Latest news with #ACA
Axios
2 days ago
- Business
- Axios
How the GOP megabill may roll back the Affordable Care Act
The massive Republican budget bill working its way through Congress has mostly drawn attention for its tax cuts and Medicaid changes. But it would also take steps to significantly roll back coverage under the Affordable Care Act, with echoes of the 2017 repeal-replace debate. Why it matters: The bill that passed the House before Memorial Day includes an overhaul of ACA marketplaces that would result in coverage losses for millions of Americans and savings to help cover the cost of extending President Trump's tax cuts. It comes after a growth spurt that saw ACA marketplace enrollment reach new highs, with more than 24 million people enrolling for 2025, according to KFF. The House's changes would likely reverse that trend, unless the Senate goes in a different direction when it picks up the bill next week. Driving the news: The changes are not as sweeping as the 2017 effort at repealing the law, but many of them erect barriers to enrollment that supporters say are aimed at fighting fraud. Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute and a health official in Trump's first administration, said Republicans are focusing on rolling back Biden-era expansions "that have led to massive fraud and inefficiency." The CBO estimates the ACA marketplace-related provisions would lead to about 3 million more people becoming uninsured. Cynthia Cox, a vice president at KFF, said while the changes "sound very technical" in nature, taken together "the implications are that it will be much harder for people to sign up for ACA marketplace plans." What's inside: The bill would end automatic reenrollment in ACA plans for people getting subsidies, instead requiring them to proactively reenroll and resubmit information on their incomes for verification. It would also prevent enrollees from provisionally receiving ACA subsidies in instances where extra eligibility checks are needed, which can take months. If people wound up making more income than they had estimated for a given year, the bill removes the cap on the amount of ACA subsidies they would have to repay to the government. Some legal immigrants would also be cut off from ACA subsidies, including people granted asylum and those in their five-year waiting period to be eligible for Medicaid. What they're saying: In a letter to Congress, patient groups pointed to the various barriers as "unprecedented and onerous requirements to access health coverage" that would have "a devastating impact on people's ability to access and afford private insurance coverage." The letter was signed by groups including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Diabetes Association and American Lung Association. Between the lines: A last-minute addition to the bill would also make a technical but important change that increases government payments to insurers in ACA marketplaces. That would have the effect of reducing the subsidies that help people afford premiums and save the government money, by reducing the benchmark silver premiums that are used to set the subsidy amounts. Democrats are concerned that if Congress also allows enhanced ACA subsidies to expire at the end of this year, the combined effect would be even higher premium increases for enrollees next year. Insurers that already are planning their premium rates for next year say the Republican funding changes are throwing uncertainty into the mix. "Disruption in the individual market could also result in much higher premiums," the trade group AHIP warned in a statement on the bill. The big picture: Blase said changes like ending automatic reenrollment are needed to increase checks that ensure people are not claiming higher subsidies than they're entitled to. "I think what happened during the Biden years led to massive fraud and improper spending, and that needs to be rolled back," he said. Cox said another way to address fraud would be to target shady insurance brokers, rather than enrollees themselves. She estimated that marketplace enrollment could fall by roughly one third from all the changes together.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘They cry': Sex shop owner exacts revenge on thieves
A Bundaberg shop owner fed up with sticky-fingered customers has come up with his own genius way to exact justice. Dave Kidd is running a second-generation family business handed down to him from his mother — a sex toy shop called Into Love. It has been plagued by looting with customers stealing everything from blow up dolls to empty DVD cases, according to A Current Affair. Frustrated and unable to bear the cost of the lost revenue, Mr Kidd decided to take matters into his own hands and began outing the thieves on social media. 'Theft happens in every store, but when they steal from our store, it's a bit funnier because of what they're pinching,' he said. He circulates footage of the shoplifters on Facebook with a plea to help identify the culprits – a technique which has proved surprisingly effective. 'I don't think you'd want to be named and shamed for taking an adult toy,' one of Mr Kidd's employees told ACA. 'They come in here very upset, very embarrassed, and don't want family members to see it. Sometimes they'll cry and say, 'please take it down'.' Mr Kidd is happy to remove the offending content from Facebook, but only after the customer had paid for the item they stole. One post on the Facebook page from May 1 reads: 'Well here we are once again! We are asking for the amazing assistance from our wonderful Bundaberg customers and our future customers!' it reads. 'I guess this charming lady forgot that you can't walk out the door, with a $200 product in her bag, without passing the front desk to pay for it! 'It is against the law to steal. We do have signs at the front door, we will post it on Facebook and we will press charges. 'Want this embarrassing footage taken down? Then by all means pop on down to the big purple building and we will happily process your payment, and then we can take this down! 'We have cameras, they do work, and we will always make sure a small family run business can stay in business by making sure customers can afford to pay for items. If you don't have the cash, we do lay-bys. 'We will offer the first correct ID caller (or private message) 20% off any item in the shop. Want to stay anonymous? No issues at all. 'We have so many amazing loyal customers, and because of you this business wants to say a massive thank you for shopping honestly. 'Who recognises this charming lady? We will have more footage in the comments!' Dave said thievery had always been a problem but after reportedly losing $20,000 to the thieves he decided enough was enough. 'The thefts were coming in hot and heavy and I just couldn't afford the loss so I thought 'how do I combat this?''
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
South Dakota coalition forms to oppose Medicaid cuts
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – A new coalition of healthcare professionals, patient advocates, rural leaders and small business owners from across the state is launching 'Hands Off Medicaid – South Dakota' to oppose proposed federal cuts to Medicaid and ACA subsidies. 29-year-old state inmate dead; 9th this year 'This bill represents a complete retreat from decades of bipartisan progress in expanding access to health care,' said Earl Pomeroy, former North Dakota Congressman and Insurance Commissioner in a press release. The group emphasized the proposed cuts would be especially harmful to rural South Dakota health centers. More than 147,000 South Dakotans currently rely on Medicaid, according to the South Dakota Department of Social Services (DSS). 'Medicaid gives people access to lifesaving medications and treatments like insulin, asthma inhalers, prenatal care, and cancer screenings. For almost 27,000 South Dakotans, this bill means losing coverage entirely.' said Ben Hanson, Head of Government Affairs for the American Cancer Society – South Dakota in a press release. The coalition formed after the U.S. House passed a budget to cut Medicaid coverage, which would pull coverage from thousands, hurt rural hospital funding, and threaten mental health and addiction services–despite only 9% of SD voters supporting the cuts. 'When coverage rates fall, rural health centers lose critical funding — putting access to primary care, maternal care, dental services, and behavioral health at risk for everyone in those communities.' said Shelley Ten Napel, CEO of the Community HealthCare Association of the Dakotas in a press release. The coalition plans to continue expanding in the coming weeks and months, and urges South Dakotans to contact Senators Mike Rounds and John Thune about protecting Medicaid as the budget bill heads to the U.S. Senate. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump finds more convicted congressional Republicans to reward with pardons
It's been a challenge keeping up with the flurry of pardons Donald Trump has issued in recent days, specifically rewarding his political allies and donors, though one trend is increasingly unavoidable: The incumbent president has a real soft spot for congressional Republicans who've been convicted of felonies. Take former Republican Rep. Michael Grimm of New York, for example. NBC News reported: Trump this afternoon pardoned former Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., who was convicted in 2014 of tax fraud and related charges. Grimm pleaded guilty to a single count of tax fraud after he was accused in a 20-count indictment of underreporting nearly $1 million in earnings and lowering payroll taxes through 'off-the-book' payments at a Manhattan restaurant he previously managed. After the conviction, Grimm resigned from Congress and was sentenced to eight months of incarceration. He was released in 2016, according to Spectrum News. Grimm had a brief and unfortunate career on Capitol Hill, punctuated by an incident in which he threatened physical violence against a reporter, vowing to break him 'like a boy' after the journalist had the audacity to ask the lawmaker about the criminal investigations pending against him at the time. There was also a memorable incident in 2021 when Grimm, who ran on an anti-Affordable Care Act platform, was asked whether he would forgo the taxpayer-financed coverage he hoped to deny others. The Republican responded, 'What am I, not supposed to have health care?' Two weeks later, Grimm voted to repeal the ACA and deny coverage to millions. But it was Grimm's crimes that derailed his career. Though he initially claimed he was the victim of a 'political witch hunt' — a familiar phrase, to be sure — the New Yorker ultimately agreed to plead guilty to a felony count of tax fraud. Though Grimm tried to remain in Congress anyway, GOP leaders pressed him to resign. He succumbed to party pressure soon after. More than a decade later, Grimm, who was seriously injured in a polo tournament last year, is the beneficiary of a presidential pardon. It coincided with Trump also pardoning former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland — who served three terms as a Republican member of Congress — whose record is even more controversial. As The New York Times reported, Rowland was forced to resign in 2004 to avoid impeachment stemming from a corruption scandal. The Times added, 'He pleaded guilty later that year and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Ten years later, Mr. Rowland was convicted again of public corruption, including obstructing justice, conspiracy, falsifying documents relied on by federal regulators and other violations of campaign finance laws.' There's nothing to suggest there was anything wrong with his prosecution, but Trump pardoned him anyway. If at this point readers are thinking that the president has pardoned several former GOP members of Congress, there's ample evidence to bolster the point. The Washington Post published this memorable roundup on the last day of Trump's first term: Since Trump took office, two incumbent Republican congressmen have been convicted of crimes, Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) and Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.), as has a former congressman, Steve Stockman (R-Tex.). Trump pardoned all three of them. Trump also pardoned four former Republican congressmen convicted before his presidency: Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), Robin Hayes (R-N.C.), Mark Siljander (R-Mich.) and Randall 'Duke' Cunningham (R-Calif.). ... [A]ccording to GovTrack's Legislator Misconduct Database, Trump has now pardoned a majority of Republican congressmen convicted of felonies in the 21st century. With the Grimm and Rowland pardons, the new total of Trump pardons for congressional Republicans convicted of crimes has reached nine — and counting. (While some congressional Democrats have also been convicted of crimes in recent years, to date, none of them has benefited from the incumbent president's magnanimity.) What's more, if we widen the aperture a bit, it's also worth emphasizing that the Trump administration has also abandoned the criminal case against a former Republican congressman who'd already been found guilty of corruption by a jury, while simultaneously taking steps to abandon a corruption investigation targeting an incumbent Republican congressman. The message to Republican politicians convicted or accused of corruption couldn't be clearer: You have a friend in the Oval Office. This post updates our related earlier coverage. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
As if gutting Medicaid wasn't enough…
The Affordable Care Act protects 737,900 West Virginians with pre-existing conditions from being charged more or denied coverage by insurance companies. (Getty Images) Republicans in Congress aren't satisfied with just slashing Medicaid, so they are now looking at using reconciliation to repeal large swaths of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to pay for tax breaks for billionaires, big corporations and campaign donors. These days, everyone has heard of 'Obamacare,' the landmark 2010 law that for the first-time created consumer protections like no discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and gender, and no annual or lifetime caps on coverage. The Affordable Care Act turned 15 earlier this year and, despite a rocky start and endless 'Repeal and Replace' attacks from Republican opponents in Congress and President Donald Trump, it has persisted and is more popular than ever. While the march towards quality, affordable health care for all remains a long one, the political battle to pass the ACA by the narrowest of margins was huge, and we now face another huge fight to maintain the gains we've made in healthcare access and equity so that progress isn't lost. Under the current administration and Republican-controlled Congress, the ACA, including Medicaid coverage, are at risk once again. Congress is marking up its long-awaited committee bills to achieve the $1.5 trillion in spending cuts outlined in April's budget resolution to hand out tax breaks to billionaires, big corporations, and campaign donors. The budget resolution outlines significant cuts to Medicaid, squarely threatening Medicaid expansion which covers more than 160,000 West Virginians. Among the included provisions are harsh work reporting requirements for adults between the ages of 19 and 64, increased paperwork and red tape for all expansion enrollees, and increased cost sharing and co-pays for some adults. A recent report by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy estimates that roughly 40,000 West Virginians would lose their health care coverage as a result, including more than 23,000 residents in Congresswoman Carol Miller's district and 17,000 in Congressman Riley Moore's. In addition, these coverage losses would result in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding that currently goes to hospitals and providers in West Virginia. As a result, thousands of jobs in the state would be lost and rural providers have warned that hospitals operating on the margins would be at risk of closure. Also, this resolution does not extend the enhanced premium tax credits that have helped more people get affordable coverage since 2022. More than 50,000 West Virginians get their health coverage through the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplace, with over 95% receiving a tax credit subsidy to help make their monthly premiums more affordable. As part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and then the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Congress increased the amount of financial assistance available to families who get their health coverage through the ACA marketplace. In West Virginia, this resulted in marketplace enrollment more than doubling. West Virginia residents saw the most benefit from the increased ACA subsidies, as our state has the highest health care costs in the country. If allowed to expire at the end of the year, the 50,000 residents who get their health coverage through the Marketplace would see their monthly premiums increase by 140 percent. We've been down this road before. Taken together, the renewed Republican effort to repeal key parts of the ACA will threaten coverage for upwards of 25 million Americans, and that doesn't include coverage losses resulting from their attacks on Medicaid. These policies are highly unpopular — even among Republican voters. If Republicans get their way, costs will go up, hardworking families will lose their coverage, and the entire health care system will be thrown into chaos. This means that Republicans, after promising to lower prices and improve the economy for working Americans, are set to do the very opposite: take food and health care away from working class families to make the richest people even richer. It's up to us to stop them. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
