Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Florida rejects Medicaid expansion, leaves 1 million uninsured

Excerpt from: Washington Post (click for full article)

 

It seemed like a watershed moment for the Affordable Care Act when Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), a staunch Obamacare opponent, embraced the Medicaid expansion in February.

“While the federal government is committed to paying 100 percent of the costs, I cannot deny Floridians who need access to health care,” Scott told reporters at a press conference.

Scott wouldn’t be the one to “deny Floridians” a part of the health care law—but the Florida legislature had other plans. Lawmakers adjourned Friday after passing a budget that does not include funding for a Medicaid expansion. Unless the Republican-controlled legislature comes back for a special session later this year—which some Democrats are calling for—Florida will not expand Medicaid in 2014.

Small Business Owners Sue IRS Over ObamaCare

Excerpt from: TaxProf Blog (click for full article)

 

Objecting to what they term an "Obamacare power grab," a group of small business owners and individuals in six states filed suit today against the IRS over a rule that expands health insurance subsidies.

The plaintiffs say the IRS regulations "actually serve to financially injure and restrict [their] economic choices" and are arbitrary and capricious, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Jones Day partner Michael Carvin, who co-argued the U.S. Supreme Court cases challenging the Affordable Care Act in March 2012.

The suit against the IRS focuses on health care exchanges - state-level clearinghouses that are supposed to make it easier for people to buy insurance. The federal government doesn’t have the power to force states to set up such exchanges, but the law provides incentives for them to do so.

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: April 2013

Excerpt from: Kaiser Family Foundation (click for full article)

 

As the federal government, state governments and other stakeholders gear up for public information campaigns tied to the October start of open enrollment in the ACA’s health insurance exchanges, Americans report that thus far they have been relying most heavily on their own personal networks and the news media for information about a law that continues to be only dimly understood by many. The most commonly cited sources of information in Kaiser’s April Health Tracking Poll are friends and family (named by 40 percent), “newspapers, radio or other online news” (36 percent), and cable news (30 percent).

Thus far, about one in ten Americans report getting any information from a health insurance company, their doctor, an employer, or a non-profit, and few name any of these as their most important source of information. About the same share (9 percent) report having gotten information from “federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services,” with little difference across demographic groups. Eight percent say they have gotten some ACA information from “state agencies such as your state Medicaid office or health department,” a share which doubles among African Americans (17 percent). The poll provides a rough baseline before more intensive public information and consumer assistance begins.

Michigan's Legislature Resists Its Governor's Call to Approve Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion

Excerpt from: Forbes (click for full article)

 

Michigan’s Republican governor, Rick Snyder, was among the many GOP state executives who made national headlines this winter by endorsing Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid, America’s government-run health insurance program for the poor. But what isn’t making headlines is that Michigan’s legislature, like its counterparts in Florida, Ohio, and Arizona, is not going along.

Expanding Medicaid, said Snyder on February 6, “makes sense for the physical and fiscal health” of Michigan. “It also puts Michigan, rather than Washington, in the driver’s seat in terms of implementation [of Obamacare], which allows us to better address Michigan’s specific needs.”

Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI): A Primer

Excerpt from: National Health Law Program (click for full article)

 

One of the significant changes to the Medicaid program generated by the Affordable

Care Act (ACA) is the introduction of a new methodology for evaluating income to determine eligibility: Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI). MAGI will be used to evaluate available income for most Medicaid applicants and enrollees, beginning in 2014, as well as for determining eligibility for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and for Advance Premium Tax Credits (APTCs) and Cost Sharing Reductions (CSR) for applicants for financial assistance under the new insurance Exchanges.   In the past couple of years, both regulatory and sub-regulatory guidance has been given on the subject of MAGI, though some questions about how states will actually apply the new rules remain unanswered. This issue of the Health Advocate broadly reviews some of the general issues regarding the change-over to the MAGI methodology, but does not purport to cover all the specific MAGI details. NHeLP plans to publish an Advocate’s Guide to MAGI that will address the issue in a much more detailed fashion.

Affordable Care Act Provisions: What you need to know!

Excerpt from: IRS.gov (click for full article)

 

In keeping with the IRS mission of providing America’s taxpayers with top-quality service by helping you understand and meet your tax responsibilities, we will be conducting a phone forum on April 30, 2013 to discuss key provisions of the Affordable Care Act that are currently in effect. These provisions which impact federal, state, and local government employers include:

• W-2 Reporting: Employer Sponsored Health Coverage
• Additional Medicare Tax on High Income Earners

To learn more, we cordially invite you to attend the “ACA Provisions: What you need to know!” Phone Forum.  This forum is tailored for federal, state and local government employers, payroll and benefits administrators.

During this 60 minute presentation we will cover:

• What is included in the cost of coverage (i.e. health, dental/vision, FSA benefits).  
• Additional Medicare Tax: application, calculation, and reporting.

State exchanges might connect to life, vision, disability insurance

Excerpt from: Insurance and Financial Advisor (click for full article)

 

State health insurance exchanges set up as required under the federal health reform law might be able to partner with firms that sell life, vision, disability and long-term care insurance, along with other ancillary insurance products.

The online exchanges are mandated under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

A statement offering answers to frequently asked questions was issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services stated ACA allows state exchanges to connect an exchange with “separate state programs that share resources and infrastructure with a state-based exchanged.” Those programs can sell ancillary products.

CMS is part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is administering the health laws.

DCA Fact Sheet: FAQs About the Affordable Care Act

Excerpt from: Direct Care Alliance, Inc. (click for full article)

 

Congress passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the health reform act often referred to as Obamacare, in 2010, but it will not be fully implemented until 2014. While opponents of the law have attacked it as unconstitutional and bad for America, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is constitutional, and millions of Americans are already benefiting from it. Nonetheless, considerable confusion remains about what it will accomplish. This fact sheet answers some frequently asked questions about the new law and explains how it benefits millions of Americans, including direct care workers.

Should Long-Term Care Be an Entitlement?

Excerpt from: U.S. News (click for full article)

 

The elderly have always needed help in their later years. It has come mainly from family members, and this continues to be the case. But today's family is far smaller and more likely to be geographically scattered than in the past. These trends are expected to become more pronounced. Add in rising numbers of older Americans and the outlook is for a nation increasingly unable to have the time or money to take care of its older citizens.

Obamacare recognized this problem. Led by efforts of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, the law included an employer-based long-term care insurance program. Employees would have paid the premiums and the level of coverage was modest. But it would have added a layer of protection that does not exist for most people.

To get votes to pass the program, however, it was approved as a voluntary benefit and not as coverage everyone had to get. This universal aspect of insurance is crucial to health care reform. If only sicker people had to get health insurance, their costs would be very high. Healthy people would not feel the need to buy it and would not offset the expenses incurred by those most likely to use the product.

Patrick Kennedy calls for unity as Michigan grapples with reforming mental health system

Excerpt from: MLive (click for full article)

 

Former Democratic congressman Patrick Kennedy on Monday called for bipartisan efforts to tackle pressing mental health policy questions as Michigan grapples with reforming its support system.

Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy, implored some 500 attendees of an Economic Club of Grand Rapids luncheon to press lawmakers — a handful being at the luncheon — on the importance of reshaping and funding the state's mental health programs.

Republicans who dominate the state Legislature have sparred with Gov. Rick Snyder over key parts of the federal Affordable Care Act set to take effect next year.

Snyder last month announced the creation of two commissions tasked with analyzing Michigan's mental health system, and how various state agencies can better treat people with mental illnesses and addiction problems.

Key parts of that plan would rely on expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.