Who is Responsible for Failure of Affordorable Care Act?

Obama with Officials

Medical Healthcare insurance is backbone of US. From past decades we have seen lots of changes in Healthcare Laws and many Healthcare Reforms were made in order to maintain sustainability of Healthcare Insurance. After becoming President of United States US President Barack Obama kept his focus towards growth of country. Obama introduces Obama-care for US people as Healthcare reform.

But insurance provider from the time Obama-care was introduced were against that and they kept saying that the these changes would disrupt coverage and increase premium for consumers.
Many insurance industry officials and state insurance commissioners expressed their frustration on Friday by saying that they were confused by President Barack Obama's assertion that the cancellation of millions of insurance policies occurred because a key provision of the Affordable Care Act didn't work as expected.

Many of don't know but there is widespread cancellation of policies in individual health insurance market roughly 5 million and counting. This is not only for Individual Medical Healthcare insurance policies cancellation but cancellations are occurring in the small group market also which covers businesses with between two and 50 employees.Medical Healthcare Insurance

Health Insurance Provides were saying this for years that the requirements in the law were going to mean that people couldn't keep their plans and they were  going to have to purchase coverage that was more expensive. And now everything said is coming true and people are acting as surprised.

The President is now accepting responsibility for Obama-care's dramatic roll down at new Conference. He repeated his pledge that " If you like your insurance, you can keep it."
Questions raised why he continued to say that when estimates from his own administration suggested millions of Americans would not be able to keep their insurance. For this Obama replied "There is no doubt that the way I put that forward unequivocally ended up not being accurate. It was because of my intention not to deliver on that commitment and that promise. We put a Grandfather clause into the law but it was insufficient.

So Mr. President proposed a solution that he directed to Healthcare insurance providers to keep on selling plans that don't comply with Obama-care for one more year.

This said Medical Healthcare Insurance Commissioners from California, Florida , Kentucky and North Carolina said they would move quickly to implement the President;s request. Many Healthcare Insurance Providers officials suggested this move is too late in the game to change the rules.

I don't know how successful will be Mr. President but I am sure after this failure he is going to learn new lesson for betterment's of People. 

Shorter Form for Medical Healthcare Insurance

Banks and  lenders have made efforts in simplifying their disclosure forms so consumers can more easily understand the types of fees and terms they are getting.

This time federal officials are trying to do something different. US health officials are trying to reduce the number of paper necessary for people to apply for coverage under the new health insurance marketplaces, or exchanges, that are to begin operating this season. The exchanges are part of the Affordable Care Act.

Previously the form from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was a 21-page booklet that would have taken an estimated 45 minutes to complete.

After long efforts of consumer advocates that form which needs to be filled up was too overwhelming for most of people, the government introduced shorter versions. The form for individuals who aren’t offered insurance by their employer is now three pages, while the form for families is 12 pages.

The nonprofit group aims to educate consumers about the new law and help them obtain coverage.

But Kaiser Health News questioned whether the forms were actually simpler, or just shorter. The form for families, for instance, previously had pages to list health information for six separate family members. Now, the news service says, the form just has space for two people. So if your family is larger, you’ll have to make photocopies of the page for the additional members.

The forms can be submitted beginning Oct. 1, according to the agency. Consumers can fill out the application on paper, over the phone or online. The online version should take less time, according to the centers, because it will eliminate some questions based on the applicant’s responses.

What do you think of the new forms? Do you plan to apply for coverage through the new marketplaces? Leave your thoughts via Comments or via mail we will discuss this and try to pass on same to law makers.

US Healthcare - Trends 2013

In Previous year 2012 lot many things happened in U.S. health insurance industry. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) continued to charge ahead despite widespread controversies including a ruling by the Supreme Court and became charged with a fresh line of life when President Obama won his second term in office.

Last year we witnessed the rise of private health exchanges, payer-provider mergers, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), 2013 is now poised to see some important developments and new trends in the U.S. healthcare sector. Some of the landmark changes that are sure to gain dominance in 2013 include:


1. The Year of the State Health Insurance Exchanges – Although the ACA has declared January 1, 2014 as the official Go-Live date for state health insurance exchanges, both state and federal exchanges are expected to open for public enrollment in the last quarter of 2013. As current controversies and conflicts around health exchanges spill into 2013, exchanges are expected to remain the hot topic of debate throughout the year.

2. Increased Measures to reduce Healthcare Costs – Lot many Federal programs such as “Pay-for-Performance” and Medicare’s “Hospital Re admissions Reduction Program” sought to reduce healthcare costs in 2012 through improved efficiency and quality in administered care. With healthcare costs reigning at the top of the industry’s primary challenges, 2013 will likely yield stringent measures aimed at restraining growth in healthcare costs.

3. Growth in Private Health Insurance Exchanges – Private health insurance exchanges is gaining popularity in group markets, providing visible advantages such as increased flexibility in health coverage and higher predictability in costs as compared to ACA-mandated public exchanges that are still shrouded in uncertainties. Increased employer demand for Defined-Contribution Plans led to the launch of several private health insurance exchanges in 2012, with the trend expected to continue strong into 2013.

4. Surge in Employer-sponsored Wellness Services – With employers’ healthcare costs sky rocketing at alarming rates, employee wellness programs have been pushed to the forefront of health benefits. As employee engagement gains unprecedented popularity, insurance carriers and wellness providers are adapting their health benefit portfolios to encourage healthy lifestyles among employees.

Despite several nerve-racking events, President Obama’s healthcare law survived last year. As we step forward into 2013, the U.S. healthcare industry is expected to become fraught with increased activity as federal and state exchanges gradually emerge onto the U.S. landscape, private exchanges gain ground in group markets, Medicare and Medicaid receive an overhaul, and consumers get acquainted with the new, digital way of purchasing their health insurance.

The U.S. healthcare industry’s journey through 2013 will be a sight to watch as trends continue to emerge.

US Health Care Law

In US Health Care Law plays very important role . These are the laws passed or you can say approved by federal government to make Medical Healthcare/ Healthcare Insurance market work better for individuals , families, students , retired persons , old peoples . Almost covering each and every human being present in country .

As per new Health Care Law in US it protects consumers against worst insurance practices. After New US Health care law health insurance protections for all Americans moves forward. As per new Healthcare law in US issued they implemented five key consumer protections from the Affordable Care Act and makes the health care insurance market better for individuals, families and small businesses.

As per Secretary Kathleen Sebelius " being sick will no longer keep you ,your family or your employees from being able to get affordable health coverage".

As per these reforms all individuals and employees have the right to purchase health insurance coverage regardless of their health status.  In addition, insurers are prevented from charging discriminatory rates to individuals and small employers based on factors such as health status or gender, and young adults have additional affordable coverage options under catastrophic plans.

This final rule implements five key provisions of the Affordable Care Act that are applicable to non-grandfathered health plans:

Guaranteed Availability
Nearly all health insurance companies offering coverage to individuals and employers will be required to sell health insurance policies to all consumers. No one can be denied health insurance because they have or had an illness.

Fair Health Insurance Premiums
Health insurance companies offering coverage to individuals and small employers will only be allowed to vary premiums based on age, tobacco use, family size, and geography.  Basing premiums on other factors will be illegal.  The factors that are no longer permitted in 2014 include health status, past insurance claims, gender, occupation, how long an individual has held a policy, or size of the small employer.

Guaranteed Renewability
Health insurance companies will no longer refuse to renew coverage because an individual or an employee has become sick.  You may renew your coverage at your option.

Single Risk Pool
Health insurance companies will no longer be able to charge higher premiums to higher cost enrollees by moving them into separate risk pools.  Insurers are required to maintain a single state-wide risk pool for the individual market and single state-wide risk pool for the small group market.

Catastrophic Plans
Young adults and people for whom coverage would otherwise be unaffordable will have access to a catastrophic plan in the individual market.  Catastrophic plans generally will have lower premiums, protect against high out-of-pocket costs, and cover recommended preventive services without cost sharing.

In preparation for the market changes in 2014 and to streamline data collection for insurers and states, the final rule amends certain provisions of the rate review program.  And, HHS has increased the transparency by directing insurance companies in every state to report on all rate increase requests.   A new report has found that the law’s transparency provisions have already resulted in a decline in double-digit premium increases filed: from 75 percent in 2010 to, according to preliminary data, 14 percent in 2013.

In addition, U.S. Department of Labor announced an interim final rule in the Federal Register that provides protection to employees against retaliation by an employer for reporting alleged violations of Title I of the Act or for receiving a tax credit or cost-sharing reduction as a result of participating in a Health Insurance Exchange, or Marketplace