Filling the need for trusted information on national health issues
President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress pursued several major efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) but were unable to get a bill through the U.S. Senate in 2017. In 2018, Congress did pass a tax bill that eliminated the ACA’s tax penalty for not obtaining health coverage beginning in 2019. The Trump Administration’s actions and decisions also have affected the ACA marketplaces and will continue to reshape how Americans get health insurance into 2019 and beyond.
For information about ACA Marketplace Open Enrollment, including fact sheets and 300+ FAQs, visit our collection of resources on Understanding Health Insurance.
This list of more than 300 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) covers the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance Marketplace (aka exchange), individual mandate, open enrollment, premiums and more. It provides answers to questions about specific groups, such as young adults, smokers, the uninsured, and non-traditional households.
On December 14, 2018, a federal trial court judge ruled that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate is unconstitutional and that the entire law should be struck down as a result. This brief considers the complex and far-reaching impact were the entire law ultimately held to be invalid.
A new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis maps rates of pre-existing conditions across 129 metropolitan and micropolitan areas in the U.S., finding that even within the same state, the prevalence of such conditions can vary substantially. For example, 34 percent of residents of Florence, South Carolina have a pre-existing condition, but…
In an expansive look at the 2018 midterm elections, this month’s KFF Health Tracking Poll includes an in-depth examination of the role health care may be playing in midterm elections nationally, as well as in Florida and Nevada, two bellwether states in which candidates from both parties are talking about health care issues. Health care remains a top priority for Democrats and independents, but ranks lower for Republicans, behind immigration and the economy and jobs. However, when it comes to specific health care issues, lowering health care costs and maintaining protections for pre-existing conditions have bipartisan support. In addition to exploring the role of health care issues in the election, the KFF Health Tracking Poll also finds large shares of voters say candidate characteristics, President Trump, and party control over Congress will be major factors in their voting decisions.
Short-term health insurance plans are able to charge premiums 54 percent lower than ACA-compliant plans, by excluding pre-existing conditions and severely limiting benefits.
In this Axios column, Drew Altman shows that employer coverage for lower wage workers is much worse than ACA marketplace coverage for similar populations. It’s a bigger problem we need to talk about more, he says.
In this Axios column, co-written with MollyAnn Brodie, Drew Altman discusses GOP voters’ more nuanced views on the health law.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides enhanced federal matching funds to states that expand Medicaid to nonelderly adults up to 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL, $17,236/year for an individual in 2019). The ACA enhanced match (93% in 2019, and 90% in 2020 and thereafter) is substantially higher than states’ traditional Medicaid matching rate. A few states have sought Section 1115 demonstration waiver authority from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to receive the substantially higher ACA enhanced match while limiting coverage to individuals at 100% FPL, instead of covering the full 138% FPL ACA group. To date, CMS has allowed states to receive the ACA enhanced Medicaid matching funds only if the entire expansion group is covered. CMS has not approved waiver requests seeking enhanced ACA matching funds for a partial coverage expansion in Arkansas or Massachusetts, while a request is pending in Utah. This brief explores the current rules for partial expansion and explains some of the potential implications for financing and coverage if CMS approves waivers to allow for partial expansion with enhanced matching funds.
This month’s KFF Health Tracking Poll finds that about four in ten are aware of the federal judge’s ruling that the ACA is no longer valid but once made aware, most disapprove of the ruling. This poll also examines the public’s favorability toward expanding the role of public health care programs, and majorities across partisan groups have a favorable opinion of programs such as Medicare buy-in and Medicaid buy-in, with a national Medicare-for-all being less popular but still receiving a majority of support overall.
This survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and California Health Care Foundation gauges California residents’ views on health care priorities facing the state’s new governor and legislature, including health care affordability, access to care, mental health and substance use treatment, and provider shortages. It also highlights Californians’ experiences in the health care system, as well as views on the Affordable Care Act, Covered California, Medi-Cal, and proposals to advance a single-payer health insurance system in the state.
KFF’s Tricia Neuman’s testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means on June 12, 2019 describes a range of proposals to broaden health insurance coverage and make health care more affordable, the similarities and differences among them, and the policy choices and trade-offs that could have significant implications for coverage and costs.
This issue brief summarizes findings from 324 studies of the impact of state Medicaid expansions under the ACA published between January 2014 (when the coverage provisions of the ACA went into effect) and June 2019. It includes studies, analyses, and reports published by government, research, and policy organizations using data from 2014 or later. This body of research suggests that the expansion presents an opportunity for gains in coverage, improvements in access and financial security, and economic benefits for states and providers.