After the resignation of Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price amid scandal, President Trump announced his replacement pick, Alex M. Azar. Most recently an executive at Eli Lilly, Azar is a lawyer and former Deputy HHS Secretary under President George W. Bush. Azar needs to be confirmed by the Senate; he was unanimously...
Category: News Posts
Insurance Coverage Sign-ups Surge After Open Enrollment Begins
President Trump slashed outreach and enrollment funding and ended cost-sharing reduction payments to disrupt the Exchange. Open Enrollment began on November 1 and enrollment has surged across the country. Over 600,000 people selected a plan through HealthCare.gov, the federal marketplace, in the first week of Open Enrollment. In Washington’s Exchange, website traffic on Washington HealthPlanFinder...
Immigration and Health Care Breakfast Briefing Draws Early Risers
NoHLA hosted a breakfast briefing featuring our Executive Director, Janet Varon, and special guest, Jorge L. Baron, Executive Director of Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. Jorge focused on the policy changes facing immigrants and highlighted a few local patient stories, and Janet followed with a discussion about the impact of these changes on health care access....
New Resource on Immigrants and Health Care Access
In conjunction with the breakfast briefing last week, NoHLA teamed up with Northwest Justice Project to publish a new resource, Responding to Immigrants’ and Refugees’ Fears about Health Care. Designed for advocates, lawyers, providers and immigrants themselves, our new publication provides information on the current legal landscape and links to variety of detailed resource materials.
Attacks on Health Care Keep on Coming!
The Senate Republicans are again attacking the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This week, they added a new provision to their tax bill repealing the requirement that everyone have insurance. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects this would increase the number of uninsured by 13 million in a decade, inflate premiums by 10% and reduce Medicaid...
Trump Cost Sharing Reduction Payment Decision Causes Higher Premiums and Federal Deficit
A lawsuit from 18 states will move forward challenging the elimination of cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments. However, the judge denied the states’ request to require the federal government to continue making payments, finding there was insufficient evidence of immediate and irreparable harm to states and consumers. The elimination of CSR payments will primarily impact Exchange...
Competing Affordable Care Act (ACA) “Fixes”
Senator Mitch McConnell is holding off action on the Alexander-Murray bipartisan deal while waiting for a commitment from President Trump that he would approve. The legislation was announced two weeks ago and would fund the cost-sharing reductions and partially restore outreach and enrollment funding for two years, while also removing restrictions on the sale of...