The Texas Medicaid Director, Billy Millwee, spoke to the House Public Health and Insurance committees this week regarding the Affordable Care Act. The director has been tracking the trends and effects that the federal health care law has birthed in the state and has come to a promising conclusion. Currently, 74% of the state’s residents have some form of health insurance coverage. Millwee claims that when the Affordable Care Act is fully enacted in 2014, this will jump to 91%. By that time, only 2.3 million Texans will have no…
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Several states await Supreme Court decision before driving forward with insurance exchanges
A number of states have indicated that they aren’t yet pushing ahead on their creation of the insurance exchanges that are required by the Obama Administration’s healthcare overhaul until the Supreme Court has made its decision regarding whether or not that element of the reform is overturned or repealed. The primary concern with this tactic, though, is that by that point, it may be too late to begin working on the insurance exchanges in order to have them in place by the deadline. The Obama Administration will be making the…
Read MoreMassachusetts insurance exchange awarded funds to help it fall in line with the Affordable Care Act
Massachusetts is currently one of the few states that has a working insurance exchange in place. The state’s online marketplace has been a boon for those looking for affordable health insurance policies but it does not comply with the standards established by the Affordable Care Act. Instead of requiring the state to scrap the project and start from scratch, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and auxiliary arm of the Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded the state with funding to help legislators make necessary changes. He…
Read MoreOklahoma legislative panel suggests building a health insurance exchange
A legislative panel commissioned to determine whether Oklahoma should pursue building its own health insurance exchange system has finally reached a conclusion. The panel released a report to the state’s Legislature recommending action be taken on building an exchange in order to avoid the federal government taking charge and establishing its own. The state has had a rocky history with the concept of the exchange and has been slow to adopt legislation that would make the program possible. The panel is now stressing the importance of building an adequate system…
Read MoreCutting individual insurance mandate could have dire consequences for health care, says RAND
A new study from the RAND Corporation, a non-profit institution that provides research and analysis for various political endeavors, suggests that axing the mandatory health insurance provision from the Affordable Care Act could be a costly mistake. The health care law has generated a large amount of controversy for its various provisions that introduce dramatic changes to the nation’s tax, insurance and medical services structure. None of these provisions have been quite as contentious as the health insurance mandate. The mandate, and the law as a whole, will be heading…
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