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Mal Allison

Rip-Off: How Private-Sector Health Costs Are Killing the American Dream | Connecting th... - 0 views

billmoyers.com/...are-killing-the-american-dream

health costs american dream

shared by Mal Allison on 04 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • The federal government doesn’t have a deficit problem. Its fiscal issues are entirely related to the bloated cost of American health care. If we paid the same amount for health care per person as people do in other wealthy countries with longer average life expectancies, we’d have a balanced budget now and surpluses projected f
Mal Allison

The Health Care Law Guru vs. the Conservative who Inspired It | The Business Desk with ... - 0 views

www.pbs.org/...uru-of-obamacare-vs-the-c.html

ACA individual Market Gruber

shared by Mal Allison on 02 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • "Fine. A big group, we can understand the overall risk. We can model that. We're happy. But individuals, we're not so sure, and that's why the individual insurance market, which is a market where Americans who don't get insurance from their employer or the government have to turn, that's why that market is so screwed up all around the country and why we needed the Affordable Care Act.
  • First, it was not primarily intended to push people to obtain protection for their own good, but to protect others. Like auto damage liability insurance required in most states, our requirement focused on "catastrophic" costs -- so hospitals and taxpayers would not have to foot the bill for the expensive illness or accident of someone who did not buy insurance.
  • Mal Allison on 02 Oct 13
     
    We can model that. We're happy. But individuals, we're not so sure, and that's why the individual insurance market, which is a market where Americans who don't get insurance from their employer or the government have to turn, that's why that market is so screwed up all around the country and why we needed the Affordable Care Act.
Mal Allison

Obamacare, but by Any Other Name - WSJ.com - 0 views

online.wsj.com/...4324404579045124252952670.html

obamacare health exchanges ACA Minnesota

shared by Mal Allison on 31 Aug 13 - No Cached
  • A poll released this week by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 51% of Americans say they don't understand how the health law affects them. More Americans disapprove of the law—42% to 37%—than favor it, according to the poll.
Mal Allison

More Employers Overhaul Health Benefits - WSJ.com - 0 views

online.wsj.com/...4906304579038661121699366.html

employers health private exchange

shared by Mal Allison on 04 Sep 13 - No Cached
  • Operators of employer health-insurance marketplaces say many workers pick cheaper coverage than they previously had and that is one way the exchange approach can save money.
  • In an exchange run by Liazon Corp. that has around 60,000 people enrolled, about 75% of the workers have chosen less-expensive plans, accepting bigger deductibles and other out-of-pocket charges, as well as smaller choices of health-care providers and restrictions such as primary-care gatekeepers. "They want value for their money," said Alan Cohen, Liazon's chief strategy officer.
  • Accenture ACN +0.08% PLC projects that around a million Americans will get employer health coverage through such marketplaces next year, and the number will increase to 40 million by 2018.
  • Mal Allison on 04 Sep 13
     
    Operators of employer health-insurance marketplaces say many workers pick cheaper coverage than they previously had and that is one way the exchange approach can save money.
Mal Allison

Employers Turn to Private Health Exchanges to Cut Costs - Bloomberg - 0 views

www.bloomberg.com/...lth-exchange-to-cut-costs.html

employers exchanges private

shared by Mal Allison on 19 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • One-third of U.S. employers plan to move their workers’ health-care coverage to a private exchange in the next few years, a survey found, following the le
  • Health spending in the U.S. is expected to increase more than 6 percent this year and 6.2 percent annually from 2015-2022 as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act takes full effect and millions of Americans gain insurance, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
  • Under Obamacare, companies that don’t offer coverage for their employees will be fined $2,000 per employee. Employers spend $6,000 per employee on average, so d
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • They found that 5 percent of the companies surveyed may drop employee health-care coverage in the next three to five years, an increase from 1 percent now
  • About 38 percent of the companies surveyed by Aon said they would offer no benefits to part-time workers within the next three to five years.
  • Only 25 percent of large employers offer subsidized retiree health benefits, Aon said, down from about 50 percent in 2004.
Mal Allison

Union Leaders Seek Changes to Affordable Care Act - WSJ.com - 0 views

online.wsj.com/...4694904578602202857109898.html

union leaders ACA changes subsidies multi-employer plans

shared by Mal Allison on 15 Jul 13 - No Cached
  • making unionized workers less competitive and potentially causing unionized employers to drop the plans that cover more than 20 million people.
  • To offset the expected rising costs of these "multiemployer" plans, several union groups want their lower-paid members to be able to remain on the plans wh
  • "will shatter not only our hard-earned health benefits, but destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class," the union officials wrote.
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  • Unions argue that several other parts of the health-care law would disadvantage "multiemployer" health plans administered by unions and employers. For instance, the law's lack of penalties for employers with less than 50 employees could force companies to drop insurance in heavily unionized sectors like construction, unions argue. In general, unions say the health plan's impact on multiemployer plans needs to be clarified.
Mal Allison

Walgreens Becomes 1st Retail Chain To Diagnose, Treat Chronic Conditions - Kaiser Healt... - 0 views

www.kaiserhealthnews.org/...ens-primary-care-services.aspx

Walgreens retail chain chronic conditions

shared by Mal Allison on 12 Jul 13 - No Cached
  • xpanding services to diagnosis and treatment of chronic conditions that affect millions of Americans is a logical step, because the clinics can not only grow their own business, but also partner with hospitals and doctors’ groups to gain new customers, said Ronald L. Hammerle, president of Health Resources, a Florida consulting firm.
Mal Allison

Health Insurance Within Reach - NYTimes.com - 0 views

well.blogs.nytimes.com/...health-insurance-within-reach

health insurance ACA changes

shared by Mal Allison on 16 Jul 13 - No Cached
  • All health plans offered on a state exchange must provide comprehensive coverage that includes doctors’ visits, lab work, hospital stays, emergency room services, maternity care, prescriptions, mental health services and children’s dental and vision care.
  • Policies with the most generous benefits will be “platinum” plans; they will have the highest monthly premiums but fewer out-of-pocket costs and lower deductibles. The “gold” and “silver” plans will be somewhat less generous, while those in the “bronze” category will have the cheapest premiums but may require high out-of-pocket costs and deductibles.
  • Be aware that the plans may have narrow provider networks — your favorite doctor or the hospital down the street may not be a participant. You’ll need to check to see if a certain provider is in the network, advised Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reform.
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  • Be prepared for sticker shock. A 40-year-old nonsmoker may be able to buy a plan for about $4,000 annually or less; someone in his or her 50s may pay double. “Health insurance is an incredibly expensive product,” Ms. Corlette warned.
  • People who earn up to four times the federal poverty level — roughly $45,960 a year for a single person and $94,200 for a family of four — can receive subsidies to help pay for the new coverage. Those earning 250 percent of the poverty level are eligible for additional cost-sharing subsidies.
  • Americans who work at minimum wage jobs, earning less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $15,856 for a household of one and $32,499 for a household of four, will qualify for free government coverage under Medicaid — but only if they live in a state that is expanding its Medicaid program.
  • Open enrollment on the new exchanges will run from October 1 through March 31. Y
Mal Allison

HEALTH REFORM: Expect Pluses, Minuses for Those With Job-Based Coverage - iVillage - 0 views

www.ivillage.com/...4-a-547763

ACA employer-based insurance

shared by Mal Allison on 01 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • Beginning in 2014, for instance, the reform package prohibits employer-sponsored health plans from excluding people from coverage based on pre-existing health conditions
  • It also makes larger employers responsible for offering medical coverage. Beginning Jan. 1, 2015, businesses with more than 50 workers must offer health insurance to full-time workers and dependents or pay penalties.
  • annual limits will be banned completely in 2014.
  • ...17 more annotations...
  • Also, if you have an adult child under age 26 and your employer health plan offers coverage for dependents, the plan must allow your son or daughter to enroll. Spiro called th
  • The law also requires most employer health plans to offer certain preventive services at no cost to the employee.
  • Effective Jan. 1, 2014, the law allows employers to boost rewards and penalties (such as premium discounts or surcharges) to 30 percent of the total plan premium, up from 20 percent.
  • ne in five employers has boosted employees' share of health plan premiums,
  • HealthCare Advocates, which helps consumers resolve health insurance problems. "I think at the end of the day, everybody's going to be paying more," he said.
  • e IFEBP survey also estimates that about 16 percent of employers are trimming worker hours to part-time status so fewer employees will qualify for health-plan benefits.
  • Beginning in 2015, large employers -- those with at least 50 full-time workers -- must provide health insurance to employees who log an average of 30 or more hours a week or pay penalties.
  • A study published earlier this year by the University of California, Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education found that 2.3 million workers nationwide -- particularly retail and restaurant workers -- are at risk of losing hours as a result of the new law.
  • A growing number of midsize and large employers -- 25 percent in 2014 and 44 percent in 2015 -- are also saying they're likely to discontinue health coverage for Medicare-eligible retirees, a new Towers Watson & Co. survey found.
  • Starting in 2018, the law imposes a steep tax on employer plans with premiums exceeding $10,200 for an individual and $27,500 for a family -- plans that are typically offered to high-wage earner
  • About 17 percent of employers are redesigning their high-cost plans to avoid this so-called "Cadillac tax," while 40 percent are considering i
  • The percentage of Americans receiving health insurance on the job or through a family member's job slipped from 69.7 percent in 2000 to 59.5 percent in 2011,
  • Staggering increases in health insurance premiums also contributed to the decline, resulting in fewer employers offering coverage and fewer employees accepting it.
  • Congressional Budget Office estimates suggest that as many as 7 million people will lose job-based coverage by 2017 a
  • But just 26 percent are confident that they will be offering health-care benefits a decade from no
  • r Center, has summarized provisions of the Affordable Care Act affecting employer-sponsored insurance.
  • To read part one of the series, how to navigate the new health insurance exchanges, click here.
  • Mal Allison on 01 Oct 13
     
    Experts say smaller companies that employ 50 or more workers and currently provide health insurance may drop coverage because it would be cheaper to pay fines than maintain coverage for all of their workers. Most large employers (with more than 1,000 employees) remain committed to providing health benefits for the next five years, according to an employer survey by Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health. But just 26 percent are confident that they will be offering health-care benefits a decade from now. Meanwhile, a number of large employers are eyeing private health insurance exchanges as a way to continue providing job-based coverage while controlling spending on health benefits. Much like the public exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, private exchanges represent a new way for employees and families to shop for group health coverage and other benefits. Instead of offering a limited number of health plans, the employer would give workers a set amount of money to buy their own coverage. Kaiser, who works in Gallagher Benefit Services' Mount Laurel, N.J., office, anticipates a slow migration toward private exchanges. "I don't think it's going to be a mass disruption of employer-sponsored plans where they all go, 'I'm out of the game,'" he said. More information The University of California, Berkeley Labor Center, has summarized provisions of the Affordable Care Act affecting employer-sponsored insurance.
Mal Allison

Obamacare's original sin: Implementation delays driven by dumb talking points were a hu... - 0 views

www.slate.com/...en_by_dumb_talking_points.html

obamacare cost CBO original sin

shared by Mal Allison on 01 Oct 13 - No Cached
  • “You lie!” in the middle of the president’s reassurances that unauthorized immigrants to the U.S. wouldn’t receive health benefits. It also included these fateful words: “The plan I’m proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years—less than we have spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and less than the tax cuts for the wealthiest few Americans that Congress passed at the beginning of the previous administration.”
Mal Allison

Companies shift more health costs onto workers | The Tennessean | tennessean.com - 0 views

www.tennessean.com/...BUSINESS

companies shift health costs workers

shared by Mal Allison on 04 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • Health insurance costs ate 7.7 percent of total payroll expenses for private-sector employers in 2012, according to the NIHM study.
  • n 2013, individuals paid, on average, $5,900 in total annual premiums for employer-sponsored coverage. On average, family plans cost more than $16,300. “With employees’ costs for medical coverage growing much more quickly than general inflation, hourly earnings and family income, some workers are inevitably (being) priced out of coverage,” the study said.
  • 2018, 40 million American employees will be enrolled in private exchanges
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