United States Department of Health and Human Services

7,000 Illinoisans enrolled in ObamaCare plans in the first 2 months

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
12/11/2013
Almost 365,000 Americans have “enrolled” in the ObamaCare exchanges, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That number is far below the Obama administration’s impending goal of enrolling 3 million people by the end of December and 7 million by the end of March. But the true number of people who have...

TAGS: enrollment

ObamaCare: Illinois enrollment numbers

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
11/13/2013
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just released the much-anticipated enrollment numbers for the ObamaCare health insurance exchanges. But instead of reporting on actual enrollments, the administration is, instead, reporting on the number of people who have put a health plan in their checkout cart, but haven’t actually checked out. The distinction is...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act, Get Covered Illinois

Illinois Obamacare grant goes to California

By Jackson Adams
10/28/2013
A California group with a history of making political contributions to Illinois politicians and connections to the Obama administration was awarded a federal “navigator” grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, to help Illinoisans enroll in the Obamacare health insurance exchange. The East Los Angeles Community Union, or TELACU, was awarded...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act

ObamaCare: Time for heads to roll?

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
10/09/2013
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is in damage control mode in the wake of the glitches and failures of ObamaCare’s grand unveiling. Her op-ed in USA Today calls the government’s ObamaCare website “simple, user-friendly.” She also appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. But her next appearance might be in...

TAGS: Health and Human Services, HHS: Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius

ObamaCare glitches

By Jonathan Ingram
10/06/2013
The ObamaCare exchanges have been riddled with glitches. I spent three hours last week trying to look at what’s available and couldn’t even create an account. It was not the “fast, completely scalable and secure” experience I was promised by the chief technology officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The administration has claimed these problems are related...

TAGS: ACA: Affordable Care Act

ObamaCare: How much is it going to cost Illinosians?

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
09/26/2013
Illinoisans have heard the pitches about how affordable health insurance will be under the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as ObamaCare. On Sept. 24, Gov. Pat Quinn was trumpeting the ObamaCare health insurance exchange in Illinois. Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is at it. Both have been cheering the least-expensive health insurance...

ObamaCare aims to turn doctors into government agents

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
09/18/2013
Under ObamaCare, your social history — alcohol use, drug use and sexual history — will be included in your electronic medical record. In a recent column, Ph.D. historian and former Lt. Governor of New York Betsy McCaughey reveals that “The president’s ‘reforms’ aim to turn doctors into government agents, pressuring them financially to ask questions they...

ObamaCare: a massive privacy breach waiting to happen

By Naomi Lopez Bauman
09/16/2013
As part of ObamaCare, individuals and small businesses will begin purchasing private insurance from state-based health insurance exchanges in all 50 states and the District of Columbia beginning on Oct. 1. In order to facilitate the exchange of information between the states, the federal government, insurers, and consumers, the federal government is building a “Data...

More than 100,000 Medicaid enrollees found ineligible for the program

07/31/2013
by Jonathan Ingram Illinois law has long required that the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, or HFS, perform annual eligibility checks to ensure that those receiving Medicaid benefits were actually eligible for the program. After years of HFS failing to adequately perform these annual eligibility checks, lawmakers enacted 305 ILCS 5/11-5.2, which allowed...