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2-10-11 Affordable Care Act Update
Below is this week’s update on the Affordable Care Act. As always, thank you for all you do every day to support laws and policies that help cancer patients and their families. Next Week in ... and vote scheduled for next week. Governors Seek More Flexibility On Monday, 21 of the nation’s 29 Republican governors sent a letter to US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to appeal for more flexibility in establishing and operating the state health insurance exchanges. The governors made six specific requests, including having more of a say in which insurers are allowed in the states’ ...
4-28-11 Affordable Care Act Update
... the House earlier this month. As you may recall, the budget resolution would do away with the coverage expansions provided for in the Affordable Care Act through elimination of funding for health insurance exchange planning grants, affordability credits, and Medicaid expansion. It also recommends turning the federal-state ... of the proposed $750 billion cut. An even greater proportion of those surveyed -- 73 percent -- oppose cuts to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Two out of three Americans reject giving governors more flexibility to administer the program if it means dropping health ...
11-30-12 Affordable Care Act Update
... budget negotiations, to prioritize investments in cancer research, prevention, and early detection programs; funding to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA); and protecting lifesaving programs such as Medicare and Medicaid that serve people with cancer and their families nationwide. ... of long-awaited ACA regulations Nov. 20. Of greatest importance to cancer patients and their families are proposed regulations on essential health benefits, state insurance market reforms, and wellness programs. A brief summary of the regulations are attached. The ACS CAN Policy Team is ... the federal government, as well as states allowing the government to operate a federal exchange, can begin sending information for Qualified Health Plan (QHP) certification on March 28 through the end of April next year. The certification process is scheduled to then run from May through ...
2-17-11 Affordable Care Act Update
... the House started debate on the bill Tuesday morning. Numerous amendments have been filed to defund provisions and programs in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including an amendment Representative Denny Rehberg (R-MT) has filed that would shut off funding to pay federal workers, official ... the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). The bill also would cut the budget at the National Institutes of Health by 5.2 percent. Read the ACS CAN press release . Update on High-Risk Pools Last summer, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a set of new high-risk pools, also known as the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), established ...
8-18-11 Affordable Care Act Update
... the Administration issued four proposed regulations that are important components of building a new available, affordable, and comprehensive health insurance system. The regulations complement and supplement the health exchange regulation proposal issued in July. The proposals are very detailed blueprints for various functions will operate, and collectively ... and Coverage and Uniform Glossary Issued by the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Treasury, this proposal addresses a requirement in the Affordable Care Act that individual market and small group market plans provide all applicants with a summary of benefits and coverage as well as a uniform ...
12-14-12 Affordable Care Act Update
... earners, allowing an extension of the Bush era tax rates for families earning less than $250,000 annually and proposed funding cuts in federal health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid in an effort to come to an agreement on a deficit reduction plan that will keep the government from ... announced this week a four-year, $53 million contract with CGI Technologies and Solutions to build its online marketplace. Media and Polling Health Care Costs Average health insurance premiums for workers with employer-sponsored health insurance rose 62 percent between 2003 and 2011, while ...
2-24-11 Affordable Care Act Update
Amendments to Defund Affordable Care Act in House-Passed Continuing Resolution The U.S. House of Representatives spent four days last week debating HR1, a continuing resolution ... this year. The bill cuts federal funding by almost $100 billion, and includes a five percent cut of $1.6 billion to the National Institutes of Health budget. More than 500 amendments were offered to the bill to make even deeper cuts to numerous federal programs. The bill was also used to ... to the CR passed that would greatly complicate the law’s implementation, including the development of regulations that will govern the health benefit exchanges and determining the essential benefits package. Amendments also passed that would deny funding to enforce the new medical ...
5-19-11 Affordable Care Act Update
Federal Update Prevention The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made $100 million available from the Prevention and Public Health Fund for up to 75 Community Transformation Grants that are aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles and communities. The grants are specially focused on reducing chronic diseases, disparities, and health care costs with five priority areas: tobacco, nutrition and physical activity, evidence-based prevention services, mental health, and safe ...
11-10-11 Affordable Care Act Update
... broker and agent commissions should be included in the MLR calculation so that it accurately reflects the proportion of spending by insurers on health care as opposed to administrative expenses. Removing commissions from the calculation would violate the intent of the ACA and render the MLR ... table the MLR issue for the time being, but the NAIC could raise it again, possibly in the next few weeks. In other news, the Department of Health and Human Services "listening tour" on what should constitute "essential health benefits" that health plans sold in the new exchanges must ...
4-19-12 Affordable Care Act Update
In the States As we previously noted in this space, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has tasked each state with defining an essential health benefits (EHB) package that will cover 10 broad categories defined in a December 16, 2011 HHS bulletin. In combination with this task, ... A new Commonwealth Fund report on gaps in health insurance shows that segments of target audiences for two popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act are unaware of its benefits. Overall the majority of Americans know about the provision allowing individuals under 26 to stay on their ...