A federal judge is expected to rule soon on whether Obamacare’s individual mandate is constitutional without a tax penalty to enforce it, and if it is not, whether the rest of Obamacare’s provisions (including its insurance regulations) are no longer operative. If the judge rules against Obamacare, as many predict, brace yourself for a...
By Doug Badger — A proposal to repeal Obamacare entitlements and replace them with grants to states would reduce premiums for individual coverage by as much as 32 percent, according to an analysis by the Center for Health and Economy. The Health Care Choices Proposal also would modestly reduce the deficit, increase the number of people with private health...
By Grace-Marie Turner & Doug Badger — A few states have found a key to undoing some of Obamacare’s damage to their individual health insurance markets by redirecting some federal funding to help sick people. These states are providing separate assistance to those with the highest health costs, thereby reducing premiums and increasing enrollment for healthy...
Congressional Republicans, who ran against Obamacare through four election cycles, have spent most of the past year running away from it. But they are finding the law hard to escape. Democrats who once shied away from Obamacare now can’t stop talking about it. They are blaming Republicans for the next round of premium increases...
Congressional Republicans who repeatedly pledged to repeal and replace Obamacare instead are racing today to rescue the law with truckloads of federal cash. Their plan: a multi-billion-dollar bailout of health insurers that sell Obamacare policies. In return, the insurers promise to reduce premiums just in time for November’s elections. Congress shouldn’t jump at this...
The seismic effects of the Affordable Care Act on insurance markets continue to be felt nearly eight years after its enactment. Premiums for individual coverage more than doubled between 2013 and 2017. Much of that increase resulted from Obamacare’s new regulations. Some regulations—such as essential health benefits and actuarial value requirements—had discrete effects on...