Tag Archives: health insurance

Mayor Parker announces same sex spousal benefits for city employees

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Parker had been talking recently about a more comprehensive non-discrimination ordinance for Houston and possibly revisiting the 2001 charter amendment that forbids the city from offering domestic partner benefits. I knew something would be coming, but I didn’t expect … Continue reading →

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Of course Wendy Davis needs to talk about health care

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not even a question. In order for Davis to defeat Attorney General Greg Abbott, her likely Republican opponent next November, political strategists say she needs to win big among two key demographics: Hispanics and white women. Among Hispanics in … 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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Pertussis

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Not good. State health officials warn that Texas is on track to see the highest number of whooping cough cases it has registered in 50 years if occurrences of the disease continue at the current rate. As of this week, … Continue reading →

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None dare call it Obamacare

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve probably seen the Politico story by now. Gov. Rick Perry wants to kill Obamacare dead, but Texas health officials are in talks with the Obama administration about accepting an estimated $100 million available through the health law to care … 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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More on Abbott and his lawsuit settlement

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. When Greg Abbott’s spine was crushed by a falling oak tree in 1984 he had no health insurance, no paycheck and no feeling in his legs. But he had a good lawyer … 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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What to do with that extra money?

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Some unexpected good financial news for the city, but what to do about it is the tricky part. Just months after hiking health premiums, shifting costs to employees and plugging a projected multimillion-dollar deficit in its health benefits fund, the … 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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Fighting for Obamacare

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Bring it. Obamacare supporters are launching a new war room operation to stick up for the law, mobilizing liberal groups to talk up its benefits and pound Republicans for trying to cut off its funding. The new effort — to … 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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How I would campaign against Greg Abbott

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

If you’ve been following Greg Abbott’s gubernatorial campaign kickoff, you’ve probably noticed that in addition to being light on substance, the Attorney General has been hitting his personal story hard, in an attempt to portray him as some kind of … Continue reading →

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From the “Wooing Latino Voters: You’re Doing It Wrong” department

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Greg Abbott visits McAllen and gives the locals his best reason why they should vote for him. Gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott called for unity between Republican candidates and Hispanics in McAllen on Monday, with the promise of being in South … Continue reading →

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Remembering the bad old days

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

We’re headed back to them if the courts don’t intervene. Dr. Howard Novick winces as he recalls treating two and three women a week for infections and complications from botched abortions. It was the early 1970s, before the procedure was … Continue reading →

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People who don’t know about Obamacare can’t benefit from Obamacare

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

One suspects that’s the point. Texans, and in particular the state’s Hispanic population, might remain in the dark on the benefits of the new federal health care law because outreach efforts are largely focusing on the 24 states participating in … Continue reading →

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Enrolling the uninsured

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is going to be such a huge job. Fresh produce wasn’t the only thing you could find at the Farmers Market [last] Saturday. Volunteers with the Get Covered America campaign were passing out flyers and letting people know that … Continue reading →

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RAND reminds us what we’re not getting

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Not expanding Medicaid is a really bad deal for Texas, and all those other states like Texas. States that choose not to expand Medicaid under federal health care reform will leave millions of their residents without health insurance and increase … Continue reading →

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The fight over domestic partnership benefits is just beginning

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Stuff like this was inevitable. Leaders of two Christian groups want City Council to stop extending benefits to domestic partners of city employees, now that the state attorney general has called the benefits unconstitutional. City officials reject the demand, at … Continue reading →

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Medicaid “expansion” likely dead

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The calendar is a harsh mistress. The House’s lead health care budget writer says his bill to force Gov. Rick Perry’s administration to explore the potential for a “Texas solution” on Medicaid expansion is dead. Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, said … Continue reading →

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Hotze sues Obamacare

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

You would think that once the Supreme Court ruled that the Affordable Care Act was constitutional that that would settle things, but then you would not be Steve Hotze. Steve Hotze, a Houston-area physician and major Republican campaign donor who … Continue reading →

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Cities generally ignore Abbott’s domestic partnership opinion

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. Attorney General Greg Abbott’s opinion [last] week, while not binding, is the latest of several challenges to same-sex benefits across the country that so far have had mixed results in the courts and prompted changes after officials … Continue reading →

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If Medicaid is broken, who broke it?

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Patricia Kilday Hart asks an excellent question. [Rep. Garnet] Coleman’s observation provides part of the answer: Just last session, the Legislature trimmed $486 million in state money paid to Medicaid providers, and ended a student loan-forgiveness program for new doctors … Continue reading →

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