Affordable Care Act

Up to one half of rural residents are covered by Medicaid, says Michelle Mills, CEO of Colorado Rural Health Center. And they're typically older, poorer and sicker than city dwellers.

Hospitals In States That Expanded Medicaid Less Likely To Close

5:39pm January 08, 2018

by John Daley

Hundreds of thousands of people gained health insurance in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. In those states, hospitals were less likely to close.

The CHIP program provides health coverage to 9 million children from lower-income households that make too much money to qualify for Medicaid. The $2.85 billion Congress allocated in December was supposed to fund CHIP programs in all states through March

CHIP Funding Could Run Out On Jan. 19 For Some States

6:37pm January 05, 2018

by Phil Galewitz

A fiscal patch that Congress approved last month isn't big enough to keep the Children's Health Insurance Program afloat, according to the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.

Each year, hundreds of hospitals lose 1 percent of their Medicare payments through the Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program. The penalties — now in their fourth year — were created by the Affordable Care Act to drive hospitals to improve the

Hospitals Nationally Hit Hard By Medicare's Safety Penalties

8:18am January 05, 2018

by Jordan Rau

Seven states saw a third or more of their hospitals punished under the federal health law's campaign against hospital-acquired conditions. Critics accuse some unscathed hospitals of gaming the system.

Robust Health Insurance Sign-Ups Surprise Supporters And Opponents

4:07pm December 22, 2017

by Julie Rovner

Despite an enrollment period that was half as long, nearly 9 million people have signed up for Affordable Care Act insurance for 2018 so far, about the same as last year.

Some Republicans see HSAs as a great way of helping consumers deal with mounting medical costs. It's still possible a change to the rules governing who can have an HSA and what they are allowed to cover could be added to another bill, some analysts say.

GOP Tax Bill Leaves Health Savings Accounts Untouched

10:47am December 19, 2017

by Michelle Andrews

Republicans tried last summer to expand the use of these tax-advantaged accounts that are linked to high-deductible health plans. But their expansion proposal didn't make it into the tax bill.

Consumers Hunting For Health Insurance Find High Prices — And Some Great Deals

9:30am December 14, 2017

Shop around. That's the advice of health insurance navigators for people seeking health policies on the Affordable Care Act's state and federal exchanges. Premiums have climbed but so have subsidies.

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Isabel Diaz Tinoco and Jose Luis Tinoco had some questions for the Miami insurance agent who helped guide them in signing up for a HealthCare.gov policy at the Mall of the Americas in November.

HealthCare.gov Enrollment Ends Friday. Sign-ups Likely to Trail Last Year's

4:57pm December 13, 2017

by Alison Kodjak

A shorter enrollment period and big cuts in the federal budget for outreach are taking a toll, say those helping with health insurance sign-ups. Deadlines for most state exchanges are a little later.

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Opposition to Obamacare has been strong from the beginning. Demonstrators made their dissatisfaction clear in front of the Supreme Court in 2015.

Health & Safety

Why Do So Many People Hate Obamacare So Much?

4:52pm December 13, 2017

by Julie Rovner

Some knocks on the Affordable Care Act are ideological. Others are misunderstandings. People who make too much to qualify for subsidies to defray their mandated insurance purchases have suffered.

Nine million U.S. children get their health coverage through CHIP, a program jointly funded by federal and state governments. Several states say they can't fund the program alone past January.

Parents Worry Congress Won't Fund The Children's Health Insurance Program

1:59pm December 12, 2017

by Alison Kodjak

The federal funding of the program lapsed in September. States have been burning through leftover funds, or borrowing from other accounts, as they wait for Congress to act before the end of January.

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A week after Hurricane Harvey swept through southern Texas in August, the streets of Katy, Texas, were still flooded. People in Puerto Rico and the Southeastern U.S. who were affected by the hurricanes are among those who may have extra time to enroll for

Deadline Is Friday For Most ACA Insurance Sign-Ups, With Important Exceptions

1:10pm December 12, 2017

by Michelle Andrews

Some people looking for 2018 insurance under the Affordable Care Act may have a little longer to sign up — for example, in states and U.S. territories hit by this year's hurricanes.