Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Burwell Touts Health Law But Notes Public's Frustration With High Costs
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell marked the sixth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act and a U.S. Supreme Court case contesting the law鈥檚 contraception workaround by extolling the ACA鈥檚 successes, and acknowledging frustrations some Americans have had with health costs. Ms. Burwell, speaking at an event on diabetes prevention, said the law has led to a drop in the number of uninsured Americans and health insurers that can no longer deny people coverage because of pre-existing conditions. 鈥淭his progress has changed people鈥檚 lives,鈥 she said. But in a nod to critics, she said many Americans are unhappy with their health care experience because of high costs. (Armour, 3/23)
States that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act saw more job growth, lower health inflation and spent less on social and health services unneeded once more residents had medical coverage, a new analysis shows. A new report issued by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said states that opted to expand Medicaid coverage for poor Americans are saving 鈥渋n many cases, tens of millions of dollars.鈥 (Japsen, 3/23)
In Ohio, 1.3 million people were uninsured in 2013 before the rollout of the federally run insurance marketplace and the expansion of Medicaid under the law. Today, according Trey Daly, Ohio director for Enroll America: An estimated 402,000 Ohioans are uninsured. About 243,000 Ohioans have bought plans through the federal marketplace, up from 234,000 after the 2014-15 enrollment period and 155,000 after the first open-enrollment period in 2013-14. (Kurtzman, 3/24)
The web portal used by millions of consumers to get health insurance under President Barack Obama's law has logged more than 300 cybersecurity incidents and remains vulnerable to hackers, nonpartisan congressional investigators said Wednesday. The Government Accountability Office said none of the 316 security incidents appeared to have led to the release of sensitive data on HealthCare.gov, such as names, birth dates, addresses, Social Security numbers, financial information, or other personal information. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/23)
