States seek alternative to Medicaid health insurance expansion

health insurance exchanges

Lawmakers continue to wrangle with health insurance requirements The Affordable Care Act will become fully enacted next year, leaving states throughout the U.S. relatively little time to comply with the federal law’s numerous provisions. One of these provisions, in particular, has been somewhat controversial in several states. That is the mandatory expansion of Medicaid. While the Medicaid program is, technically, overseen by the federal government, each state has its own division of the program which they are required to govern. Per the Affordable Care Act, all states must expand their…

Read More

Will the healthcare overhaul be capable of keeping its promises of affordability?

The entire design of the healthcare reforms has been intended to make sure that Americans will be able to have access to an improved level of health care, but at an affordable price. What individuals are waiting to discover is whether or not it will be able to live up to its promises. The reason that this new healthcare system design was chosen was to make it significantly more efficient, so that its focus would be placed primarily on the patient’s health and the outcomes that are achieved, instead of…

Read More

Self-Insurance Institute of America takes aim at Michigan law that would establish a new Medicare tax

The Self-Insurance Institute of America (SIIA) is challenging a new law in Michigan that would impose a 1% tax on paid health insurance claims beginning January, 2012. According to the law, the money collected from the tax will go to the state’s Medicaid program. The program would use part of the money to help cover the cost of claims and administrative fees stemming from participating insurance companies. The tax would generate $400 million in annual revenue for the state, but the Self-Insurance Institute claims that it violates federal law. According…

Read More

Medicare costs return to spotlight following deficit debate

Controversial proposals regarding Medicare expenses have moved back into the forefront of discussions as a result of the federal deficit debates, leading many to voice concerns regarding the increase of hundreds – if not thousands – of dollars to the medical bills of seniors.  It has not yet been determined whether any of these new proposals will be enacted in 2011, considering the current impasse faced by the government regarding its spending.  The Republicans are currently demanding these proposals so that trillions can be hacked from the federal budget.  However,…

Read More

New study shows the value of Medicaid in the lives of those covered by the program

The results of a yearlong study of the effects of Medicaid on patient’s lives have been released. The federal health care program has been receiving more attention from legislators recently, both in the effort to discover more ways to cut funding to the program and revamp its existing regulations. The study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research may put a halt to some of the plans proposed by politicians regarding the stability of the program. It may also shed light on how beneficial the program is to patients.…

Read More