The CT Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/tag/obamacare/)
The sixth open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act begins Thursday, as the future of the health care law, and its protections for pre-existing conditions, has emerged as a top concern for voters across the nation in the midterm elections. Continue Reading →
WASHINGTON – Nearly one-in-four residents of the Hartford metropolitan area have a pre-existing medical condition that might make it difficult for them to obtain insurance coverage for that illness if a key provision in the Affordable Care Act is overturned, a new study says.
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WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Wednesday issued final rules that would allow states like Connecticut to allow the sale of cheaper, skimpier health care plans that were originally intended for short-term use but now be available for 364 days, or nearly 12 months at a time. Now, it’s up to state officials to allow the sale of these short-term plans, which do not have to cover pre-existing conditions. Continue Reading →
WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy on Tuesday helped launch a Democratic initiative that blames Republicans for “sabotaging” the Affordable Care Act, leading to sky-high health insurance premiums. Advocates for the ACA predict premiums for individual policies sold on Access Health CT will jump an average of 16.5 percent. Continue Reading →
WASHINGTON — With little hope of shoring up the Affordable Care Act in Washington, congressional Democrats, including the members of Connecticut’s delegation to the U.S. House, are asking governors and state legislatures to help. But Connecticut may be limited in what it will do to strengthen Obamacare or shield it from attempts to gut it. Continue Reading →
A legislative committee aired two bills Thursday that would establish a state individual health care mandate and push back on Congress’s recent repeal of the Obamacare penalty, but the bills would impose radically different fines for those who fail to buy insurance coverage. Continue Reading →
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday moved forward on allowing Americans to purchase short-term health plans that may be more affordable than what’s on the market right now but would not contain the Affordable Care Act’s consumer protections and would undermine the health care law. Continue Reading →
Access Health CT CEO Jim Wadleigh and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman viewed the new enrollment figure as a victory, especially in light of challenges from Washington, D.C., where the Administration and Republicans in Congress have been working to eviscerate the Affordable Care Act. Continue Reading →
WASHINGTON – As Congress is about to vote on a tax overhaul that will gut the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that most Americans have health insurance, a number of states, including Connecticut, may consider a state-based penalty to encourage people to obtain coverage. Continue Reading →
WASHINGTON — The latest GOP attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would continue to ban insurers from rejecting people with pre-existing conditions, but make it easier for insurers to jack up the rates for those customers and for states to roll back other consumer safeguards. It would boost Medicaid money to a handful of states home to key GOP senators. But In what may be the biggest blow to the bill, Maine Sen. Susan Collins said late Monday she would oppose it. Continue Reading →
As a key U.S. Senate panel continues to seek a bipartisan fix for the Affordable Care Act, the Connecticut Insurance Department weighed in with its suggestions, including allowing people to buy a new, cheaper, “copper-level” plan with fewer benefits and higher out-of-pocket costs. Continue Reading →
WASHINGTON — A Senate panel began on Wednesday the first of four hearings aimed at finding ways to shore up the Affordable Care Act’s fragile insurance markets, but reforms could be limited and come too late to help Connecticut’s marketplace, Access Health CT. Continue Reading →
WASHINGTON — ConnectiCare says it needs to hike the cost of popular “silver” plans sold on the Access Health CT for 2018 by more than 50 percent, and Anthem says it needs to increase premiums on its silver plans by more than 43 percent if the Trump administration ends a program that subsidizes out-of-pocket payments for low- and moderate-income Americans. Continue Reading →
WASHINGTON – A proposal by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy to replace the Affordable Care Act would increase the number of uninsured nationwide, cut Medicaid and have a particularly costly impact on Connecticut and a handful of other states, a new study says.
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Dr. Jeffrey Gordon, president of the Connecticut State Medical Society, sees the effect of the Affordable Care Act on doctors and patients every day. He knows what’s good about it and bad, and in this Sunday Conversation says why he wishes the nation’s legislators would include physicians in their healthcare debate. Continue Reading →