Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
So Far, Studies Show Health Law Open Season Marked By Unclaimed Subsidies, Sticker Shock
Most of those eligible for health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act are failing to claim them, according to a new study. Researchers with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute estimated that more than 24 million people were eligible for ObamaCare tax credits last year. By March, only 41 percent of them had selected a plan on a government insurance exchange. (Edson, 11/11)
Millions of Americans who recently began shopping for new health insurance coverage under Obamacare may be suffering from sticker shock. Increases in 2016 premiums for health insurance coverage -- ranging from basic to top-flight policies -- will be in the double digits and easily eclipse premium hikes recorded between 2014 and 2015, according to a new analysis from consulting firm McKinsey & Co. (Pianin, 11/11)
Meanwhile, a report issued Wednesday by Avalere examines issues of coverage and drug costs -
Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers can no longer deny people coverage based on their health status. But nobody said anything about charging sick people more for their drugs. A new report out Wednesday from Avalere found if you buy insurance on the exchanges created under Obamacare and need access to HIV medications, you may have to pay a pretty penny. (Gorenstein, 11/11)
Also in the news, an "unlikely" Obamacare replacement plan -
One of the most detailed plans to replace Obamacare this year comes not from a Republican critic, but from a group in swing-state Colorado that is proposing to scrap it for a single-payer model long sought by liberals. Supporters, who won approval this week for a 2016 ballot measure after securing nearly 110,000 signatures deemed valid, will sell the overhaul as an Obamacare replacement plan designed in Colorado, instead of in Washington. (Pradhan, 11/12)
