KHN%3A+Daily+Health+Policy+Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=34737932&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9-P8BA0peIS06RN4V5K0lf6yRE72sRu4qrGYgK1Rjbo4orEnYHUfJNelSrWoPS_4RPHS1RCvpanquAbaxhxoxhnHx-_w&_hsmi=34737932

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As we approach the election this fall, it seems like the news media report on little else. Unfortunately, too little news coverage addresses health care reform. This is ill-advised because there is still much to be done to improve the cost, quality, and access for patients within the US health care system. In this post, I will attempt to cover most of the major issues related to health care coverage that US consumers face.

In a previous piece I wrote for the JAMA Forum, just before the last presidential election, I discussed how health care reform is all about tradeoffs. For example, one way to make an insurance plans cheaper is to offer narrow networks (reducing access to high-cost services or allowing access only to physicians who agree to accept lower payments in return for the promise of higher volume). That’s a tradeoff. Community ratings and government regulation lead to improved access for some but fewer options for carriers (worse access). Weak mandates allow for more freedom in deciding whether to purchase insurance but lead to increased rates for others and fewer carriers participating.

We should not lose sight of what has improved. An additional 20 million US residents who lacked health coverage are now insured. Spending has slowed to below what was predicted. But there is still much work to do. Calling for blanket repeal of the ACA and a return to the status quo is not an improvement. But failing to recognize shortcomings in reform and working to ameliorate them would be a failure as well.

Would You Like Some Insurance With Your Insurance?

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http://khn.org/news/would-you-like-some-insurance-with-your-insurance/?utm_campaign=KHN%3A+Daily+Health+Policy+Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=34662261&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8_T7tLMkCX6Y6LfTReNo75vKpK1maHvHwggi_b0HJdFjSYivQggGeQ_9T7c_uhl0BRZml0KAXMIdJg7jjXJNAXcqcdiA&_hsmi=34662261

A screenshot from a video touting a gap plan called "Premium Saver." (Courtesy of Crema Design Studio)

Gap plans, used to cover out-of-pocket expenses like high deductibles, are becoming increasingly popular among consumers and businesses.

The rising price of insurance is driving the trend, explained insurance broker Ryan Hillenbrand, president of the Missouri Association of Health Underwriters.

“People see the prices of individual insurance and they say, ‘Boy, a $6,000 deductible seems really high. I don’t want something that gives me that much risk,’ ” Hillenbrand said. “That’s why [the gap insurance] market is heating up a little bit more.”

Gap insurance is in a category of insurance known as “limited benefit.” No matter how bad a person’s situation, the plan will pay out only a certain amount of money. “Mini-med” policies, now illegal under the Affordable Care Act, are another example of a limited benefit plan

Now, there’s renewed interest in gap plans. With monthly premiums on health insurance going up, more people are choosing cheaper, high-deductible options. In 2016, more than90 percent of people buying insurance under the ACA chose plans with an average deductible of $3,000 or higher.

Next year, the cost of one of the most popular plans available under the Affordable Care Act could increase by 10 percent on average across the country. That comes on top of a 5 percent jump the year before.

When consumers see those prices, Hillenbrand said, “they get sticker shock.”

“If you don’t qualify for a subsidy, you’re bearing the brunt of all that cost,” Hillenbrand said. “And here come the gap plans.”

Skyrocketing Obamacare premiums still lower than employer-sponsored insurance

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/09/19/skyrocketing-obamacare-premiums-still-lower-than-employer-sponsored-insurance/?_hsenc=p2ANqtz–t7xbLX4NaGtlM9xRr6pZktotgAcCHkdRbjKw0L0a6JJqo2b34g_rHwLhWytv8gR0hasqRy3JGk6Ds4u5Qqqd01XazJQ&_hsmi=34585816&utm_campaign=CHL%3A%20Daily%20Edition&utm_content=34585816&utm_medium=email&utm_source=hs_email

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People who warn that President Obama’s health-care law is in dire straits often point to rising health insurance premiums as proof. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has called premium increases on Affordable Care Act exchanges “astronomically high.” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) says premiums have “skyrocketed.”

But are these growing premiums actually high?

A new analysis from the Urban Institute found that the average unsubsidized premiums in the Affordable Care Act exchanges, commonly known as Obamacare, are actually 10 percent lowerthan the full premiums in the average employer plan nationally in 2016.

Nationally, the average employer-sponsored premium was $516 a month, while the unsubsidized marketplace premium was $464. To make an apples-to-apples comparison, the researchers adjusted marketplace premiums to account for the age of enrollees and the different value of the health coverage provided by the marketplace plans.

The exchanges offer health coverage to people who aren’t insured through their jobs, with subsidies based on income. About 11 million people are insured through the marketplaces, compared with about 155 million Americans who receive insurance coverage through employer-provided plans.

Recent news of large insurance carriers pulling out of some states’ marketplaces and hiking premiums in others has raised concerns that offering health insurance through exchanges isn’t sustainable and the health care offered isn’t affordable.

The Missing Debate Over Rising Health-Care Deductibles

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http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/09/18/the-missing-debate-over-rising-health-care-deductibles/?utm_campaign=KHN%3A+Daily+Health+Policy+Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=34504530&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–cbQhbJAJ2j-K8I_jQv3kzC6RJuMdvGplQjAJSD–Kc6wYpIZ2CPkYbSLYxHgIpMaHkl9CnoCCH3BO8Sf-cUroX2PTig&_hsmi=34504530

 

Employers shift costs with 12% surge in deductibles

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http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/employers-shift-costs-with-12-surge-in-deductibles/426292/

  • The average deductible for employer-sponsored health plans has risen 12% this year to $1,478 annually, and has exceeded $2,000 at small businesses, according to a new Kaiser/HRET survey, which looked at more than 1,900 small and large employers to analyze the trends around employer-sponsored health insurance.
  • The rapid increase in deductibles, which puts more healthcare costs on the shoulders of employees, has been a significant factor in helping employer-sponsored plans slow down their premium increases to “historically low rates,” the study found. It noted that since 2011 the average family premium has gone up just 20%, compared to 31% from 2006 and 2011, and 63% from 2001 to 2006.
  • The analysis illustrates the shift between plan types, showing 29% of all employees are now in high-deductible plans compared to 20% in 2014, while those employees in higher cost PPO plans have gone down from 58% in 2014 to 48% in 2016.

California Moves to Allow Undocumented Immigrants to Buy Insurance

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In a move that is sure to draw the ire of Republicans, California officials are asking the Obama administration this week to approve a plan that would allow undocumented immigrants to buy health insurance on the state’s public exchange.

Officials say that up to 30 percent of the state’s two million undocumented adults could be eligible for the program, and that roughly 17,000 people are expected to participate in the first year, if the plan is approved. But the proposal faces serious hurdles in Washington, where it must be approved by both the Treasury and the Health and Human Services Departments.

During debates over health care in his first term, and again when Congress considered an immigration overhaul in 2013, President Obama made it clear that health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act would not go to immigrants who are living in the United States illegally. And two provisions of the health care law limit coverage to residents who are here legally. But advocates of California’s initiative argue that the plan should be approved under what is known as an “innovation waiver,” which allows states to have provisions of the federal law modified, because no federal dollars will be used to fund the program.

 

Studies: Employer Costs Slow As Consumers Use Less Care, Deductibles Soar

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http://khn.org/news/studies-employer-costs-slow-as-consumers-use-less-care-deductibles-soar/?utm_campaign=CHL%3A+Daily+Edition&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=34365867&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8KEto_GP9_uQqUz3i-mPzdbfQDEppu8jP4OnWeCEXc0J1QCOvNd0hi84YGIhj1horx7qHfq8_4658aqWRUhtoQ9n9XQQ&_hsmi=34365867

Pocketbook pain: Workers’ contributions to health-plan premiums have been rising faster than their pay. Deductibles have risen even more. (Courtesy of Kaiser Family Foundation)

Employer health insurance expenses continued to rise by relatively low amounts this year, aided by moderate increases in total medical spending but also by workers taking a greater share of the costs, new research shows.

Average premiums for employer-sponsored family coverage rose 3.4 percent for 2016, down from annual increases of nearly twice that much before 2011 and double digits in the early 2000s, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)

But 3.4 percent is still faster than recent economic growth, which determines the country’s long-run ability to afford health care.

And the tame premium increases obscure out-of-pocket costs that are being loaded on employees in the form of higher deductibles and copayments. Another new study suggests those shifts have prompted workers and their families to use substantially fewer medical services.

For the first time in Kaiser’s annual survey, more than half the workers in plans covering a single person face a deductible of at least $1,000. Deductibles for family plans are typically even higher.