Category: Affordable Care Act

Diabetes, obesity, and the Affordable Care Act

June 9, 2014

Diabetes & Endocrinology, 9 June 2014

Under the new health law, Americans with chronic disorders cannot be denied health insurance. Susan Jaﬀe reports from Washington, DC.

Before President Barack Obama’s landmark health law took effect, obtaining affordable health insurance could be difficult for Americans with diabetes or obesity, if not impossible. Insurers that didn’t turn diabetic patients away could charge higher rates because these individuals had a pre-existing health problem, or they could exclude coverage for certain treatments for diabetes or other chronic disorders. Now such practices are prohibited under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)…but some insurers’ “bad habits” still linger. [MORE]…

Challenges loom for US health law as new insurance begins

May 2, 2014

Volume 383, Issue 9928, 3 May 2014

WORLD REPORT Millions of Americans met the mid-April extended deadline to enrol in coverage under the Affordable Care Act; now the real test of the law begins. Susan Jaﬀe reports from Washington, DC.

Just a few days after April’s extended enrolment deadline, President Barack Obama announced that some 8 million Americans had signed up for health insurance under his health-care law, exceeding the predictions dampened by a rocky rollout 6 months ago that prompted jokes on late-night talk shows, fuelled the opposition, and ultimately led to the resignation of his Health and Human Services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, the nation’s top health official.

“The repeal debate is and should be over”, Obama proclaimed, referring to the 54 times Republicans in the US House of Representatives have voted to repeal or modify the law. “The Affordable Care Act [ACA] is working.”

But even the programme’s supporters say the next few months will be crucial to its success. [MORE] [PDF]…

The Affordable Care Act’s insurance programme takes effect

January 10, 2014

Volume 383, Issue 9912, 11 January 2014

WORLD REPORT Coverage kicked in for millions of Americans on Jan 1 under the Affordable Care Act while officials urged others to enrol before the 2014 sign-up deadline.Susan Jaﬀe reports from Washington, DC.

The Obama Administration faces what might be its most daunting challenge under the law: making sure an untested programme functions—will newly insured patients be able to get medical treatment or fill prescriptions?—while continuing to encourage people to sign up before the March 31 deadline for 2014 coverage, guaranteeing that the upgraded online sign up system keeps pace with demand, and fighting the latest lawsuit and political attack as the 2014 mid-term election campaign heats up. [MORE] [PDF]…

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By Susan Jaffe | November 1, 2013, 11:57 am

Older adults and their caregivers have complained for years that Medicare, which now covers 52 million Americans, does not provide dental benefits.
For some adults with Medicare, the online insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act may offer an alternative. MORE

Dental Coverage on the Insurance Exchanges

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By Susan Jaffe | October 15, 2013 | Kaiser Health News produced in collaboration with

The seven-week enrollment period for next year’s Medicare prescription drug and managed-care plans begins Tuesday, but seniors shouldn’t simply renew their policies and assume the current coverage will stay the same. There’s a likely payoff for those who pay close attention to the details.[More in KHN] [More in USA Today]

Seniors Cautioned To Pay Close Attention To Details As Enrollment Begins In Medicare Plans

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By Susan Jaffe | October 11, 2013, 6:24 pm

Shirley Mierzejewski was “very upset” when she found out her Medicare health insurance premiums will nearly double next year.

“I cannot afford that, I cannot,” said Ms. Mierzejewski, 77, who lives in Euclid, Ohio, and works part time as a receptionist at a local college. She has a private Medicare Advantage policy from Anthem, which provides drug and medical coverage.

“So I started thinking about the marketplaces,” she said, referring to the online insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act. “Maybe I could find something cheaper there.”

While thousands of Americans are trying to sign up for insurance on the exchanges, Medicare counselors like Semanthie

Brooks, who spoke at the meeting Monday in Euclid, are trying to steer seniors away. They worry that Ms. Mierzejewski and other older adults may not realize that Medicare is a pretty good deal compared to exchange policies and may try to buy one anyway.

…To clear up confusion in Montgomery County, Md., officials held meetings at six centers for the elderly. “They want to know if they are better off in the exchange than in Medicare,” said Leta Blank, director of the Montgomery County State Health Insurance Assistance Program. “Everyone is looking for a less expensive way to get health care.”

So in a year in which the insurance market is being turned upside down, here are some shopping tips for people with Medicare and caregivers. MORE

Q & A: Medicare and the Insurance Exchanges

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By Susan Jaffe | Sept.13, 2013 | KAISER HEALTH NEWS in collaboration with

After reassuring seniors that Medicare is not part of the new health insurance marketplaces, administration officials have a warning for anyone who may have other ideas: selling marketplace coverage to people who have Medicare is illegal.

Federal officials are eager to get the word out that seniors and disabled individuals enrolled in Medicare Part A — which covers hospitalization and limited nursing home care and is free for most beneficiaries – do not need to buy a marketplace plan, because they are already meeting the insurance requirements.

And no one needs to sell them one, either, according to information on a new “Medicare & the Marketplace” government webpage and in a “frequently asked questions” flyer officials recently distributed to Medicare counselors and other seniors advocates. MORE

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Susan Jaffe, Kaiser Health News produced in collaboration with

August 25, 2013 – While the Obama administration is stepping up efforts encouraging uninsured Americans to enroll in health coverage from the new online insurance marketplaces, officials are planning a campaign to convince millions of seniors to please stay away – don’t call and don’t sign up.

“You hear programs on the radio about the health care law and they never talk about seniors and what we are supposed to do,” said Barbara Bonner, 72, of Reston, Va. “Do we have to go sign up like they’re saying everyone else has to? Does the new law apply to us seniors at all and if so, how?” [More in KHN] [More in USA Today]

No Shopping Zone: Medicare Is Not Part Of New Insurance Marketplaces

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Volume 382, Issue 9892, 17 August 2013

WORLD REPORT Despite delaying some provisions of the Affordable Care Act, the US Government says it is on target to begin enrolling millions of Americans in the law’s new health coverage. Susan Jaﬀe reports.

Less than 7 weeks before millions of Americans begin enrolling in the new health insurance plans offered under President Barack Obama’s landmark Affordable Care Act (ACA), critics claim that his Administration isn’t ready and will preside over a monumental failure and a waste of taxpayer dollars.

…While federal officials continue to fend off Republican attacks on the law (unabated despite Obama’s re-election and the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding most of the law) they are also trying to complete work on the system needed to help Americans choose and enroll in an insurance plan and to determine their subsidy eligibility. …“Let me be clear”, US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told reporters on Aug 5. “We are on target and ready to flip the switch on Oct 1.” [MORE] [PDF]

Obama Administration races to meet key ACA deadline

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By Susan Jaffe | June 28, 2013 | KAISER HEALTH NEWS

The Commission on Long-Term Care held its first meeting Thursday on Capitol Hill with some members acknowledging that their late start adds to their challenges in offering Congress recommendations on how to finance the expensive services for seniors and disabled Americans.

The panel is hobbled with a meager budget and staffing, and it is facing a three-month deadline for its report. Speakers at the meeting reminded the commission that the effort is daunting.

The commission heard a litany of statistics from four experts who explained how the nation’s growing population of seniors will become more dependent on long-term care services. But the rising cost of those services threatens to deplete individuals’ savings and add to the nation’s budget problems because of the expenses borne by Medicare and Medicaid. MORE

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By Susan Jaffe | June 21, 2013 | KAISER HEALTH NEWS in collaboration with

Within days, the company that handles an average of more than 60,000 calls daily about Medicare will be deluged by new inquiries about health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

The six Medicare call centers run by Vangent, a company based in Arlington, Va., will answer questions about the health care law from the 34 states that opted out of running their own online health insurance marketplaces or decided to operate them jointly with the federal government.

The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that Vangent’s call centers will receive 42 million calls about the federal marketplaces this year, a daily average of up to 200,000; plus answer 2,400 letters and 740 e-mails, and host 500 Web chats daily. Customer service representatives will take consumers through the process — from shopping for a plan to enrolling.

Running the 800-Medicare call centers may provide valuable experience, but Vangent’s track record reveals that it was slow to adapt when changes in the Medicare program caused dramatic spikes in demand.

“It’s going to be huge,” said Bonnie Burns, a training and policy specialist at California Health Advocates. “The number of calls they are likely to get will probably dwarf anything they saw in Medicare.” MORE

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Volume 381, Issue 9882, Pages 1975 – 1976, 8 June 2013

WORLD REPORT Health and science agencies in the USA have been operating on reduced budgets, enforced by sequestration, for just over 3 months Susan Jaﬀe reports from Washington, DC.

The automatic budget cuts known as sequestration that the US Congress approved in 2011 were intended to be so onerous that they would never happen. Lawmakers would surely find a more reasonable way to save at least US$1·2 trillion over the next decade before the cuts would begin in 2013. Instead, Republicans and Democrats could not agree on an alternative, and the first wave of cuts, totalling $85 billion through to September, 2013, are phasing in for most non-defence US Government operations. Everything from White House tours to the most promising cancer research have been limited by a lack of funding.

..Many services provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are affected, including programmes at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and medical research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Even the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—President Barack Obama’s landmark health reform law—will feel the impact, with supporters worried that enrolment for next year’s new health insurance coverage will have a difficult start in October. [FULL STORY AS PDF]

US sequester hits health and science programmes

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By Susan Jaffe | KAISER HEALTH NEWS | December 4th, 2012 , 5:30 a.m.

If young adults can’t afford health insurance policies available in 2014 under the health care law, state insurance officials are worried they won’t buy them. And that could drive up the cost of insurance for the mostly older, sicker people who do purchase coverage. MORE

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Volume 380, Issue 9855, Pages 1727 – 1728, 17 November 2012

WORLD REPORT Implementation of the Patient Protection and Aﬀordable Care Act is unlikely to run smoothly despite the Nov 6 election result. Susan Jaﬀe reports from Washington, DC.

Just 3 days after President Barack Obama’s re-election preserved his signature legislative achievement, the Patient Protection and Aﬀordable Care Act (ACA), his administration reset a deadline for states to take a crucial step toward implementing it. The delay in the wake of the health law’s dramatic aﬃrmation—ﬁrst by the US Supreme Court and then at the polls—is another reminder that the way forward may still encounter obstacles, even if the most serious threat was eliminated on Nov 6. [MORE] [PDF]

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Volume 380, Issue 9848, Pages 1133 – 1134, 29 September 2012

WORLD REPORT Comprehensive domestic health-care reform is one of the top defining issues in the campaign, overshadowing global health. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.

President Barack Obama and his rival Republican Mitt Romney would agree that the American health-care system is unsustainable, providing some of the world’s most expensive and yet fragmented care. But as they campaign for the presidency, the two candidates offer profoundly different solutions.

“The Affordable Care Act helps make sure you don’t have to worry about going broke just because one of your loved ones gets sick”, said Obama, describing his signature legislative achievement at a recent campaign stop in Colorado. “I don’t think a working mom in Denver should have to wait to get a mammogram just because money is tight”, he continued. “That’s why we passed this law. It was the right thing to do.” [more, as PDF]

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Volume 380, Issue 9846, 15 September 2012

WORLD REPORT Additional new health benefits for women began under the US Affordable Care Act last month, which experts hope will remain after the Nov 6 election. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney promises to dismantle President Barack Obama’s landmark health-care reform law if elected. But as the presidential campaign progresses, various provisions of the law continue to kick into gear…. [more]
Panel: Abortion and the Aﬀordable Care Act

In the ﬁnal days of the congressional health reform debate, abortion coverage nearly derailed the legislation…. [more]

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MEDICARE TIP SHEET July 17, 2012 Published by Association of Health Care Journalists

Don’t look only to Washington policymakers for strategies to control medical costs and improve care for our aging population. New pilot projects that could accomplish these goals, which are at the heart of health reform, are being tested in communities across the country. In this tip sheet, reporter Susan Jaffe provides an overview of projects sponsored by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, directs journalists to helpful resources and supplies an extensive list of potential story ideas. [access requires AHCJ membership or available on request here]

Latest Innovations in Medicare

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MEDSCAPE MEDICAL NEWS July 11, 2012

By Susan Jaffe

Washington, DC — As expected, the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives voted today 244 to 185, mostly along party lines, to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — for the 31st time. And once again, President Barack Obama promised to veto the legislation repealing his landmark health law should it reach his desk, which is unlikely, given the Democrat-controlled Senate. However, Republicans have several other strategies available to delay or block implementation of the law. MORE

Repeal Isn’t Only Way to Block Health Law, Says House GOP

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7 July 2012 lancet cover 2

The US Supreme Court decided last week that most provisions in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act were constitutional. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.

Last week’s historic ruling by the US Supreme Court preserving nearly all of President Barack Obama’s landmark health law may have finally settled some legal questions, only to shift a re-energised debate about improving the American health-care system to the political arena.In addition to providing health coverage to some 32 million uninsured Americans, other changes in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will affect nearly every patient as it overhauls the US$2·7 trillion health-care system. MORE

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By Susan Jaffe | June 14, 2012 | KAISER HEALTH NEWS in partnership with

Billions of dollars in drug savings for Medicare beneficiaries may come to an end if the Supreme Court overturns the 2010 federal health law, a drug industry spokesman said Tuesday. The law provides “the necessary legal framework” for drug companies to slash brand-name drug prices by half for seniors and people with disabilities when they enter a coverage gap in their Medicare drug plans, said Matthew Bennett, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Eventually the discounts grow so that the gap, known as the doughnut hole, is closed by 2020. But if the law goes, the discounts may go, too.

More than 5.1 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the Part D drug plans saved more than $3.2 billion on prescription drugs from March 2010 through December 2011 because of the health law provision, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In the first four months of this year, seniors saved another $301.5 million. [MORE at msnbc] [MORE at Kaiser Health News]

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By Susan Jaffe | May 10, 2012 | KAISER HEALTH NEWS in collaboration with

If a Medicare staff recommendation is approved, health insurance exchanges may be up for a rebranding.

Because, Medicare officials say, consumers understand words like “marketplace” better.

“We are recommending not using the word ‘exchange’” in enrollment materials, Julie Bataille, director of the CMS Office of Communications, said last week at a meeting of outreach advisers. And while she didn’t mention the preferred substitute, she dropped hints.

“Words like ‘marketplace’ resonate much more with the consumer and also tend to be something that is all inclusive,” she added. MORE

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By Susan Jaffe and Kaiser Health News in partnership with

While many of the significant provisions of the 2010 health law don’t take effect until 2014, some key changes have kicked already kicked in. Our partners at Kaiser Health News consulted the agencies implementing the law to track how some of these new programs are going, and compared that data to the original projections of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Obama administration. Much of the available data covers a limited period — usually through the end of 2011 or the fiscal year ending Sept. 2011. MORE

Scorecard: What The Health Law Has Delivered, Or Not

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By Susan Jaffe | Feb. 9, 2012 | KAISER HEALTH NEWS in partnership with

The Obama administration Thursday unveiled final regulations detailing the new health insurance summaries that the federal health law requires plans to give to consumers to help them make informed coverage choices.

Mila Kofman, a research professor at Georgetown University… said that when consumers shop for insurance now, “co-insurance” or “annual deductible” may mean different things depending on the policy. Providing uniform information that’s easy to understand will empower consumers, she said.

“This will fundamentally change the way insurance is sold and the way is bought, and will make it much easier for consumers,” she said. [More from KHN or McClatchy]

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By Susan Jaffe | January 24, 2012 | KAISER HEALTH NEWS

Leaders from some of the nation’s top consumer and seniors advocacy groups today urged President Barack Obama not to weaken a key consumer provision of his signature health care overhaul law.

The provision requires health insurers and employers to use standardized, easy-to-understand information documents to describe health plan benefits and costs. These forms would explain how much each plan pays on average for three common medical conditions and include a glossary of insurance terms. [Continued here]

Consumers add their 2 cents to health law’s plan labels

June 23, 2011

By Susan Jaffe | June 23, 2011 | Kaiser Health News in partnership with

BUFFALO, N.Y. – At an office tucked next to Macy’s at the Boulevard Mall, Susan Kleimann pushes two sets of papers across a table to a woman in her 40s wearing a gray sweatshirt. “We aren’t testing you,” assures Kleimann, who runs a market research firm in Bethesda, Md. “We are testing health plan information.”

Kleimann explains that they will be comparing the two documents describing two hypothetical insurance plans. “What you tell us today will help us improve the information and be sure that consumers can easily understand what they read about different health plans,” she says. While a video camera captures every moment, the woman accepts the task with gusto. She says getting rid of some columns will make the form clearer and changing the blue ink to black will be easier on the eyes. But the last page is trouble. “This is really wordy,” she says. “I would have to put it down and go get a bowl of ice cream and go back to it later.”

Starting next March, all insurers and employers will have to make it easier for consumers faced with the ordeal of picking a health plan. Under the 2010 health law, they’ll have to provide health policy information that the average enrollee can understand and use to compare with other plans. The forms were developed by a group assembled by the National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners, and policymakers are getting feedback the same way advertisers learn the best way to sell orange juice: consumer-focus-group testing.

The woman in the gray sweatshirt is among eight people who received a $75 stipend to sit in a windowless room and spend 90 minutes reviewing the forms and answering questions. The one-on-one sessions, spread over two days last month along with an identical round in St. Louis, are sponsored by Consumers Union. Two representatives from the group, a Kaiser Health News reporter and other observers silently watch from a darkened hideaway room behind a one-way mirror; sound from the session is piped in through an audio system. [FULL story from Kaiser Health News] [ABRIDGED from Los Angeles Times]…

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