ITUP Blog

Tax Reform, the Individual Mandate, and the Vulnerability of the Individual Market in California

December 6, 2017

Although Congressional efforts to repeal or rollback the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have failed to date, the just-passed Republican-controlled U.S. Senate tax bill (House Resolution 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) includes a provision that is very likely to undermine ACA implementation in California.

Read More

The Clock is Ticking – Will Congress Act Before 1.3 Million Children and Pregnant Women Lose Coverage in California?

November 29, 2017

Congress allowed the CHIP to expire on September 30, 2017, putting in jeopardy coverage for approximately 1.3 million children and pregnant women in California. CHIP is a health coverage program for low- and moderate-income children and pregnant women jointly funded by states and the federal government.

Read More

House Bill Sets the Stage to Reauthorize Key Safety-Net Programs

November 7, 2017

By not acting before October 1, Congress allowed two critical health care safety net programs to expire. The Children’s Health Insurance Program provides health coverage for low- and moderate-income children and pregnant women. The federal 330 Health Center Grant Program provides annual grants to community health centers for health care services provided to uninsured and underserved populations.

Read More

One of these things is not like the others – Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment underway in California

November 4, 2017

What is most striking about open enrollment in California is that success here in implementing the ACA means that California consumers will have better options, and fewer negative consequences, than consumers seeking coverage through the federal exchange and many other state exchanges.

Read More

Congressional Failure to Extend Critical Health Programs Threatens Access to Care in California

October 4, 2017

While Congress failed to pass legislation that would “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by the September 30 deadline, the dominance of repeal efforts in the preceeding weeks resulted in two critical health care programs expiring September 30, 2017.

Read More

California Department of Health Care Services Confirms Graham-Cassidy Legislation Would Be Devastating for Health Care in California

September 25, 2017

On September 22, 2017, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released a fiscal analysis of pending Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal legislation authored by U.S. Senators Graham, Cassidy, Heller and Johnson (Graham-Cassidy).

Read More

The U.S. Senate is contemplating ACA repeal legislation that could lead to 6.7 million Californians losing coverage

September 21, 2017

Under the latest Republican ACA “repeal and replace” bill, 6.7 million Californians could lose coverage and California could lose in one year an amount in federal funding equivalent to more than one-third of all General Fund spending in California’s budget, $57.5 billion, according to the U.C. Berkeley Labor Center (Labor Center) blog post.

Read More

U.S. Senate Hearings Focus on Short-Term Market Stabilization Initiatives

September 11, 2017

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held two hearings last week on stabilizing premiums and strengthening the individual insurance market for 2018. This blog summarizes key testimony from last week’s hearings highlighting areas of general agreement and some of the areas of possible disagreement.

Read More