Obama Gives Health Plans Added Two-Year Reprieve
From the Wall Street Journal
The Obama administration further postponed a provision of the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday, the latest in a series of changes that have delayed or pared back the health overhaul so much that many of its ambitious goals won't be achieved during its first years in full effect.
Democrats sought to create a new health-care landscape when they passed the law in 2010, with millions of uninsured Americans gaining coverage, employers facing fines if they didn't insure workers and skimpy health plans disappearing.
But a series of delays by the administration—and decisions by states on implementing the law—have taken a toll. The latest delay came Wednesday, when federal officials said insurance companies could continue selling plans that don't meet the law's more rigorous standards until 2016 in some instances. It was the second time the administration delayed that requirement after the law's tougher standards prompted insurers to cancel millions of people's health plans last year. The latest delay averts another raft of cancellations before this year's midterm elections.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Wall Street Journal
The Obama administration further postponed a provision of the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday, the latest in a series of changes that have delayed or pared back the health overhaul so much that many of its ambitious goals won't be achieved during its first years in full effect.
Democrats sought to create a new health-care landscape when they passed the law in 2010, with millions of uninsured Americans gaining coverage, employers facing fines if they didn't insure workers and skimpy health plans disappearing.
But a series of delays by the administration—and decisions by states on implementing the law—have taken a toll. The latest delay came Wednesday, when federal officials said insurance companies could continue selling plans that don't meet the law's more rigorous standards until 2016 in some instances. It was the second time the administration delayed that requirement after the law's tougher standards prompted insurers to cancel millions of people's health plans last year. The latest delay averts another raft of cancellations before this year's midterm elections.
Read more in our daily News Update...