Affordable Care Act

ObamaCare: A bailout by any other name is still cronyism

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
01/24/2014
The enrollment failure of ObamaCare is well documented – so much so that it has become the nation’s late-night talk show punch line. In fact, Moody’s changed the outlook for U.S. health insurers to negative from stable, as implementation of ObamaCare continues to create uncertainty for the industry. The sad reality is that millions of...

TAGS: cronyism, health insurance

ObamaCare’s bailout for health insurance companies

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
01/22/2014
A little-known, but important, provision in the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, is coming under increased scrutiny. The ACA, commonly known as ObamaCare, includes provisions to pay insurers for their financial losses in the ObamaCare exchanges. Known as “risk-corridor payments,” health insurance companies could receive up to 80 percent of the money they lose in...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act

2.1 million Americans “enrolled” in ObamaCare exchanges through Dec.

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
01/13/2014
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released its latest ObamaCare enrollment numbers, and it is easy to see why the Obama administration has been so reluctant to reveal detailed enrollment data. About 2.1 million Americans “enrolled” in the ObamaCare exchanges through Dec. 28. That number is far below the Obama administration’s impending...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act

ObamaCare limbo: Thousands of Illinoisans trying to get out of Medicaid while many more trying to get in

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
01/10/2014
Last month, USA Today reported that thousands of people are being mistakenly enrolled in Medicaid due to continued glitches in the healthcare.gov website. Now, it is being reported that more than 100,000 people in five states, including 30,000 in Illinois, have not been able to enroll in the Medicaid program directly from the government site....

TAGS: Get Covered Illinois, health insurance, Medicaid

ObamaCare: A ‘catastrophic’ plan by any other name is still bronze

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
01/08/2014
According to a recent Crain’s Chicago Business analysis, the cost of some “catastrophic” health insurance plans offered under the ObamaCare health insurance exchange in Illinois actually cost more than the supposedly more generous plans in 13 counties across the state. That should not be surprising as the improperly named “catastrophic plan” offered on the exchange...

State attorneys general school Obama on constitutionality when it comes to ObamaCare

By Bryant Jackson-Green
01/06/2014
Eleven state attorneys general are coming out against the unconstitutionality of changes in implementing President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. This group – not including Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan – lambasted the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, for proposed regulations they say “[compound] illegal executive action” and “[fail] to protect...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama

New Year’s resolution for ObamaCare: #ComeClean on enrollment numbers

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
01/06/2014
The Obama administration’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that 2.1 million have enrolled in a private insurance plan in the ObamaCare exchanges and at least another 3.9 million are eligible for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. While the announcement was thin on details, it is safe to assume that these...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama, enrollment