Live Insurance News

Georgia to operate its own health insurance market under newly signed law

May 5, 2023May 5, 2023 Logan B.

The state government will be operating the exchange on its own for the first time. Governor Brian Kemp (R) has signed a bill into law that will have the Georgia state government taking over its own health insurance marketplace for individual coverage for the first time. Among the reasons the governor signed the bill is to boost competition and give consumers options. According to Governor Kemp, who spoke at a ceremony at the state Capitol, this new law will provide state residents with a better way of “knowing and comparing…

Florida to expand KidCare children’s health insurance but not Medicaid

March 31, 2023March 29, 2023 Logan B.

Health insurance - Children's health care

State legislature is working to broaden eligibility for the kids’ coverage but not their uninsured parents. Lawmakers in Florida are working to expand the eligibility for the KidCare children’s health insurance program, but advocates are pointing out that the state won’t be following in North Carolina’s footsteps, where there was recently a vote to broaden Medicaid’s reach to an estimated 600,000 North Carolinians. It is unlikely that Florida will make similar changes to expand the availability of Medicaid in 2023, as has been the case in a number of Republican…

Millions of Americans could lose Medicaid health insurance as pandemic eases

February 16, 2023February 14, 2023 Nordstrom

As uninsured figures reach record lows, the expiration of pandemic policies is now looming. Health insurance experts are wondering if the massive gains in reducing the number of uninsured people there are living in the country will be lost as pandemic policies start coming to an end. The uninsured rate has dipped to yet a new low, having reached approximately 8 percent of the population. Some of that considerable achievement is the result of the policies put into place as a result of the pandemic. The government launched a range…

More kids have health insurance now than before the pandemic

September 27, 2022September 27, 2022 Logan B.

Coverage levels rose throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, likely due to a congressional provision. The percentage of American children who didn’t have health insurance coverage decreased notably throughout the pandemic, likely due to a congressional provision that stopped states from dropping anyone with Medicaid throughout the worst of it. The uninsurance rate among children in 2021 was 5.4 percent compared with 5.7 percent in 2019. The year before the pandemic struck, the percentage of kids without health insurance coverage was 5.7 percent. That figure fell to 5.4 percent last year, already…

7 percent of Illinois residents are without health insurance

September 19, 2022September 19, 2022 Marc

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…

Health care costs propelled skyward by labor, inflation, and insurance rates

August 29, 2022August 26, 2022 Marc

Health care - stethoscope on folded bills

There are several factors all contributing to the rising cost associated with medical services and products. Consumer prices are rising across the country, but it hasn’t been specifically determined how much higher health care costs will be headed skyward and how quickly. Product and labor costs alike have been rapidly climbing throughout the United States. With consumer prices climbing as they are, health care expenses are expected to go with them, which will send insurance rates upward in 2023 as well. According to a presentation by the Kaiser Family Foundation,…

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

August 2, 2022August 1, 2022 H. Cutner

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…