affordable care act

LifeWise Joins Regence in Backing Away From Small Employer Exchange

Providence insists it over-calculated its proposed rates for individuals and is asking the state’s insurance commissioner for permission to adjust those rates
  May 10, 2013 -- Now that the health insurers have shown their hands and announced whether they intend to participate in Oregon’s insurance exchange, it’s clear that Regence BlueCross BlueShield isn’t alone in backing away from the small employer market known as SHOP. That became quite apparent in a memo sent to insurance brokers by LifeWise Health Plan that was obtained by The Lund Report.
 
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Cambia Health Solutions Targets Businesses with Private Health Exchange

The company, which offers insurance through Regence BlueCross BlueShield in Oregon, has launched TailorWell while pulling back from public insurance marketplace
May 8, 2013 -- One of the largest health insurers in the Pacific Northwest has set up a private insurance exchange aimed at enrolling workers at medium-sized businesses, even as it opts to keep its flagship health plans off the public exchanges that will start connecting individuals and small businesses to insurance later this year. Read More >>

‘Churn Bill’ Looks to Help People Switching from Medicaid to Cover Oregon

Starting in 2016, 60,000 Oregonians may find themselves moving between the Oregon Health Plan and Cover Oregon, and potentially losing access to their doctors or coverage of ongoing procedures. HB 2132 requires the OHA and Cover Oregon to take steps to alleviate this problem.
April 24, 2013 — Next year, the Affordable Care Act will allow people whose income falls below 138 percent of the federal poverty level to receive coverage through the Oregon Health Plan. Read More >>

Dembrow Pitches Oregon Universal Healthcare Study

Funding for the study to provide healthcare financing for all Oregonians would come from private sources, and the study would consider several options, including single-payer, a public option and hybrid model to provide care from cradle-to-grave. A Pennsylvania study found a state single-payer government health insurance system would cut healthcare costs 15 percent
April 12, 2013 — The Affordable Care Act will roll out next year, and Oregon has instituted its own pioneering healthcare delivery reforms through coordinated care organizations. Read More >>

Health Committee Approves Bill to Offset 2014 Premium Hikes

A closed-door task force crafted HB 3458, the Oregon Reinsurance Program, after a consultant reported insurance premiums on the individual market would climb 38% next year. The program assesses insurers $4 per policy per month, a decline from current state assessments.
  April 4, 2013 — The House Health Committee has unanimously passed major reinsurance legislation, designed to offset the spike in premium rates next year when insurers are required to accept thousands of sick people who had previously been denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions such as cancer and heart disease.
 
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The Hidden Truths behind Health Reform

An insurance agent raises concerns about what health reform will mean to individuals, small groups and how it will impact prices
OPINION – March 5, 2013 -- Outside of Medicaid, there are two groups of people in Oregon, those with insurance, and those without. The group with insurance, for the most part, has no clue that they will lose their existing coverage next year and will have to purchase one of the new plans. The only exception is those with grandfathered plans, of which there are very few in Oregon. Read More >>

Oregon Could Reduce Uninsured by 51 Percent Under Medicaid Expansion

Within the context of the Affordable Care Act, a new analysis simulates the effects of expanding Medicaid eligibility on cost, enrollment and uninsured numbers. Findings show that a Medicaid expansion in Oregon would cut uninsured numbers by half, increase enrollees more than six-fold, and raise spending, though relatively modestly.
November 28, 2012 -- Just as Oregon and other states are weighing whether to expand Medicaid, a step made optional by the Supreme Court’s June 2012 ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), findings from a new study detailing Medicaid expansion impacts on states may help inform their choices. Read More >>

Merkley Counters Claim by Romney about Demise of Obamacare

The Senator appeared at a political forum sponsored by the Oregon Medical Association last week along with Governor Kitzhaber and state legislators to discuss healthcare reform
October 17, 2012 -- In a political season where the stakes for the presidency are so high, it’s not unusual for candidates to exaggerate their promises as many analysts have pointed out. Read More >>

The ObamaCare Map

The author, who’s drawn an ObamaCare Map, asks what would happen if the Affordable Care Act is repealed after the November election, and suggests looking at the different routes these potential changes may take us
OPINION – September 12, 2012 -- During the last two years, I have become an avid supporter of ObamaCare. Due to several unforeseen health issues in our family I began taking a closer look at the Affordable Care Act. It had become very clear that the healthcare industry was not necessarily a good fit for everybody, especially for those who found themselves due to job changes between health insurance companies and coverage, or those with pre-existing conditions, or even worse those without any health insurance coverage at all. Read More >>

NARAL Rally Celebrates Implementation of Preventive Women's Healthcare

Sections of Affordable Care Act that allow more women to access contraception and screening without copayments kicked in August 1
August 3, 2012 -- A crowd of about 100 activists gathered at the base of the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland Wednesday afternoon to rally and to march – not to protest, but to celebrate a much-debated provision of the Affordable Care Act that had just kicked in. Starting August 1, preventive women's health care will be covered without any copayments, including contraception, well-woman exams, cancer screenings and domestic violence coverage. Read More >>
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