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Every summer, health insurers submit rate filings to state regulators detailing expectations and justifying premium rate changes for ACA-regulated health plans for the coming year. With the enhanced premium tax credits set to expire at the end of 2025, consumers can expect increases in how much they pay for coverage.
Take this ten-question quiz to see how much you know about how the ACA affects health insurance coverage and costs as well as who is eligible for financial assistance
A recent draft regulation issued by the Treasury Department describes who is eligible for premium tax credits to help them afford coverage offered through health insurance exchanges beginning in 2014.
This was published as a Wall Street Journal Think Tank column on April 21, 2015. Tax season has come and gone with no great outbreak of protest about the Affordable Care Act’s least popular provision: the individual mandate.
Medicaid represents $1 out of every $5 spent on health care in the U.S. and is the major source of financing for states to provide health coverage and long-term services and supports for low-income residents. This brief examines key questions about Medicaid financing and how it works.
The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) held a reporters-only web briefing on Tuesday, September 19 to release their 2017 benchmark Employer Health Benefits Survey.
Six in 10 Oppose 'Cadillac Plan Tax' on High-Cost Health Plans Set to Take Effect in 2018, But Cost Savings Argument Can Change Some Opinions Views on the Affordable Care Act Remain Divided: 45% Unfavorable, 41% Favorable As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services prepares to finalize a plan to pay physicians for discussing…
As Republicans in Congress continue efforts to pass tax reform, the November Kaiser Health Tracking Poll examines views of the plans and how they relate to health care issues. Overall, reforming the tax code is seen as a “top priority” for President Trump and Congress by about three in ten (28 percent), falling well-behind several health care issues such as reauthorizing funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) (62 percent) and stabilizing the ACA marketplaces (48 percent). In addition, the majority of the public (55 percent) support the idea of eliminating the requirement for all Americans to have health insurance or else pay a fine as part of the Republican tax plan, however views vary party. In contrast, the majority of the public (68 percent), including majorities across parties, oppose eliminating the tax deduction for individuals who have high health care costs. The poll also takes an early look at the public’s views of the potential consequence of Congress not passing tax reform or repealing the ACA before the 2018 midterms.
The high cost plan tax (HCPT) sometimes referred to as the Cadillac tax, is an excise tax on the cost of employer health benefit exceeding certain threshold. The HCPT provides a powerful incentive to control health plans costs over time, whether through efficiency gains or shifts in costs to workers. While many employers do not expect that the tax will take effect in 2022, others are already amending their health programs in anticipation. We estimate if the tax takes effect in 2022, 21% will be subject to the tax, increasing to 37% by 2030 unless firms reduce costs. Larger shares would be affected when counting workers' voluntary contributions to Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman says the debate about whether to keep or repeal the Cadillac tax is more than a debate between sound policy and good politics, there are strong substantive arguments on both sides. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.
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