Category: Insurance

With DACA Ruling, Did Supreme Court Grant Trump New Powers To Reshape Health Care?

There’s a theory now being embraced by President Donald Trump that the Supreme Court’s recent DACA decision makes it harder for a new president to undo the executive action of a predecessor. He cited it in a recent interview, saying that finding gave him the power to issue new health care and immigration plans. And some legal scholars disagree.

Medicaid Mystery: Millions of Enrollees Haven’t Materialized in California

State officials had projected that 2 million Californians would join Medi-Cal, the state’s health insurance program for low-income people, by July because of the economic devastation wrought by COVID-19. Yet enrollment has barely budged, and why is unclear.

Another Problem on the Health Horizon: Medicare Is Running Out of Money

With millions out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, fewer payroll taxes are coming in to help keep Medicare’s trust fund intact.

Administration Eases Rules to Give Laid-Off Workers More Time to Sign Up for COBRA

Under the federal COBRA law, people who lose health coverage because of a layoff or a reduction in their hours generally have 60 days to decide whether to pay to maintain that coverage. But under new regulations, the clock won’t start ticking until the government says the coronavirus national emergency is over, and then consumers will have 120 days to act.

For COVID Tests, the Question of Who Pays Comes Down to Interpretation

Additional guidance issued late last month by the Trump administration added to the confusion. Some consumers may find themselves unexpectedly on the hook for the cost of a test.

Must-Reads of the Week

KHN’s Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber drills through the vital health care policy stories of the week, so you don’t have to.

Azar Says Federal Law Had Preexisting Conditions Covered Before ACA. Not So Much.

This appears to be an overstatement.

Could Trump’s Push To Undo The ACA Cause Problems For COVID Survivors? Biden Thinks So.

The speech by the presumtive Democrat presidential nominee was delivered the same day the Trump administration reaffirmed its support of a lawsuit that would invalidate all of the Affordable Care Act, including the law’s preexisting condition protections.

COVID Catch-22: They Got A Big ER Bill Because Hospitals Couldn’t Test For Virus

Americans who had coronavirus symptoms in March and April are getting big hospital bills — because they were not sick enough to get then-scarce COVID tests. Some insurers say they are trying to correct these bills, but patients may have to put up a fight.

NIH Spearheads Study To Test At-Home Screening For HPV And Cervical Cancer

The National Cancer Institute plans to launch a multisite study next year involving roughly 5,000 women to assess whether self-sampling at home for the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer is comparable to screening in a doctor’s office.