Tag: Affordable Care Act

More Americans than ever have insurance but still avoid health care expenses

Logan B.
Health care Expenses

Even with coverage, it’s common for people to avoid seeing a doctor due to cost concerns. Among American patients who have insurance, 41 percent still avoided seeking health care out of concerns that their coverage would still leave them with treatment costs that they couldn’t afford, said a new survey. The largest number of Americans now have coverage since the start of the Affordable Care Act. While the health care overhaul in the form of the Affordable Care Act has helped to bring coverage to record numbers of Americans, there…

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Health insurance coverage levels rise in communities of color

G. Turner
Health insurance coverage - Rise in coverage

Department of Health and Human Services data recorded substantial improvements from 2020 to 2022. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a report in which its data showed that communities of color have recorded considerable improvements in health insurance coverage from 2020 to 2022. The improvements are credited in part to increased outreach efforts for enrollment and enhanced affordability. From 2020 to 2022, there was a 56 percent increase in health insurance coverage enrollment rates among Hispanic people through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Among Black Americans,…

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7 percent of Illinois residents are without health insurance

Marc
Health insurance - Illinois Sign

New US census data shows that state uninsured rates climbed just slightly between 2020 and 2021. Last year in Illinois, 7 percent of residents were without health insurance coverage, according to recently released data from the US Census. This number represents about 875,000 people across the state who don’t have medical coverage. When compared to 2020, this represented a slight increase in the number of people who didn’t have health insurance. That year, the uninsured rate in the state was about 6.8 percent. That said, the margin of error this…

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HHS to invest over $49 million into health care for kids and parents

H. Cutner
Health care - Investment - Piggy Bank

The funds will be in the form of 36 awarded grants to strengthen Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced through its Centers for Medicare & Medical Services (CMS) that it is awarding grants worth a total of $49 million to organizations working to reduce the rate of uninsured Americans and to bring health care access to more kids and parents alike. This represents the largest outreach and enrollment effort from the HHS through Connecting Kids to Coverage. The investment…

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Oregon health insurance coverage reached record high last year

H. Cutner
Health Insurance Oregon - New record

The results of a new survey have shown that more Oregonians have medical plans than ever before. The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has announced that the results of its biannual Oregon Health Insurance survey revealed that more state residents than ever before had coverage in 2021. The survey data revealed that a whopping 95.4 percent of state residents had coverage last year. This was an increase over 2019’s data, at which point 94 percent of Oregon residents had health insurance coverage. This latest survey represented the first year since the…

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Maryland health insurance open enrollment extended until February 28

H. Cutner
Maryland on Sign - Health insurance

The state has extended the opportunity for residents to enroll due to the public health emergency. Maryland has announced that it is extending its health insurance open enrollment period, making possible for residents of the state to continue signing up for their coverage at the state’s marketplace. Residents of the state will be able to keep enrolling for coverage through the Maryland Health Connection. The state’s health insurance marketplace will stay open for enrollment until the end of February. The original deadline had been January 15. Governor Larry Hogan announced…

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Health insurance enrollment breaks all previous records

Julie Campbell
Health Insurance Enrollment - ACA

Biden’s changes to the Affordable Care Act changes reversed many areas Trump had altered. Health insurance enrollment through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) have reached a record high this year, in a trend widely associated with the changes President Joe Biden made to reverse alterations President Trump had made while he was in office. Among the additional changes Biden made include an increase to available financial assistance. Beyond increasing financial assistance for health insurance enrollments, other changes included widening the window in which consumers could sign up for coverage through…

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