Obamacare and You
The Rollout of the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, is the most significant health care overhaul in a generation. It seeks to decrease the number of people without health insurance and reform industry business practices. But the law's rollout has been marred by glitches and political opposition. ProPublica’s Charles Ornstein has been tracking its implementation.
Even After Open Enrollment, Activity Remains Unexpectedly High on Federal Health Insurance Exchange
New federal data, obtained by ProPublica under the Freedom of Information Act, shows nearly 1 million insurance transactions since mid-April.
Medicaid Programs Drowning in Backlog
With open enrollment over for private health insurance claims, states are struggling to process hundreds of thousands of Medicaid applications.
Judging Obamacare: How Do We Know If It’s a Success or Failure?
Sign-ups are supposed to formally end today, and attention is shifting from marketing to measuring whether the law is meetings its goals.
Smoking Mad: Tobacco Users Caught Up in Insurer’s Obamacare 'Glitch'
After signing up for coverage and disclosing they were smokers, about 100 New Hampshire consumers, including Terry Wetherby, find their new Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield policies canceled because they were charged incorrect “non-smoker” rates.
During Final Obamacare Push, Conservative Author Sees Little to Celebrate
Fellow at American Enterprise Institute faults steps by the Obama administration to delay parts of the Affordable Care Act, saying they amount to dismantling the program in ways that will make it harder to sustain.
Many Unanswered Questions in Obamacare Enrollment Report
The Obama administration reports a big jump in sign-ups under Affordable Care Act, but it didn’t break down how many enrollees paid their premiums, how many were previously uninsured and which plans they chose.
Obamacare’s Market Share Mystery: Will the Health Law Shake Up Insurance Leader Board?
A handful of states have released enrollment figures for insurance plans on their insurance exchanges. Those with the most sign-ups were market leaders in the days before the Affordable Care Act.
Epic Fail: Where Four State Health Exchanges Went Wrong
Oregon, Minnesota, Maryland and Massachusetts are still struggling to get back on track after a disastrous launch that makes HealthCare.gov look successful by comparison.
As the Media Gets Bored With Obamacare, Is the Public Starting to Get on Board?
The president of the Commonwealth Fund says the implementation of the act is going pretty well, all things considered. He said it will be a success if 5 million people enroll in private exchanges by March 31. The 2016 election will be the “ultimate and probably final judgment on the law,” he says.
Can’t Get Through to Your Health Insurer? Vent on Twitter
Consumers sometimes find that complaints on social media get a faster response than calls or emails.
Consumers With Canceled Insurance Plans Shifted to New Ones Without Their Permission
A California man says his insurer rolled him into a new plan and deducted money from his bank account without his approval. Insurers have promised refunds, but he hasn’t received one yet.
Journalists Turn to Themselves for Obamacare Stories
After months of hype and hysteria, insurance policies purchased under the Affordable Care Act went into effect on New Year’s Day, and journalists have largely pivoted from writing about the problems of HealthCare.gov to how the law is actually working for consumers.
Obamacare: A Midterm Report Card
The Obama administration has released enrollment statistics for the first three months. There’s much we now know, but even more that we don’t.
Stuck in Limbo With Breast Cancer as the Obamacare Deadline Looms
In New Jersey, people who believe they’ve qualified for Medicaid coverage under the health reform law might not actually be enrolled.
Deadline? What Deadline? The Obamacare Sign-up Dates Keep Moving
Confusion reigns as state and federal officials allow people to find and pay for new health insurance plans.
Obamacare Q&A: Fears of a Premium 'Death Spiral' Overstated
Kaiser Foundation expert predicts that, “What we’ll start to see in January are the real effects of the law, rather than the more hypothetical ones we’ve been talking about up until now.”
Turning the Corner? In California, At Least, Obamacare Sign-Ups Zoom
New York also sees a surge in Affordable Care Act enrollments as the deadline approaches for coverage starting Jan. 1.
The Obamacare Paper Pileup
Oregon, California and other states are clogged with backlogs of paper applications that some fear might not be approved before the Dec. 23 deadline to sign up for health insurance.
Payment Due: The Obamacare Deadline No One Is Talking About
Analysts say that excluding holidays, people enrolling in new health care plans by the Dec. 23 deadline have only a few days to pay their first premium. Missing the deadline could create a coverage gap for those converting from an old plan to a new one, or delay coverage for the uninsured.
As HealthCare.gov Rebounds, New Glitches Hit Medicaid Enrollments
Enrollees who don’t qualify for Medicaid are being told they do, and processing delays could keep some who are eligible for Medicaid out of the program in early 2014.
