Health junction

How the Republican Healthcare Act Compares to the Affordable Care Act The Republican plan, euphemistically referred to as Trumpcare addresses insurance and not improvements in healthcare delivery. Insurance is NOT health care. This analysis examines how the proposed healthcare plan in House Bill 277 differs from the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. For information on ACA improvements in health care at the patient level, refer to the link below. [1]  This article cites credible sources from nonprofit entities or government agencies and only facts are used, not false proclamations. Criteria Obamacare Trumpcare Medicaid Coverage is medical insurance for low-income folks Eligibility Standards Expanded eligibility for Medicaid to 138% of the federal poverty level; 32 states opted to expand coverage, increasing access to healthcare for 11 million people. [2] Beginning in 2020, repeals the Medicaid expansion, allowing existing Medicaid participa...

Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Tom Price is now in charge of Health & Human Services and here is an analysis of the laws he may try to dismantle, programs which could lose government support, and the ensuing federal budget implications. This article is based on actual facts, not �alternate facts� which are popular with the Trump Administration. Budget Implications The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been a revenue generator, while also providing medical insurance for 20 million low income people and has helped to reduce the federal deficit.   (ObamaCareFacts.com, 2017) According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), repeal of the Affordable Care Act would cause the federal deficit to grow by $137,000,000,000 by 2025.   (Congressional Budget Office, 2015) That�s right, a repeal of the ACA would increase the deficit by 137 billion dollars.   Here are some of the provisions which have generated money for the go...

As 2014 fades from view, I am barely making my monthly deadline for the Straight Talk column. but I would like to leave you with a couple of thoughts for the new year. There have been more than a few articles detailing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS)grant awards as well as enforcement efforts impacting your health care. First, let's start with the positive, CMS provides grant awards for government agencies as well as multi-agency initiatives to study ideas for improvement of health care. In 2014, these states received grant awards for initiatives to better resource care for Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health program: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania , South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Washington State has received a 65 million dollar grant, starting February 2015, to work with gover...

Why We Don�t Want To Get Rid of Medicare-Our Best Tool for Health Care Reform The pressure is on for federal budget slashing and of course social programs (not defense) are top-of-the-list for cost reductions, including the malignant call for block granting the Medicare program. Having previously analyzed the Bush Administration�s Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, including the odious federal government, �claw back provision� for reducing federal contributions for state Medicaid programs, this article reviews some potential impacts of a block grant or per capita allowance for Medicare participants. Parallels are drawn between the Medicaid changes and what may happen to Medicare if it is schlepped to the states. Finally, Medicare�s impact on overall health care policy making in the United States is analyzed. Would Block Granting Medicare Look like the Medicaid 1115 Waiver Plans? As of 2005, half the states already had approved Medicaid 1115 plans including: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Cal...