Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Native Americans Fear Job Losses, As Well As Reductions In Coverage, If Health Law Goes Away
Since its founding in the 1950s, the Indian Health Service has provided medical care for many Native Americans. But the service has been chronically underfunded, so often pays for care only if someone is in immediate danger of losing life or limb. In recent years, the Affordable Care Act created new health coverage opportunities for more than half a million Native Americans and Alaska Natives — and created jobs in Indian country, too. (Whitney, 2/9)
If Arizona loses all Affordable Care Act funding now funneled to patients, doctors, insurers and hospitals, it would create a nearly $5 billion hole in the state's economy and cost more than 62,000 jobs next year, according to a new report. That is the worst-case scenario outlined in a report commissioned by Children's Action Alliance and completed by the Seidman Research Institute at Arizona State University. The report projected a slightly smaller dip in job creation and economic impact if federal funding disappears but the state keeps its current funding level for health care or redirects similar spending elsewhere. (Alltucker, 2/8)
Florida leads the nation in signups through the Affordable Care Act, and Orlando alone had more signups that 32 entire states. More than 9.2 million Americans bought a health insurance plan through the HealthCare.gov. Florida leads the nation in signups with nearly 1.8 million people buying health insurance on the exchange. (Aboraya, 2/8)
Florida once again led the nation in the number of people who picked a plan through the federal health insurance marketplace this year, preliminary data show. Nearly 1.8 million Floridians selected an Obamacare plan for 2017 during the open enrollment period, which started last November and ended on Jan. 31. Like previous years, the Miami market led the charge with more than 635,000 signups, followed by Central Florida, which reported 337,000 plan selections. (Miller, 2/8)
Until recently, Paul Smith didn’t consider himself much of an activist. But he woke up hours before sunrise on Saturday to attend his first town hall meeting. That meeting near Sacramento, organized by his district’s Congressman Tom McClintock (R-Roseville), sparked a peaceful — if large and raucous — protest over Obamacare, the travel ban and other issues. And it drew national headlines. (Ibarra, 2/8)
