‘Silver loading’ to continue in ’19

Federal officials will not block insurance companies from again using a workaround to cushion a steep rise in health premiums caused by President Trump's cancellation of a program established under the Affordable Care Act, HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced. The technique -- called "silver loading" because it pushed price increases onto the silver-level plans in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces -- was used by many states for 2018 ... (More)

Calif. seeks undocumented waiver

California's governor has signed into law a plan that could clear the way for undocumented people to access the state's Obamacare exchange. The legislation, from state Sen. Ricardo Lara, left, directs the secretary of California Health and Human Services to seek a waiver from the federal government to sell health insurance plans to illegal aliens. They would not receive state subsidies for buying the insurance, however. Policies ... (More)

20 mil insured under Obamacare

An estimated 20 million U.S. adults have benefited from "gains in health insurance" since enactment of the Affordable Care Act six years ago, the government says. The uninsured rate for adults (ages 18 to 64) fell by 43 percent between October 2013 and early 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services said March 3. It cited a "dramatic and steady decline in the uninsured rate." "This is the lowest rate of uninsured we've ... (More)

Covered Cal welcomes 238,000

More than 238,000 new consumers have enrolled for private health care insurance via Covered California, officials say. The report comes as the third Obamacare enrollment period enters its final month. In addition, more than 124,000 Covered California consumers signed up for optional family dental coverage, which is new this signup period. The figures are of Jan. 2. Meanwhile, the federal government said 11.3 million have ... (More)

9.9 million get 2015 Obamacare

About 9.9 million people continued with their healthcare insurance via the Affordable Care Act as of the end of June, the federal government said. California had the largest state enrollment, just under 1.4 million. Florida was next with roughly 1.3 million. The 9.9 million was down from 10.2 million reported at the end of the first quarter. The quarterly numbers were reported Sept. 9 by the federal Centers for Medicare and ... (More)