The Affordable Care Act’s future is uncertain and there’s no end in sight to the pandemic. Still, the 2021 insurance year is marked by stability.
Relentlessly knocked around by politics and now headed again to the Supreme Court, the ACA is covering millions who have lost their jobs during the pandemic. But not everyone.
The help is real — but access to it isn’t easy.
A new poll finds 71% of Latino households in Los Angeles County experienced serious financial problems because of the coronavirus.
Many actors, directors, backstage workers and others in the entertainment industry are often eligible for health coverage through their unions, a model that some experts promote for other gig workers. But coverage is determined by past employment, and many of these professionals aren’t working because of the coronavirus.
We’re off this week, but the Affordable Care Act is in the news, as the GOP holds its virtual convention and the Supreme Court recently scheduled arguments in a case challenging the law. So we’re reposting our ACA 10th anniversary episode from March. For this special episode of “What the Health?” host Julie Rovner interviews Kathleen Sebelius, who was President Barack Obama’s secretary of Health and Human Services when the law was passed. Then Rovner, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Mary Agnes Carey of KHN discuss the law’s history, impact and prospects for the future.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey are leaving the federal marketplace this fall to save money and will start their own insurance exchanges. Kentucky, New Mexico, Virginia and Maine are looking to join them in 2021 or beyond.
During the pandemic, nearly 700,000 additional Texans have lost health insurance. The Lone Star State already had more uninsured people than any other. It has given people with COVID symptoms pause before seeking medical care.
Under the federal COBRA law, people who lose health coverage because of a layoff or a reduction in their hours generally have 60 days to decide whether to pay to maintain that coverage. But under new regulations, the clock won’t start ticking until the government says the coronavirus national emergency is over, and then consumers will have 120 days to act.
The National Cancer Institute plans to launch a multisite study next year involving roughly 5,000 women to assess whether self-sampling at home for the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer is comparable to screening in a doctor’s office.