affordable care act

Repeal Individual Mandate? Washington State Has Been There, Done That

In the 1990s, Washington’s individual insurance market required carriers to sell to everyone, but the market crashed when Republicans repealed a provision that everyone buy insurance. Instead, Republicans and Trump may bring back health underwriting and allow insurers to charge higher rates to sick people or end the employer mandate, forcing more people onto the individual market.

For Republicans champing at the bit to repeal Obamacare -- particularly the hated individual mandate, which slaps a tax penalty on those who go without health insurance -- they may want to look to Washington state and see what a disaster that would be, to both consumers and the health insurance industry alike.

By: 
Chris Gray

Health Authority Rejected Bates’ Compromise over CCO Rates as CMS Gave Blessing

Sen. Bates, who oversees the Oregon Health Authority budget in the Committee on Ways & Means, proposed a remedy that would level out the payment discrepancy between the two Portland CCOs, but he said Health Share quashed the idea. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have approved the new 2015 rate process as a great improvement over the old methodology.

Sen.

By: 
Chris Gray

High Healthcare Costs Not a Guarantee of Quality

By spending 2 percent less on healthcare the result could lead to $283 million in savings

A new report revealed that healthcare costs are not highly correlated with quality, and a 2 percent reduction in overall spending by Oregon’s healthcare providers could result in savings of $283 million.

By: 
Kathryn Thomsen

Addressing Primary Care Gaps

The ACA has succeeded in achieving several goals, but partisan political rhetoric and polarized ideological perspectives have distorted a dispassionate analysis of successes and failures.

OPINION -- The greatest success of Obamacare, is the reduction in the number of uninsured. Most of this improvement has come in lower income groups, who disproportionately suffer the burden of illness and the most difficult social circumstances, including poor employment prospects.

By: 
Dr. Dino Ramzi

Obamacare’s Next 5 Hurdles to Clear

In its first five years, the Affordable Care Act has survived technical meltdowns, a presidential election, two Supreme Court challenges — including one resolved Thursday — and dozens of repeal efforts in Congress. But its long-term future still isn’t ensured. Here are five of the biggest hurdles left for the law.

In its first five years, the Affordable Care Act has survived technical meltdowns, a presidential election, two Supreme Court challenges — including one resolved Thursday — and dozens of repeal efforts in Congress. But its long-term future still isn’t ensured.

By: 
Julie Appleby, Mary Agnes Carey, Phil Galewitz, and Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News

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