�鶹Ů��

People who need to enroll in, re-enroll in or make changes to health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace will need to meet the Dec. 15 deadline to ensure coverage starts on Jan. 1.Those who already have marketplace coverage in 2021 and want to keep their same plan in 2022 should also update their application to reflect any changes to their incomes or households, as they may qualify for more savings or may be able to find a plan that better fits their needs, according to HealthCare.gov. (Aldridge, 12/13)

Consumers seeking government-subsidized health insurance for next year have through Wednesday to sign up if they want their new plan to start Jan. 1.Independent experts say HealthCare.gov’s sign-up season doesn’t seem to be drawing as many new customers this year — 8% to 9% fewer than last year— but it’s too early to draw final conclusions because deadlines drive much of the enrollment. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/15)

The deadline is approaching for Americans enrolling in health coverage through the Affordable Care Act during 2022. Though enrollment, which began in November, runs until January 15, 2022, to have coverage that begins on January 1, U.S. citizens have to sign up by Wednesday. Americans who miss this December 15 deadline will not be covered until February 1, while people who fail to sign up by January 15 won't get coverage during 2022. This is unless they qualify for a Special Enrollment Period. (Lea, 12/15)

Charles Gaba is a Bloomfield-based healthcare data analyst and founder of ACAsignups.net, which tracks healthcare signups on Healthcare.gov. He says that people should still try to sign up for plans before the December 15 deadline if they are able to. ... Gaba says the most important thing for people to consider this year is that they might be eligible for thousands of dollars more in federal help than in previous years. “I cannot stress this enough,” he says. “Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, which was passed last spring… the financial subsidies for paying for covering your premiums, if you enroll in an ACA plan, has been dramatically expanded and improved so that millions more people nationally are now eligible for financial help. And those who are already eligible are now eligible for far more generous financial subsidies to slash down on your premiums — and in a lot of cases, your deductibles and co-pays and things like that as well.” (12/14)

In related news —

U.S. Latino civil rights groups are running bilingual campaigns to get as many eligible people as possible to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act before the end of the year. Latinos are one of most uninsured groups in the country, whether through public plans like Medicaid or private plans through employers. (Franco, 12/14)

In other health insurance news —

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs on Tuesday kicked off its equity coverage of publicly traded U.S. health insurers with a lengthy inaugural report that generally gave a rosy outlook for the sector. Goldman initiated coverage of 10 insurers, half of which received 'buy' ratings in the newest report: UnitedHealth Group, Anthem, CVS Health, Molina Healthcare and Alignment Healthcare. Another four were rated 'neutral:' Humana, Cigna, Centene and Bright Health Group. Just one, Oscar Health, got a 'sell' rating. (Bannow, 12/14)

On April 15, in the middle of the night, a police officer came to Stacie Jackson’s door. “He just said that, ‘Your son’s been shot in the abdomen, and he’s on his way to Halifax hospital right now via medevac,’” Jackson told the News4JAX I-TEAM. “So immediately when I hear that he went via medevac, my head’s just running wild with you know, ‘Is my son going to be OK?’ ”Fortunately, he was. Jackson’s 17-year-old son was flown 26 miles from Flagler County to a hospital in Daytona Beach. He had a fractured rib and a contusion on his lung, but he was released in less than a day. “After I got over that, the initial shock, and I realized he was going to be OK, I did start to think about the medical bills,” Jackson said. (Maxwell, 12/14)

Imagine facing a life-threatening diagnosis only to be told by your insurance company that you can’t get the medicine you need when you need it. It’s a practice known as white-bagging and it’s happening to people all over the state. And now, a proposed law named after an Eau Claire woman is hoping to put an end to it. Koreen Holmes of Eau Claire is a wife, mom, and a fighter. In January at 35 weeks pregnant, she found out she had stage 3-C triple negative breast cancer. (Thompson, 12/13)

KHN: Mattresses And Mold Removal: Medi-Cal To Offer Unconventional Treatments To Asthma Patients 
Growing up amid the dusty agricultural fields of the Central Valley, Ruby Marentes-Cabrera can’t recall a time when it wasn’t difficult to breathe. Diagnosed with asthma early in childhood, the ninth grader has come to detest the pistachio trees that surround her home because the dust, pesticides and other allergens that blow off the orchards often trigger an asthma attack — even infiltrating her home so that simple chores like vacuuming can be dangerous. (Hart, 12/15)