Questions Surround Medicaid Expansion, Insurance Subsidies
News outlets report on how a range of health law provisions are taking shape, including the proposed rule on federal subsidies to buy insurance, Medicaid expansion and accountable care organizations.
Kaiser Health News: Critics Say Proposed Rule Would Make Millions Ineligible For Health Insurance Subsidies
Consumer advocates, physician groups and several Democratic lawmakers are fighting a quiet battle over a key benefit in the health-care law: tax credits to help millions of people purchase insurance. At issue is a section of the law that outlines when low- and moderate-income employees can opt out of their employer's coverage and instead get federal subsidies to buy insurance through new state-based marketplaces, called exchanges (Appleby, 4/15).
The Hill: Fate Of Health Law's Medicaid Expansion Hinges On How Much Doctors Get Paid
The success of the healthcare reform law's massive Medicaid expansion could hinge on new regulations that are expected as early as next week. ... President Obama's health law also expands Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program to 17 million low-income families starting in 2014. Medicaid, however, is already straining to care for the more than 58 million already in the program (Pecquet, 4/14).
Modern Healthcare: Doctors On Deck
Medicare is expanding and diversifying its experiment with accountable care. The latest crop of hospitals, medical groups and clinics that agreed to try out the payment model known as accountable care—the third group to date—was dominated by doctors without any formal ties to hospitals, some with as few as 30 to 50 physicians. That's in contrast to early participants in different programs (Evans, 4/14).
CNN Money: Without Health Care Reform, 20-Somethings Out Of Luck
About 2.5 million young adults from age 19 to 25 attained health coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act ... [The Supreme Cour] could decide to scrap the entire law -- instead of just the mandate -- leaving millions of young adults in the lurch ... Less than a quarter, or 24%, of workers between the ages of 19 and 25 were offered health insurance by their employers in 2010, down from 34% in 2000 (Dickler, 4/16).