How Buying Insurance Will Change Under Obamacare September 24, 2013 Perspective When the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) health insurance marketplaces (also known as “exchanges”) go online this October, millions of people are expected to apply for private insurance coverage. Nobody expects the launch will be perfect, with no hitches and problems. The law not only replaces a fragmented and confusing assortment…
Persistent Vaccine Myths May 26, 2021 Perspective With news that the country has now vaccinated half of its population with at least one dose, This Drew Altman Axios column highlights the persistent COVID-19 vaccine myths that are believed by a substantial portion of the unvaccinated population and discusses the options to address vaccine misinformation.
Medicare at 60: A Popular Program Facing Challenges July 10, 2025 Perspective In this article in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, KFF’s Tricia Neuman, Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek and Juliette Cubanski examine three isssues facing Medicare’s future: privatization, affordability and spending/financing.
Remember the People Outside of the Exchanges July 22, 2011 Perspective There has been a substantial amount of focus on the recently released draft regulations governing state-based health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). And that’s appropriate, since the exchanges have the important roles under reform of providing consumers with easier access to insurance and facilitating tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies…
The Uncertain Future of Policies to Promote Access and Affordability Put in Place During the COVID-19 Pandemic May 19, 2022 Perspective In this column for the JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt highlights four changes implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic that helped to make health care more accessible and affordable and the prospects for those changes to telehealth, COVID-19 coverage, Medicaid and marketplace premiums continuing beyond the pandemic’s end.
JAMA Forum: The Health Care Law that Continues to Escape Death November 20, 2017 Perspective In this November 2017 post for The JAMA Forum, Larry Levitt reviews the status of the Affordable Care Act following actions by the Trump administration widely perceived as designed to undermine the marketplaces. Despite assertions to the contrary, Levitt finds, “at least for now, the ACA seems very much alive.”
The Politics of ACA Rate Hikes Will Be 2016 in Reverse April 4, 2018 Perspective Democrats are expected to turn the tables and attack Republicans for rising premiums and sabotaging the Affordable Care Act. In his Axios column, Drew Altman discusses a balancing act they face which has not received attention: score political points, but run the risk of a new debate scaring the broader public and undermining the ACA by focusing on its continuing problems.
Yes, the Trump administration promotes consumer choice — for healthy people May 1, 2018 Perspective In this Washington Post op-ed column, Karen Pollitz examines how the Trump Administration’s efforts to promote coverage through short-term health insurance policies, rather than Affordable Care Act coverage, creates trade offs for consumers.
Get Ready for a Lot of Biden Executive Orders on Health Care January 7, 2021 Perspective In this column for the JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt explores what President-elect Biden might do to advance his health care vision both through legislation and through executive orders and waivers and demonstrations.
The Language of Health Care Reform January 19, 2021 Perspective Published in the Jan. 19 edition of JAMA, this article from KFF Executive Vice President for Health Policy Larry Levitt lays out the major health policy challenges that will confront President-elect Biden and potential approaches to major reform. While a big reform debate may not be likely this year, one…