Category: Health Care Reform

America’s health care system is undergoing many changes – it’s hard for insurance professionals to keep updated let alone consumers. Here we make it easy and publish daily articles on the changes and challenges that health care reform has ahead.

Medicare Agents Should Prepare For Very Busy And Confusing AEP

Ben Jones
Agents preparing for Medicares Annual Enrollment Period

Challenges Loom for Agents During Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period Amid Major Plan Withdrawals Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) is always a busy time for Medicare agents. “This year will likely be worse,” predicts Jesse Slome, director of the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance. “Several things are all happening at once that will impact seniors,” Slome shares. “A number of major Medicare Advantage plan providers have already announced plans to cease offering coverage. Humana, for example, said this could impact 500,000 plan participants.” Several other major insurers, for example Aetna,…

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The High Cost of Health: Who Gets Weight Loss Prescriptions?

Angela Linders
The High Cost of Health

Disparities in Weight Loss Prescriptions The disparity in access to medications like Wegovy, Rybelsus, and Ozempic highlights a significant issue within the U.S. healthcare system. Despite the increasing medical applications of these drugs, which include managing diabetes and potentially preventing heart disease and stroke, many insurers remain reluctant to cover them for weight loss. Medicare, for example, is legally barred from covering weight-loss drugs unless the patient presents serious health risks. This limitation leaves over two-fifths of American adults who are obese but otherwise healthy without coverage options. Federal spending…

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The Rising Tide of Uninsured Americans and the Looming Threat of ACA Subsidies Ending in 2026

Live Insurance News
The Rising Tide of Uninsured Americans and the Looming Threat of ACA Subsidies Ending in 2026

Uninsured Americans Rise to 27.1 Million in Early 2024, CDC Reports The latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are sounding alarms across the healthcare landscape. More than 8% of Americans were uninsured during the first months of 2024, a significant uptick from the record-low uninsured rates observed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the CDC’s National Health Interview Survey, an estimated 27.1 million Americans of all ages lacked health insurance by March 2024. This marks an increase of 3.4 million uninsured individuals…

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Health insurance gone for 24,000 kids on Kansas Medicaid

Marc
Health Insurance - Kids dropped from Medicaid

As the state continues its “unwinding review”, thousands of children have lost coverage The massive Medicaid “unwinding” review in Kansas has resulted in a massive number of children losing their health insurance coverage from the state program. Almost half of those who lost coverage were kids In fact, estimates show 47 percent of those who lost their health insurance following the Kansas Medicaid eligibility unwinding were children aged 18 years old or younger.  Kansas Action for Children senior policy advisor Heather Braum predicted in a recent Kansas Reflector report that…

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Will the federal government make dental insurance available to everyone?

H. Cutner
Dental Insurance - US Flag

If a new rule moves forward, people could one day affordably enjoy care for their teeth Dental insurance is a kind of coverage carried by few people outside of benefits packages offered by employers, but that could change if a new federal rule is allowed to move forward. The idea is to make it easier for people to care for their smiles After all, without dental insurance, if someone suffers a cavity, a cracked tooth, or another type of painful dental injury, the out-of-pocket cost can be in the hundreds…

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