Health News
- Employers Welcome Delay In Coverage Mandate, But Individual Mandate Remains And Many Uninsured People Are Unaware Of It
By Molly Burchett Kentucky Health News The Obama administration's decision to delay, for a year, the health-reform law's mandate that employers of more than 50 workers offer them coverage could jeopardize the success of the law -- which already...
- What Will High Court Do On Health Law? 4 Most Possible Scenarios
Last week, U.S. Supreme Court justices heard arguments about the constitutionality of the federal health-care reform law. At the center of the debate is whether the government can force people to buy health insurance, a provision often referred to as...
- Hike In Health Insurance Premiums Due To Rising Health Costs, Not Reform Law, Factcheck.org Concludes
Health insurance premiums for employer-sponsored family plans shot up by 9 percent from 2010 to 2011, but the bulk of the hike is due to the increase in health care costs, not the federal health-care reform law, non-partisan FactCheck.org has found. ...
- Factcheck.org: Health Reform Does Not 'kill Jobs'; Gop Disagrees
In their report released last week, Republicans in the U.S. House said the new health reform law will be "job-killing," but FactCheck.org has concluded that is not necessarily the case. The Republican report, released Jan. 6 and entitled "Obamacare: A...
- The Affordable Care Act: Fulfilling Promises, Cutting Costs
Did you know that the Affordable Care Act has alreadyexpanded affordable preventive health coverage to 54 million Americans? If you?ve been following the Shriver Brief health care blogs, you probably remember reading about the Affordable Care Act mandate...
Health News
Will birth-control mandate cost more or less? Yet to be seen
Will requiring insurance companies to provide contraception be cost-neutral, as the Obama administration claims? It is unclear, and so is whether insurance companies will make Catholic institutions pay more. These were the findings of FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, consumer-advocate project funded by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
In support of its claim, the administration cites data from Hawaii's birth-control mandate, which shows health insurance premiums "did not appear" to increase. The study also found the number of pregnancies increased after contraception coverage was required.
But when Pennsylvania considered imposing a similar mandate, a state agency found "the amount of possible savings relative to the cost of the legislation is unclear." Findings were also unclear in Connecticut when officials there looked at whether or not insurance plans saved enough because there were fewer pregnancies to offset the cost of providing coverage. A Texas study found insurance companies would not save enough because women would buy contraception on their own.
A recent survey of 15 insurance companies found six thought costs would increase and another three felt the move would be neutral in cost. None felt they would save money because of the mandate.
"Until better data are available, we're unable to conclude whether the Obama birth-control mandate is likely to result in a net cost increase or not," FactCheck reports.
- Employers Welcome Delay In Coverage Mandate, But Individual Mandate Remains And Many Uninsured People Are Unaware Of It
By Molly Burchett Kentucky Health News The Obama administration's decision to delay, for a year, the health-reform law's mandate that employers of more than 50 workers offer them coverage could jeopardize the success of the law -- which already...
- What Will High Court Do On Health Law? 4 Most Possible Scenarios
Last week, U.S. Supreme Court justices heard arguments about the constitutionality of the federal health-care reform law. At the center of the debate is whether the government can force people to buy health insurance, a provision often referred to as...
- Hike In Health Insurance Premiums Due To Rising Health Costs, Not Reform Law, Factcheck.org Concludes
Health insurance premiums for employer-sponsored family plans shot up by 9 percent from 2010 to 2011, but the bulk of the hike is due to the increase in health care costs, not the federal health-care reform law, non-partisan FactCheck.org has found. ...
- Factcheck.org: Health Reform Does Not 'kill Jobs'; Gop Disagrees
In their report released last week, Republicans in the U.S. House said the new health reform law will be "job-killing," but FactCheck.org has concluded that is not necessarily the case. The Republican report, released Jan. 6 and entitled "Obamacare: A...
- The Affordable Care Act: Fulfilling Promises, Cutting Costs
Did you know that the Affordable Care Act has alreadyexpanded affordable preventive health coverage to 54 million Americans? If you?ve been following the Shriver Brief health care blogs, you probably remember reading about the Affordable Care Act mandate...