health care

Obamacare Helped The Homeless, Who Now Worry About Coverage Repeal

11:41am February 07, 2017

by Pam Fessler

Among those who benefited from Obamacare are many homeless people who were able to get Medicaid for the first time. Some are worried about what a repeal of the Affordable Care Act could mean.

Queue Listen Now

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., seen here with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., at a Jan. 18 hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, says he'd like to see the individual insurance market fixed before repealing Obamacare.

Trump, GOP Lawmakers Back Off From Immediate Obamacare Repeal

2:57pm February 06, 2017

by Alison Kodjak

Both are now saying it's going to take time to come up with a replacement for the Affordable Care Act. Figure at least a year, the president said Sunday.

Maureen O'Connell leads an insurance talk in St. Paul, Minn., in 2013 to help attendees understand how the federal health law could affect them.

Minnesota Moves To Shore Up Health Insurance Market

12:26pm February 06, 2017

by Mark Zdechlik

The Minnesota Legislature passed a bailout to make coverage under the Affordable Care Act more affordable, rejected an option for bare-bones insurance and is floating a state-sponsored public option.

Republicans Consider Restoring High-Risk Pools In Obamacare Replacement

6:34pm February 03, 2017

Republicans are working on plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. One of the possibilities that has been put forward, reinstating high-risk pools. NPR's Audie Cornish talked to Ryan Burt, who's been involved with high-risk pools for 25 years and helped establish Minnesota's high-risk pool, one of the oldest and most highly regarded high-risk pool programs in the country.

Queue Listen Now

With Congress vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, health insurance executives are looking at a very uncertain future. And they don't like uncertainty.

Health Insurers Say They Don't Want To Go Back To Being The Bad Guys

6:34pm February 03, 2017

by NPR Staff

Researchers asked health insurance executives what worries them most about Republican plans to repeal and replace Obamacare. They said incentives to keep healthy people enrolled need to be stronger.

Queue Listen Now

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has long promoted what he calls his "Better Way Plan" to replace the Affordable Care Act. But Republicans in Congress have yet to coalesce around any of several approaches to replacement.

Employers Fear GOP Health Overhaul Could Damage Job-Based Insurance

5:00am February 03, 2017

by Jay Hancock

Large companies in particular — those that have always offered job-based medical coverage — say a poorly thought-out replacement might turn out to be worse for them and their workers.

Health Savings Accounts Are Back In The Policy Spotlight

1:12pm February 02, 2017

by Julie Appleby

Republicans hope to expand the use of health savings accounts to encourage consumers to be more judicious in using their coverage. How do the accounts work?

Under the old rules, the CDC's authority was primarily limited to detaining travelers entering the U.S. or crossing state lines. With the new rules, the CDC would be able to detain people anywhere in the country, without getting approval from state and lo

CDC Seeks Controversial New Quarantine Powers To Stop Outbreaks

7:53am February 02, 2017

by Rob Stein

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants more flexibility in deciding whom to quarantine and why. But critics say the changes the agency has proposed raise civil liberties questions.

Queue Listen Now

As Indiana Governor, Mike Pence announced in 2015 that the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved a waiver for the state's Medicaid experiment.

Indiana Looks To Extend Medicaid Experiment Started Under Obamacare

9:57am February 01, 2017

by Phil Galewitz

The home state of Vice President Mike Pence has asked the federal government to approve an extension of its carrot-and-stick approach to Medicaid that was made possible by the Affordable Care Act.

Rep. Tom Price, President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, has criticized a task force of medical experts whose recommendations guide health screening and disease prevention.

HHS Nominee Tom Price Targeted Panel That Urged Fewer Cancer Screenings

8:24am February 01, 2017

by Marshall Allen

After an influential task force of experts said evidence didn't support some cancer screenings, it became the target of lawmakers, including Rep. Tom Price and others with health industry ties.