A new study has indicated that Americans who have either gained new health insurance or who have lost their coverage make more emergency room visits than people who have had a continuous insured or uninsured status. The results of the study are causing some concern, as the healthcare overhaul will be requiring an additional 32 million Americans to become newly insured by 2014. At the same time, the study findings have also indicated that the number of trips to the emergency room do tend to even out when a person’s…
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The constitutionality of the healthcare reforms is now before the Supreme Court
As of Monday, March 26, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court has started to hear the verbal arguments in the highly controversial and politically charged case of whether or not the healthcare reforms made by the Obama Administration starting in 2010 are constitutional. Twenty six states have sent attorneys to represent them – primarily those with governors who are Republican – as well as the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) as they face off against the lawyers from the Justice Department. They believe that the health care reform’s requirement for…
Read MoreWashington Governor Gregoire signs state insurance exchange bill
Washington state Governor Christine Gregoire has now signed a bill into law, which now sets the rules in that state for insurance companies that are readying themselves for the online insurance exchange that is a part of the federal healthcare reform. The exchanges are a part of the President Barack Obama overhaul that began in 2010, and they must be ready to be put into place by January 1, 2014. They are designed to assist both individuals and small businesses to find proper and affordable health insurance coverage. Governor Gregoire…
Read MoreThe Californian perspective of the Affordable Care Act
Though the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may be a federal healthcare system overhaul, each state is experiencing it in its own way, and though Californians have already started seeing some differences since the act went into effect in March 2010, there will be a great deal more by the time it has been fully implemented in January 2014. So far, Californian health care has seen a few important changes. These include: • Ensuring that no new health insurance policies can include lifetime caps on benefits, so that individuals who are…
Read MoreSurvey shows that challenges facing states in building health insurance exchanges
A new survey conducted by the KPMG Government Institute, an analysis organization that focuses on government policy and legislative trends, provides some insight on some of the challenges facing states in their efforts to build a health insurance exchange. The survey draws upon information provided by 80 state officials from throughout the country. These officials offered information on why health insurance exchanges seem to be such a troublesome issue. The common consensus boils down to cost. The survey suggests that insurance exchanges may be too expensive for some states, even…
Read MoreSupreme Court to begin litigation on Affordable Care Act this month
This month, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin litigation on the controversial Affordable Care Act. The federal law seeks to radically change the structure of the country’s health care industry and introduces new insurance regulations that are aimed at benefiting consumers. The Act was signed into law in 2010 and has since been a point of contention for political leaders and legislators throughout the U.S. Many states have backed the Affordable Care Act, but others have filed lawsuits against the federal government, accusing the law of being unconstitutional. The Supreme…
Read MoreObama administration issues new rules for state healthcare exchanges
The Obama administration has released a new set of rules for the states that involve broad new operating regulations for their healthcare exchanges. These state-run health insurance exchanges make up the heart of the system’s overhaul from 2010, which will be facing hearings in the Supreme Court before the end of the month. These rules, which were issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, have been long awaited by the states, and are designed to provide their officials and lawmakers with greater flexibility on the federal deadlines that…
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