Medicare for All proposals have gained steam this year as more and more Democrats throw in their support. The most recent endorsement came from President Barack Obama, who called it a “good new idea.” But Republicans now claim that Medicare for All will instead take health care away from senior citizens(!). Political ads with pro-Medicare...

The new trend of work requirements for Medicaid is troubling. The LA Times’ Michael Hiltzik began an article about the recent news out of Arkansas this way: The Republican project to turn Medicaid from a healthcare program into an obstacle course for the most vulnerable members of society has passed its first proof-of-concept test: Arkansas...

The upcoming mid-term elections are a big deal because they will determine control of Congress and the legislative agenda for the remainder of the Trump Administration. But while the Republicans were focused on repeal and replace of the ACA and Trump was making decisions with health care market impacts, consumers faced higher health care costs...

The good news this week is that Senator McConnell indicated the Senate has no plan to repeal the ACA again soon, despite a likely “yea” vote from newly-(re)minted Senator Jon Kyl who stepped in to temporarily fill Senator John McCain’s shoes. The bad news is that the ACA and over 130 million people with pre-existing...

Judge Brett Kavanaugh was in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hot seat last week. The Supreme Court confirmation hearings were intense with protesters and leaked confidential (or at least recently “committee confidential”) information to The New York Times and the general public. Public opinion remains divided – with 38% supporting and 39% opposing his confirmation. The...

Advocates continue to expect the Trump administration to issue proposed “public charge” rules. A leaked draft earlier this year changes the definition of when a legal immigrant (and their families) are considered a “public charge” to the government—impacting their qualification for permanent resident status. But even without proposed rules, fear within the immigrant community is...

The current threats to our health care are multi-fold. Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, has the potential to undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and important health care consumer protections. His judicial record leads people to be concerned about a potential demise of the right to safe, legal abortion, and the ACA. He has...

The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) filed a lawsuit last week challenging the onerous work requirements approved for the Arkansas Medicaid program. They profiled the three Arkansas Medicaid enrollees the lawsuit was filed on behalf of, including Charles Gresham, who suffers from seizures, anxiety disorder and asthma. Mr. Gresham looks for work but has limited...

The Administration issued final rules on short-term junk insurance plans, extending the maximum length of coverage from three to 12 months. The final rule also allows insurers to extend or renew coverage for up to 36 months (which was not included in the proposed rule). New plans could be available as soon as October 2018,...

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington recently reversed their blanket policy excluding breast augmentation as a treatment for gender dysphoria, the clinical diagnosis for transgender men and women. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner found that the policy discriminated against transgender women since chest reconstruction for transgender men and cisgender women following mastectomy would be...