Archive for the ‘health care reform’ Category
AHL’s TOP STORY: Tax Credit Benefit Not Enough To Overcome Complexity for Small Businesses, GAO Report Finds
The small business tax credit provided by the federal health reform law is not big enough to incentivize employers to begin offering health benefits, according to a Government Accountability Office report released yesterday, The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” reports (Baker, “Healthwatch,” The Hill, 5/21).
Under the overhaul, the credit is available to businesses with fewer than 25 full-time workers whose annual incomes average less than $50,000. The credit pays 35% of insurance premium costs for an eligible applicant, and the company must pay at least 50% of premium costs. Not-for-profits are eligible for up to 25% off of their premium costs. The credit was developed to help small businesses through 2014, when they will be able to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges. The credits will phase out two years after the exchanges open, according to the law (American Health Line, 11/8/11).
AHL’s TOP STORY: Health Care Spending Growth Stems From Price Increases, Study Finds
Health care spending by privately insured U.S. residents increased between 2009 and 2010 primarily because prices of services increased, according to a study by the Health Care Cost Institute, Politico reports. The study found costs increased by 3.3% in 2010, despite U.S. residents using fewer services in many categories (Feder, Politico, 5/21).
The findings are based on claims data from Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealthcare, which cover about 20% of U.S. residents with employer-sponsored health plans (Bristol, CQ HealthBeat, 5/21).
AHL’s TOP STORY: HHS Releases Guidance, New Details on Federal Exchanges
HHS yesterday announced that states have until Nov. 16 to submit proposals outlining how they plan to operate health insurance exchanges under the federal health reform law, Reuters reports (Morgan, Reuters, 5/16). The department also released guidance on how it will work with states to establish a “federally facilitated exchange” for those that opt not to administer their own marketplaces, and an “Exchange Blueprint” (Reichard [1], CQ HealthBeat, 5/16).
Under the federal health reform law, states by January 2014 must create insurance exchanges that provide coverage options for individuals and small businesses. States can choose to administer their own exchanges — for which they must have some infrastructure in place by January 2013 — or have the federal government run the exchanges for them.
AHL’s TOP STORY: Insurers Stand To Lose About $1T in Revenue if Federal Health Reform Law Is Struck Down, Study Finds
U.S. health insurers would lose nearly $1 trillion in new revenue between 2013 and 2020 if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the federal health reform law, according to a study by Bloomberg Government, The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” reports (Viebeck, “Healthwatch,” The Hill, 5/15).
According to the study, the bulk of the lost revenue — $880 billion — would come from the additional 16 million U.S. residents that the health reform law is expected to help purchase coverage on the individual market. The remaining $220 billion in lost revenue would come from new beneficiaries under the overhaul’s Medicaid expansion.
AHL’s TOP STORY: Many Republican Governors, Lawmakers Delaying Exchange Implementation
Many Republican governors and state lawmakers are refusing to move forward with implementing health insurance exchanges until after the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the federal health reform law, the Washington Post reports.
For example, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Thursday vetoed a bill from the Democrat-controlled legislature to set up the state’s exchange. Further, in six states where the GOP controls both the governorship and the state legislature, lawmakers have not even considered measures to establish the exchanges.
AHL’s TOP STORY: House Passes Budget Reconciliation Bill With Medicare, Medicaid Cuts
The House yesterday passed a budget reconciliation bill (HR 5652) that would override automatic cuts scheduled to take effect next year and instead cut entitlement spending, the Washington Times reports.
The bill passed 218-199 on a mostly party-line vote, with 16 Republicans and all 183 Democrats voting against it. The measure is not likely to advance in the Democrat-controlled Senate (Dinan, Washington Times, 5/10). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) already has said he will not bring the measure up for debate (Newhauser, Roll Call, 5/10). The White House also has said President Obama likely would veto the bill if it reached his desk.
The automatic cuts are a result of the debt panel’s failure to reach a compromise last summer. Many lawmakers want to repeal the automatic cuts, known as sequestration, out of concern for defense programs, while others have taken issue with the cuts’ effect on Medicare.
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AHL’s TOP STORY: HHS Proposed Rule Would Boost Medicaid Payments to Primary Care Physicians for Two Years
HHS yesterday released a proposed rule that would implement a provision in the federal health reform law that calls for a two-year increase to Medicaid reimbursements for primary care physicians, the Washington Post reports (Aizenman, Washington Post, 5/9).
Under the rule, the federal government would cover the entire cost of the increase. States would receive more than $11 billion in 2013 and 2014 to bring Medicaid reimbursement rates for PCPs in line with those paid under Medicare (Viebeck, “Healthwatch,” The Hill, 5/9).
AHL’s TOP STORY: Mass. House Leaders Introduce Bill To Control Health Care Costs
Massachusetts House leaders on Friday introduced a bill (H 4070) that aims to control rising health care costs by setting a growth rate for health spending and establishing a new government-like agency to enforce it, the Boston Globe‘s “White Coat Notes” reports (Kowalczyk, “White Coat Notes,” Boston Globe, 5/4).
AHL’s TOP STORY: Employers Would Save Money Under Overhaul by Dropping Workers’ Coverage, GOP Report Finds
The U.S.’s largest companies could save billions of dollars by dropping employee benefits and shifting workers into the federal health reform law’s health insurance exchanges, even after paying a penalty for not providing coverage, according to a report released yesterday by Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” reports (Baker, “Healthwatch,” The Hill, 5/1).
The findings echo concerns from a similar report released last week by Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which found that certain companies on President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness expect the overhaul to increase their health care costs and could provide incentive for them to drop coverage for their employees (American Health Line, 4/27).
