Tag Archives: premiums

As name implies, short-term health plans may not be a good deal for some consumers

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About Joseph Burns

Joseph Burns (@jburns18), a Massachusetts-based independent journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on health insurance. He welcomes questions and suggestions on insurance resources and tip sheets at joseph@healthjournalism.org.

For an article on short-term health plans, journalist Nancy Metcalf found an ideal source: Stewart Lamotte, a 64-year-old retired restaurateur from Lawrenceville, Ga.

In a story that Consumer Reports published in December 2017, “Is Short-Term Health Insurance a Good Deal?”, Metcalf explained that when LaMotte shopped for health insurance, he didn’t qualify for a tax credit under the Affordable Care Act. Also, he balked at the $1,000 monthly premium and a deductible of $6,500 that was required for an ACA-compliant health insurance policy. Continue reading →

Better health seen for many ACA markets

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About Joanne Kenen

Joanne Kenen, (@JoanneKenen) the health editor at Politico, has been AHCJ’s topic leader on health reform and curated related material at healthjournalism.org. Follow her on Facebook.

Photo: Turtle Mint via Flickr

The 2019 ACA enrollment season is getting off to a stronger start – more health plan participation in the federal exchange, lower premiums – than many had expected.

It still faces enormous stresses, with the elimination of the mandate penalty, and the availability of alternative health coverage options that may undermine the markets. But for now, the news is quite good. Continue reading →

Aging experts assess priorities under a new administration

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About Liz Seegert

Liz Seegert (@lseegert), is AHCJ’s topic editor on aging. Her work has appeared in NextAvenue.com, Journal of Active Aging, Cancer Today, Kaiser Health News, the Connecticut Health I-Team and other outlets. She is a senior fellow at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University and co-produces the HealthCetera podcast.

Photo by Boris Bartels via Flickr

From the future of delivery system reform to controlling prescription drug costs to considering how states may handle proposed Medicaid cuts, there is significant concern these days among policy experts who focus on aging and health. Several of the addressed the issue at a recent panel in New York City on the future of aging policy under the Trump administration.

Developing a national aging strategy was high on the list for participants of the session, “Aging Priorities for a New Administration,” part of the d.health Summit 2017 on May 10. Moderating was Joanne Kenen, health care executive editor at Politico and AHCJ’s topic leader on health reform. Continue reading →

Need help navigating the current health care premium controversy?

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About Joanne Kenen

Joanne Kenen, (@JoanneKenen) the health editor at Politico, has been AHCJ’s topic leader on health reform and curated related material at healthjournalism.org. Follow her on Facebook.

Photo: Mike Licht via Flickr

Buying health insurance – or understanding what our plans cover and how much we have to pay – isn’t easy. Moreover, the people we interview about their health plans and ACA shopping experiences can be just as confused as everyone else. Headlines about the health law and affordability and limited choices can confuse people, or make them assume their own costs are going up – which may not be true. Several million people who are eligible for ACA subsidies still aren’t getting them – and many don’t realize they may be eligible for financial assistance. Continue reading →

A new take on premium trends gets pushback from ACA critics

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About Joanne Kenen

Joanne Kenen, (@JoanneKenen) the health editor at Politico, has been AHCJ’s topic leader on health reform and curated related material at healthjournalism.org. Follow her on Facebook.

premium-trendsHere’s an argument that premiums under the Affordable Care Act actually have dropped. Loren Adler and Paul Ginsberg of the Brookings Institution argue this in a recent Health Affairs post, summing up their findings. But not everyone agrees.

Conservatives have attacked both the methodology and the conclusions in “Obamacare Premiums Are Lower Than You Think.” Given that it contradicts some earlier studies, even some ACA supporters say they’d like to see more research on some of the points made by Adler and Ginsberg. More on the critics below, but first let’s look at pair’s findings. Adler and Ginsberg write: Continue reading →

Getting the facts straight in the ACA reform debate

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About Joanne Kenen

Joanne Kenen, (@JoanneKenen) the health editor at Politico, has been AHCJ’s topic leader on health reform and curated related material at healthjournalism.org. Follow her on Facebook.

Dem-candidatesMany of us spend time fact-checking what political candidates say during the debates.

But sometimes we need to fact-check the moderators (or perhaps the TV producers who help create questions outside a moderator’s area of expertise).

Witness the last month’s debate among candidates for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Most of it was focused on foreign policy, but there were a few health care questions. At one point, moderator Martha Raddatz noted that health insurance premiums had risen 27 percent in five years. She then asked Hillary Clinton how she would fix the Affordable Care Act: Continue reading →