affordability – Health Stew

How Might Democrats Try to Expand and Improve the ACA in 2017?

[Below is a new commentary just released by the Milbank Quarterly on their website — to be published in their fall edition.]

In 2017, if Democrats hold the White House and recapture a majority in the US Senate (control of the US House is considered unachievable), how might they try to change the Affordable Care Act (ACA)?

Despite congressional gridlock, changes to the ACA have happened. Six years since its enactment, the ACA has been altered 24 times by Congress and the president, mostly in response to Republican demands that generated some support from Democratic lawmakers as in the 2013 wholesale repeal of the ACA’s Title VIII, a new disability cash assistance program known as Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS—RIP).¹

While Democrats and progressive groups have wish lists for ACA improvements, they have kept these low-key, prioritizing instead the need to repel repeated existential threats to the law, such as the 2 anti-ACA lawsuits that reached the US Supreme Court in 2012 and 2015 (National Federation of Independent Business v Sebelius and King v Burwell, respectively). Continue reading “How Might Democrats Try to Expand and Improve the ACA in 2017?”

Creating Better Affordability in the Affordable Care Act

Every day, so many reports emerge about aspects of ObamaCare/ACA that it’s difficult to decide which ones to note. Here’s one I note today from the Urban Institute – “After King v. Burwell: Next Steps for the Affordable Care Act” written by the always perceptive Linda Blumberg and John Holahan.

The report’s basic and important message is this: though it has vastly increased health insurance security and affordability for millions of vulnerable Americans, the Affordable Care Act is not affordable enough. Knowing what we know now, the law needs better affordability for millions of Americans who need access to subsidized insurance that includes more affordable premiums and stronger cost sharing protections:

“The premium and cost-sharing structures established under the law were delineated with the intention of meeting specific budget targets that now seem overly constraining. As a result, several problems occurred. Premium tax credits are substantial, but they are still inadequate for many individuals and families, given their incomes. Similarly, many individuals with modest incomes may struggle to afford the Level of cost-sharing required in the plans for which the premium tax credits are pegged. Premium tax credits are tied to a product with cost-sharing requirements that significantly exceed the typical large employer-sponsored plan. In particular, older individuals with incomes just above the current tax credit eligibility range face high premiums relative to their incomes, and because they tend to use more medical care than do their younger counterparts, they face a total bill for premiums plus out-of-pocket spending that can be very high.”

Continue reading “Creating Better Affordability in the Affordable Care Act”

The New Conversation on Affordability and Underinsurance

Just like spring, a new public conversation is busting out across the nation and the topic is health insurance and health care affordability for patients and consumers. The conversation is taking different forms and is beginning to trigger policy proposals. More will come – and when it does, this conversation may well become a charged debate.

Here are two important streams in this conversation:

Cost Sharing: The first stream involves the growth of deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance, especially deductibles, aimed at consumers. This past week, the Commonwealth Fund released a new Issue Brief showing that 23% of adults with health insurance, 31 million, had “such high out-of-pocket costs or deductibles relative to their incomes that they were underinsured.” About 11% of privately insured adults have policy deductibles of $3,000 or more, up from 1% in 2003. Half of these underinsured (51%) “reported problems with medical bills or debt and more than two of five (44%) reported not getting needed care because of cost.” Fully 41% of adults with high deductibles had debt loads of $4,000 or more. Fully 75% of all consumers now have deductibles on their policies — so if you’re part of the remaining 25%, be grateful! Continue reading “The New Conversation on Affordability and Underinsurance”