Charles Gaba's blog

In February, I wrote about how the state of Georgia, in an eyebrow-raising move, announced that they were moving from the federal ACA exchange (HealthCare.Gov) onto their own state-based ACA exchange.

While numerous other states have already done the same thing (and several more are in the process of doing so as well), Georgia's move to their own enrollment platform was especially noteworthy for two reasons:

First, because it represents as complete 180-degree turn from their prior attempts (over the course of several years) to eliminate any formal ACA exchange (federal or state-based) in favor of outsourcing it to private insurance carriers & 3rd-party web brokers.

Secondly, because of the timeframe involved:

My ongoing Braidwood v. Becerra post has grown so long and has had so many updates that it was becoming unwieldy, so I started a new post.

Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President Cynthia Cox posted a thread on Twitter yesterday which gives an brief overview of which of the preventative services required to be covered at no cost to the enrollee by the Affordable Care Act are actually threatened by yesterday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor.

Before I get to that, it's important to clarify where the list of services comes from. Again, via the Kaiser Family Foundation:

4/01/23: See important update at bottom.

Back in early February, I wrote:

If this was any other state besides Georgia--even any other GOP-controlled state--I'd say good for them since it would presumably just mean that they were the latest state to move to their own state-based exchange (which is how the ACA was originally envisioned anyway).

This would give them the ability to hook the SBM into their state databases for auto-enrolling residents receiving SNAP benefits/etc into $0-premium coverage, or to integrate supplemental subsidies as nearly a dozen states do today, and so forth. There's several upsides to moving to an SBM, up to & including reducing the user fees (although those have been significantly reduced on the federal exchange in recent years anyway).

 

Just one step away...

Via Huffington Post:

Idaho already has some of the most extreme abortion restrictions on the books, with nearly all abortions banned in the state and an affirmative defense law that essentially asserts any doctor who provides an abortion is guilty until proven innocent. And now Idaho Republicans have set their sights on hindering certain residents from traveling out of state to get an abortion.

Not sure how I missed this story a few weeks back, but it's causing quite a fuss in DC for obvious reasons. Via NBC Washington:

More than 56,000 customers were impacted by the DC Health Link data breach, the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority revealed Friday.

The data fields compromised were name, Social Security number, birthdate, gender, health plan information, employer information and enrollee information – address, email, phone number, race, ethnicity and citizenship status.

Some 11,000 of the exchange’s more than 100,000 participants work in the House and Senate — in the nation's capital and district offices across the nation — or are relatives.

via Access Health CT:

Agencies share plan to address HUSKY Health eligibility, redeterminations and enrollment actions

HARTFORD, CT (March 27, 2023) — The Department of Social Services (DSS) and Access Health CT (AHCT) today shared a comprehensive 12-month operational and outreach plan to redetermine eligibility for HUSKY Health enrollees and resume routine public program operations. HUSKY Health is Connecticut’s Medicaid program.

Prior to the pandemic, annual redeterminations of eligibility for the Medicaid program occurred on a monthly basis during the year and terminations were processed for individuals no longer eligible for the program. During the pandemic, the termination process was paused. The federal government passed legislation, known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, that now requires the monthly redeterminations to begin again as of March 31.

via Nevada Health Link:

An estimated 200,000 Nevadans may be redetermined ineligible for Medicaid benefits over the next 14 months, but NevadaHealthLink.com has options to keep them insured

(CARSON CITY, Nev.) – Starting April 1, all Nevadans on Medicaid will start to have their accounts redetermined on an annual basis for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, causing many Nevadans to potentially lose their health care coverage. Nevada Health Link is helping to coordinate the transfer of qualifying applications to NevadaHealthLink.com to ensure Nevadans stay covered.

via Melanie Mason of the L.A. Times:

A new bill introduced in the California state Senate aims to lay the groundwork for a state universal healthcare system, proposing an incremental approach that departs from recent sweeping, and unsuccessful, efforts to reshape how Californians receive care.

Under the measure by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), California would begin the process of seeking a waiver from the federal government to allow Medicaid and Medicare funds to be used for a first-in-the-nation single-payer healthcare system.

“In the wake of COVID-19’s devastation, and as costs for working people have skyrocketed, the need to provide affordable healthcare to all Californians has never been greater,” Wiener said in a statement. He touted his measure as making “tangible steps on a concrete timeline toward achieving universal and more affordable healthcare in California.”

via Covered California:

La versión en español de este Comunicado puede ser descargada en este enlace. 

WASHINGTON, DC — President Joe Biden invited Covered California’s Executive Director Jessica Altman and other health leaders from across the country to the White House to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. The landmark law, which has helped provide quality health care coverage for more than 40 million Americans, represents the most significant improvement to our nation’s health care system since the passage of Medicaid and Medicare more than five decades ago.

“All Americans deserve the peace of mind that if an illness strikes or an accident occurs you can get the care you need,” President Biden said. “The Affordable Care Act has been law for 13 years; it has developed deep roots in this country and become a critical part of providing health care and saving lives.”

via Nevada Health Link:

Nevada Health Link Celebrates the 13th Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act

  • Over 800,000 Nevadans have enrolled in affordable health coverage thanks to the ACA and Nevada Health Link’s ongoing community partnerships and outreach initiatives

(CARSON CITY, Nev.) – Nevada Health Link commemorates 13 years since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The ACA is credited for the creation and ongoing operations of Nevada Health Link, Nevada’s state agency that facilitates the sale of qualified health and dental plans. Since the inception of the ACA, Nevada Health Link has enrolled over 800,000 individuals to get connected to budget-appropriate health coverage through the online health insurance marketplace, NevadaHealthLink.com.

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