Advanced Premium Tax Credits (APTC) are how people get subsidized to buy Qualified Health Plans (QHP) on Exchange. They are based on an individual’s income as determined by their family unit’s Federal Poverty Line (FPL) percentage and the cost of the second least expensive Silver plan offered on Exchange in their area. The subsidy arrangement …
A CAP in Illinois
“BCBS-IL won’t credit deductibles paid to failing insurance co-op” (Big issue for struggling #Healthcare consumers) https://t.co/jLvfy2aWK4 — Steve Sisko (@ShimCode) August 20, 2016 Going to be a mass adverse selection event for anyone that offers OOP credits https://t.co/iLmtt9dufm — Richard Mayhew (@bjdickmayhew) August 20, 2016 What is the situation and why am I thinking it …
Guest Post: End of Life Doulas
By: Prescott Cactus dou·la ˈdo͞olə noun plural noun: doulas a woman who is trained to assist another woman during childbirth and who may provide support to the family after the baby is born. The word “doula” comes from the ancient Greek meaning “a woman who serves” and is now used to refer to a trained …
The public option is not a panacea
Larry Levitt, the health policy wonk of wonks, notes that the public option would not solve a major PPACA issue — getting the healthy into the risk pools. A public option could bring premiums down and be a fallback in areas without competition. But it mostly wouldn't address risk pool issues. — Larry Levitt (@larry_levitt) …
A thousand and one posts
Wow, that last post was my 1,000th post here at Balloon Juice. I was not expecting that when I first got started here. I’ve been a Balloon Juice reader and primarily a lurker since before the Cole Conversion time. Over the summer of 2013, I saw a lot of good questions about the ACA and …
Follow-up on Aetna
CNBC got a quote from Aetna on their Pennsylvania strategy: “We don’t discuss our performance on a state level,” Aetna spokesman T.J. Crawford told CNBC after the insurer’s profitable Pennsylvania picture was first highlighted by the website Balloon Juice on Wednesday. Crawford declined to say whether Aetna’s plans were profitable in Pennsylvania this year, or …
Aetna, cynicism and Pennsylvania
Jonathan Cohn reports on report on Aetna’s strategy on linking Exchange participation and the rapid approval of their merger. the move also was directly related to a Department of Justice decision to block the insurer’s potentially lucrative merger with Humana, according to a letter from Aetna’s CEO obtained by The Huffington Post. TLDR: Nice exchanges …