Cost sharing reductions (CSRs) are subsidies offered by health plans under the ACA to consumers who have a household income below 250% of the poverty line, including 70,000 Washington residents. CSRs help to limit deductibles, co-insurance and co-payments for low-income enrollees. Insurance companies pay these costs and are currently reimbursed by the federal government. But...
As we’ve said before, there is a great deal the Trump Administration can do to change health programs without Congress repealing or changing the Affordable Care Act. Last week, HHS adopted a final rule aimed at stabilizing the health insurance marketplaces that were set up by the ACA. Some of the most alarming impacts of...
Huma Zarif is a Staff Attorney at Northwest Health Law Advocates (NoHLA). She graduated from University of California, Hastings College of the Law with a concentration in Health Law. Prior to law school, Huma worked as a social worker for over eight years, including at Harborview and Swedish Medical Centers. She obtained both her Bachelor in...
As Congress is in recess from now until April 21st, this is a good time to catch up on what’s happening and make your voice heard. Here’s a summary of what’s been happening and what we can expect to happen next from Community Catalyst: What’s Happened So Far? In early January, Congress passed a budget resolution...
NoHLA’s Third Legislative Update In Olympia, legislators are considering many bills related to health care access. See NoHLA’s Legislative Update #3– a chart of these bills and their statuses (as of 3/29/2017) with links to detailed information. Comparing the House and Senate Budgets The Senate and House have passed their budgets and must now reach...
Obamacare is the Law of the Land…For Now On Friday, March 24, the American Health Care Act (AHCA) was removed from the House floor resulting in a failure to vote. Although Republicans have voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) more than 60 times, this was the first time they presented a detailed proposal...
What would AHCA mean for Washington? Washington has fully implemented and reaped the benefits of the ACA, decreasing the uninsured rate by 60%. Now, less than 6% of our residents are uninsured. If we switch to the AHCA, the uninsured rate will be higher than it was before the ACA. Governor Jay Inslee and Insurance...