Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Insurers Propose Double-Digit Obamacare Rate Increases In Pa. And Ariz.
A national upswing of health insurance rates is coming to Pennsylvania, and that could mean bigger-than-expected cost increases next year for at least a couple hundred thousand Pennsylvanians who bought insurance in the marketplace created by the 2010 federal health care law. Last week's deadline to file paperwork with the state Department of Insurance showed that some insurers selling plans on the marketplace want rate increases of almost 10 percent 鈥 or well above that 鈥 in one or more of their plans. (Levy, 6/7)
Next year, tens of thousands of Arizona residents who buy their own health insurance may need to brace for double-digit rate increases, which insurance companies say reflect the higher medical expenses of their customers. (Alltucker, 6/5)
Hawaii will abandon its state-based health insurance exchange and transition to the federal marketplace, known as HealthCare.gov, the state announced Friday. Gov. David Ige (D) announced Hawaii Health Connector, a private nonprofit, would be shut down because it 鈥渉as been unable to generate sufficient revenues to sustain operations.鈥 (Shabad, 6/6)
Hawaii's health insurance exchange announced on Friday that it will be shutting down, and its nearly 40,000 enrollees will be transitioned to the federal Obamacare marketplace, Healthcare.gov. The private, nonprofit Hawaii Health Connector, which has been embattled from its inception, has not generated 鈥渟ufficient revenues to sustain operations,鈥 according to the office of Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D). (Fox, 6/6)
In other health law news, 100 percent of聽eligible Floridians signed up for Obamacare in some zip codes, and the Austin Statesman parses the facts about Obamacare insurance cards聽-
The long reach of South Florida鈥檚 Obamacare enrollment efforts can be quantified in one number: 100. That鈥檚 the estimated percentage of eligible people who signed up for health coverage in the country鈥檚 top-performing ZIP codes. One hundred percent. A report released last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated each ZIP code鈥檚 eligible population of consumers who could sign up for coverage and compared it to those who did enroll for 2015. In the nation鈥檚 top 10 ZIP codes 鈥 all in South Florida 鈥 the report found that nearly the entire eligible pool signed up for health insurance. Across the state, the average was 64 percent. (Herrera, 6/5)
MSNBC host Al Sharpton accused Texas Republicans of trying to slap a 鈥渟carlet letter鈥 on people who use private health insurance under Obamacare. 鈥淭he Texas Senate just approved a bill to put a special label on the insurance cards of anyone who bought a plan through Obamacare,鈥 Sharpton said on his 鈥淧oliticsNation鈥 show last month. 鈥淏ut if those labels weren鈥檛 absurd enough, anyone who receives financial assistance for insurance would have a letter 鈥楽鈥 on the cards, too. 鈥楽鈥 for subsidy.鈥(Greenberg, 6/7)