Healthcare & Policy News

After nearly two years in operation and millions of dollars spent in development, the small business health insurance exchange created by the Affordable Care Act is struggling to catch on. Nationally, about 85,000 people, from 11,000 small businesses, have coverage through the online marketplace known as the Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, according to…

A 12th Obamacare co-op has decided to close its doors after receiving more than $71 million in taxpayer-funded loans and enrolling more than 25,000 consumers in health insurance. Consumers Mutual Insurance of Michigan and the state Department of Insurance and Financial Services announced their decision to wind down the co-op’s operations last week, bringing the…

It’s open enrollment season for Obamacare, and two pro-life groups want to make sure consumers seeking health insurance know which plans cover elective abortion. ObamacareAbortion.com, a joint project of the Family Research Council and the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the Susan B. Anthony List, was launched in November of 2014 to help consumers…

Before 11 of the 23 nonprofit insurers created under Obamacare announced they would be closing their doors, the top executives running their operations raked in large sums of money. According to 2013 tax filings accessed through Guidestar.org, the top executives at the 11 co-ops that have announced they will be winding down operations made an…

Federal health officials need to “provide a complete accounting” of what led to the failures of a dozen Obamacare co-operatives,  Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebr., said today in testimony before a House subcommittee. The co-ops, nonprofit insurance companies, were created under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, to sell insurance plans to consumers seeking health coverage….

Republicans retained control of the Virginia Senate in a closely watched election Tuesday, preventing the Democrat governor from pursuing an expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare. “We had a great night,” Bill McCollum, chairman of the Republican State Leadership Committee, said during a conference call with reporters Wednesday, citing the party’s victories in Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and…

A top official with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services explained today why 11 nonprofit insurance companies created under Obamacare have shut their doors, leaving more than 690,000 Americans to purchase new insurance. During testimony before the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, Mandy Cohen, chief operating officer of the Centers for Medicare and…

The nation’s only Catholic ministry to share health care costs expects to get a membership boost out of the latest Obamacare open enrollment period, which runs through January. CMF CURO, a subsidiary of the nonprofit Christ Medicus Foundation, currently has roughly 1,250 members in 46 states and Washington, D.C. “It’s so important to have this…

The chairmen of two Senate committees are questioning the Obama administration on the struggles of nonprofit insurance companies created under Obamacare that have received $2.5 billion in taxpayer-backed loans. In a letter to acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Andy Slavitt, Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Lamar Alexander of…

In a report on Sunday’s edition of “Full Measure,” Sharyl Attkisson and Scott Thuman examine the growing number of Obamacare co-op failures. With 11 of the 23 co-ops now collapsing, the story examines the real-life consequences for those who counted on them for health insurance. >>> “Full Measure” Airs Sundays on 162 Sinclair Stations. Find…

Two days before the start of Obamacare’s open enrollment period, a nonprofit health insurance provider located in Arizona announced that it would be closing its doors, leaving more than 56,000 consumers to purchase new insurance plans. On Friday, the Arizona Department of Insurance announced that Meritus Health Partners is winding down its operations and will…

Two conservative lawmakers are accusing Republican leaders of using an accounting gimmick in their budget deal—a “trick” that mimics a tactic Democrats employed to pass Obamacare. Sen. Jeff Sessions and Rep. Mo Brooks call it a practice in double-counting to produce a better budget score. Democrats did the same thing with the Affordable Care Act…

A preliminary look at 2016 Obamacare shows that consumers on the federal health exchanges will have differing experiences. The Obama administration has announced that the average benchmark premium rate increase for the coming year will be 7.5 percent for the 37 states using the federal HealthCare.gov platform, but rates vary widely from state to state….

A 10th co-op created under Obamacare has collapsed. Combined, the failed nonprofit insurance companies have received more than $1 billion in loans, with more than 600,000 consumers affected. The latest casualty, the Utah Insurance Department, announced yesterday that Arches Health Plan, a consumer-oriented and operated plan, or co-op, will not sell insurance in 2016. The…