Tag Archives: insurance exchanges

Nearly 200,000 ACA signups in Houston area

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Not too shabby. Like the rest of the country, the Houston area appears to have benefited from a last-minute surge in people signing up for federally mandated health insurance. At least 197,650 local residents enrolled in the program, figures released … Continue reading →

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734K ACA enrollments in Texas

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Pretty damn impressive, all things considered. New numbers out show that 734,000 Texans bought health insurance through the federal marketplace from last October to April 19, 2014, a report released by Health and Human Services shows. Prior to March 1, … Continue reading →

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Texas insurance enrollment update

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Enrollments are up and the number of uninsured are down, though both could have been a lot better. The sky-high rate of Texans without health insurance has dropped only slightly since the launch of the federal Affordable Care Act’s online … Continue reading →

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What’s the health insurance enrollment status in Texas?

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The short answer is that we don’t know. The longer answer, as this Express-News story indicates, is that we’ll never really know. Self-sufficiency. Distrust. Desire for flexibility. Those are some reasons many consumers bypassed health insurance plans sold on government-run … Continue reading →

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We really should have expanded Medicaid

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

We know it would have done a lot of good, at a very reasonable cost. Turns out that cost was even less than what we had been told. News reports and state officials have commonly stated that expanding the Medicaid program in this … Continue reading →

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And the first open enrollment period comes to an end

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of people signed up in the last few days of enrollment. Some tried but came away empty. Some of the hundreds of Houstonians who sought last-minute help enrolling for the Affordable Care Act on Sunday left thrilled to have … Continue reading →

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Last minute health insurance enrollment help

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: The Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS) will open four of its multi-service centers on Sunday and extend their business hours next Monday to help people sign up for a health insurance plan by the Affordable … Continue reading →

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More Obamacare enrollments, still lots more needed

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

That’s pretty much the story. Texas enrollment in the online insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act rose steadily in February but did not meet expectations set forth by the Obama administration, according to figures that the U.S. Department … Continue reading →

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ACA enrollments top 200K in Texas

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Despite continued fierce resistance from state leadership, people keep signing up for health insurance in Texas via the Healthcare.Gov exchange. Enrollment in the federal health insurance marketplace continued to steadily climb in January, according to data the U.S. Department of … Continue reading →

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More on Texas Left Me Out

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

The Observer reports on the launch of Texas Left Me Out. Members of the coalition pointed to two different studies that estimate that thousands of uninsured Texans with chronic conditions are likely to die as a result of not expanding Medicaid. A Harvard … Continue reading →

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What the ACA does, Texas has long done

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

By now you’ve surely heard about the CBO report on the Affordable Care Act and the workforce, which despite some terribly botched reporting does have a lot of political considerations. There’s something I’d like to point out about this before … Continue reading →

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Making the push to sign people up for health insurance

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Harris County is at ground zero for this national effort. With less than two months remaining to enroll in the health care marketplace, the federal government is focusing outreach efforts on areas with the largest concentrations of uninsured, including Texas’ … Continue reading →

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The coverage gap

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As you may know, the intent of the Affordable Care Act was to get people below a certain income level onto Medicaid, with people at or above that income level receiving subsidized health insurance via the exchanges. Unfortunately, when the … Continue reading →

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Cutting one’s nose to spite one’s face isn’t a matter of principle

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s just stupid and self-destructive. Lots of conservative lawmakers hate Obamacare. Rep. Louie Gohmert is putting his money where his mouth is. The Tyler Republican gave up his health insurance for 2014, asserting that the president’s signature health care law, … Continue reading →

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Somewhat less onerous navigator rules published

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

They could have been worse, but they could still be better. The Texas Department of Insurance on Tuesday issued state regulations for health care “navigators,” the workers who assist people seeking health insurance in the federal marketplace created by the … Continue reading →

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ACA enrollments in Texas

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

As was the case with the rest of the country, there was a big surge in December. Texas enrollments in the online insurance marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act rose nearly eightfold in December, according to 2013 figures that … Continue reading →

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Rick Perry doesn’t want people to get health insurance

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

There’s really no other viable explanation. On a White House conference call on Monday, Texas Democrats criticized Gov. Rick Perry and other Republican state leaders for “getting in the way” of implementing federal health care reform. During the call, which … Continue reading →

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Texas Left Me Out

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This. Obamacare advocates are actively recruiting those left out of the Medicaid expansion in Republican-controlled states to lobby state officials to change their minds and participate in that key provision of the health care reform law. So far, the effort … Continue reading →

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Don’t believe anything the TPPF has to say about the Affordable Care Act

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

With the exception of some things they have to say about criminal justice, you shouldn’t believe anything the Texas Public Policy Foundation has to say, full stop. You especially shouldn’t believe anything they have to say about the Affordable Care … Continue reading →

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Another way the Affordable Care Act will benefit Texans

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Thousands of people in the high-risk pool will get better coverage at lower prices, thanks to Obamacare. At year’s end, Texas will shut down its high-risk insurance pool for some of the state’s sickest residents, pushing participants to find private … Continue reading →

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Arkansas will expand Medicaid

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

If they can do it… [Friday], the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services notified state officials in Arkansas that it has approved the states’ Medicaid expansion plan. And this is not any old expansion plan: Arkansas will be the only … Continue reading →

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Why the Affordable Care Act will make a real difference to many people

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is what it’s all about. The following was written by a good friend of mine, who has been eagerly awaiting October 1 and the opening of the insurance exchanges. I asked him to write about his experience with getting … Continue reading →

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An awful lot of people tried to sign up for insurance exchanges on Tuesday

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

That’s a very good thing, even if technical difficulties prevented many of them from completing the job. On the first day of sign-ups for President Barack Obama’s health care reform, a wave of consumers across the nation, including many Texans, … Continue reading →

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Enroll SA

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

San Antonio leads the way. San Antonio city officials and the area’s largest nonprofit health plan have launched separate websites to help residents understand the federally run health insurance marketplace opening Tuesday. The Affordable Care Act requires most people to … Continue reading →

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Premiums for insurance exchange plans released

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Guess what? They’re pretty darned affordable. “In just 99 days, millions of Americans will finally have the security and peace of mind that have eluded them for years,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on a press … Continue reading →

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Perry keeps asking for the same Medicaid waiver he hasn’t gotten in the past

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Same as it ever was. Gov. Rick Perry is preparing for yet another battle in his war against Obamacare. In a letter to the state’s health agency on Monday, the governor laid out his plan to request a federal waiver … Continue reading →

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The obstacles to enrollment

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Affordable Care Act could have a big effect in Houston if the people who would benefit by it can be informed about it and assisted as needed. Houston, with an estimated 800,000 uninsured residents, ranks among the nation’s largest … Continue reading →

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More ways in which refusing to expand Medicaid will cost Texas money

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Fiscal conservatism, baby. Gov. Rick Perry’s rejection of Medicaid expansion will force private health insurance premiums to rise by an average of 9.3 percent for Texans buying coverage on their own, a new study finds. GOP lawmakers, strongly encouraged by … Continue reading →

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Feds provide money to help sign people up for the exchanges

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Every little bit helps. With the rollout of many Affordable Care Act provisions fast approaching, the federal government announced Thursday that eight Texas organizations will receive a combined $10.8 million to hire and train “navigators” to help uninsured Texans find … Continue reading →

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When is it OK for the feds to intervene in Texas?

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

When the Affordable Care Act is involved. Though Texas will join 26 other states in defaulting to a federal marketplace for purchasing health insurance — a major component of the Affordable Care Act — it is one of only six … Continue reading →

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Two ways to deal with a problem you don’t want to solve

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

First, deny there is a problem. Attorney General Greg Abbott said Thursday he would never give up the fight against Obamacare, but the front-running candidate for Texas governor declined to embrace a temporary shut-down of the federal government — one … Continue reading →

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The exchanges are coming

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Texas can resist all it wants, the health insurance exchanges will be here in 2014, with signups beginning in October, whether Rick Perry and Greg Abbott like it or not. The federal Health Insurance Marketplace at www.healthcare.gov is scheduled to … Continue reading →

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Texas really needs Obamacare

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve always known that Texas would be a huge beneficiary of the Affordable Care Act because of our huge volume of uninsured people, but this quantifies it in a way that really brings it home. Texas is home to more … Continue reading →

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Just a reminder that women’s health isn’t the only thing they don’t care about

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

In case you needed one. Texas officials have declined to establish a state-based health insurance marketplace, a major provision of the federal Affordable Care Act. So private organizations are working to educate Texans about coverage options through the federal health … Continue reading →

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