Today, the House narrowly passed the American Health Care Act; the Republican answer to Obamacare. In order to garner support from reluctant House members there were several important changes from the bill that failed to pass two months ago. The first change would allow states to opt out of exchange requirements and give the states… [Read More]
ACA Penalties – Not Gone Yet
Although the Trump Administration has clearly signaled that enforcement of the individual penalty will not likely be a target for 2017, it is not as clear concerning the employer penalty. Earlier this month the Treasury Department issued its report titled “Affordable Care Act: Assessment of Efforts to Implement the Employer Shared Responsibility Provision.” The Treasury… [Read More]
What’s Next for Healthcare Reform?
The failure of the GOP to pass the American Health Care Act is a major issue for the Republican Party. Recent polling has shown that blame for healthcare exchange failure will fall to them and they will be unable to point their finger at the Obama administration since they are now the party in control. President… [Read More]
American Health Care Act – the Aftermath
I was really surprised that the Republicans were unable to find compromise in their effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. My belief was that there was too much at stake for the GOP and they would find a way to make it happen. After all, they campaigned on repeal and replace for over 7… [Read More]
Making Healthcare Sausage
The political process is a lot like making sausage. And healthcare is no exception. Generally, a bill is first introduced in the House where a majority vote is required for passage. Once the bill passes the House, it goes to the Senate where it can be passed as introduced (which requires a majority). It can also be… [Read More]
American Health Care Act Progress
It’s no surprise that the battle to repeal the Affordable Care Act is a tough one. It was moving along quite nicely until early this week when the Congressional Budget Office released their scoring. And boom…a brick wall. The GOP was quick to grasp on the $337 billion in budget savings over 10 years while… [Read More]
Details of the American Health Care Act
The following is a more detailed overview of the Ryan ACA repeal bill. Premium subsidies would be eliminated in 2020. For 2018 and 2019 the law: expands the premium tax credit to “catastrophic-only,” qualified health plans and certain qualified plans not offered through an exchange. Premium tax credits would not be available to plans covering elective… [Read More]
Is the AHCA Shifting the Deck Chairs on the Titanic?
The healthcare news wires are ablaze this week with the introduction of Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Led by Speaker Paul Ryan, he pledged that the bill would “drive down costs, encourage competition and give every American access to quality, affordable health insurance.” As a budget reconciliation bill, only items impacting revenue… [Read More]
Healthcare is No Comedy
I looked back to my November 9th, 2016 blog – yes, the day after the election. And then I reread President Trump’s powerful speech to Congress this week. Our president, it seems, really knows how to stay on track. He says exactly what he thinks over and over again and then tries to get it… [Read More]
Healthcare Reform – It’s Not as Easy as It Looks (and It Didn’t Really Look That Easy Anyway)
The IRS now says that they are not equipped to test the accuracy of ACA health information to validate the premium and cost sharing subsidies that were given out over the past years. Unbelievably, for 2015 the IRS expected 77 million Form 1095-Cs and actually got 104 million forms. And of these forms, 5.4% (or 5.6… [Read More]
