COVID-19 & Healthcare

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Five health insurers have filed their rate plans with the Arizona Department of Insurance for the Marketplace health insurance exchange beginning October 1. More information will become available in the coming weeks, but for now here is the report from the Arizona Republic. 5 health insurers outline rates for Arizonans under Affordable Care Act:

Paperwork filed by five major health insurers gives Arizona its first
glimpse of how much the Affordable Care Act will cost consumers when
they begin shopping for mandatory coverage next month.

Plans
submitted to the Arizona Department of Insurance signal that average
monthly rates will range from $225 to $334 when insurance marketplaces
launch Oct.1. Filing rate plans were Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Arizona, Cigna, Health Net and Meritus, formerly called Compass Health
Cooperative.

The documents suggest Arizona consumers will be able
to choose from a variety of plans and rates during the six-month
enrollment period, with monthly premiums that will range from less than
$100 to more than $1,700. Those rates are before federal, sliding-scale
subsidies kick in for consumers who earn up to 400 percent of the
federal poverty level.

[See Subsidy Calculator | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.]

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Another conservative media entertainment complex "Obama Scare" meme bites the dust. Federal health officials announced Tuesday they have completed the “data hub,” a
complex system that will verify people’s Social Security numbers,
immigration status and other information when they log on to government
Web sites to buy health insurance plans and apply for government subsidies. Obamacare’s
data hub network to be ready, say officials:

The milestone is a significant victory for the administration, which
is battling growing skepticism that it will be ready Oct. 1, when people
are supposed to be able to start signing up for health plans under the
law, commonly called Obamacare. For months, officials have faced questions about whether the computer systems, which are exceedingly complex, would be up and running in time.

A
government watchdog warned this month that a critical security test for
the data hub had been delayed and was not scheduled to be completed
until Sept. 30. But on Tuesday, officials said they managed to finish
that testing on time Friday, calling it a major turning point.

“After over two years of work, [the hub] is built and ready for
operation, and we have completed security testing and certification to
operate,” said Todd Park, chief technology officer of the United States.
“This is an important step in being ready for open enrollment on Oct.
1.”

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: There are a number of words one can use in word association with Frank Antenori, but I'm going with "failure." Once again, Frank Antenori has failed to deliver on one of angry threats. The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Medicaid expansion foes short of sigs to block law: Opponents of a … Read more

by David Safier

Want to know how much you, or anyone else, will pay for Obamacare premiums? Here's a great calculator from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has been putting together lots of terrific information about how the new health care system will work. The actual cost of the health care is approximate because it will vary state by state, but the government subsidy a person or a family can get should be pretty accurate.

Say you're a family of 4, with two 30-something non-smoking adults and two kids, and you make $30,000 a year. If you're in Arizona or some other state that expanded Medicaid coverage (Thank you, Governor Brewer), you're covered. Without the Medicaid expansion, you could still get the lowest coverage, the Bronze plan, for free. The next level, the Silver plan, would cost about $600 a year, or $50 a month. Either way, you can't be denied for preexisting condidtions. That's as opposed to an estimated cost of $10,829 without the subsidy — assuming you have no preexisting conditions that would make it impossible to get coverage. If the same family makes $40,000 a year, the Silver plan would run about $2,000 — that's $167 per month — or you could get the Bronze plan for $112 per year, or just under $10 a month.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Andrea Witte from Connect The Dots will be doing two live presentations of the latest version of  “The American Healthcare Crazy Quilt”: WHEN: Saturday, Sept 14th, 9:30 am to 11:00 am WHERE: Bear Canyon Library, large meeting room                  8959 E Tanque Verde Rd (near Bear Canyon … Read more