More than 1.3 million people signed up for ObamaCare plans in the week leading up to a key December deadline, a demand that federal health officials have called "unprecedented." Nearly 40 percent of those who signed up are new customers, a sign that uninsured people have paid attention to the Dec. 15 deadline to get insurance and avoid a penalty next year. The enrollment deadline was extended late Tuesday evening after a surge in demand for both call centers and the federal HealthCare.gov website. The surge in demand is forcing some customers to put their names down on a waiting list until the call center can help them enroll.
A health law insurance program that was expected to boost consumer choice and competition on the marketplaces has slipped off course and is so far failing to meet expectations. Since just a few insurers, or sometimes just one, dominate the market for individuals and small businesses in some states, the law sought to increase competition in those areas by calling for "multi-state" health plans that would be offered by some insurers. The law required that at least two multi-state plans be available to consumers in 31 states by 2014 and in all states by 2017, but it doesn't require insurers to offer the plans and most so far have opted not to.
ObamaCare advocates are growing fearful that several key taxes frozen in Wednesday's budget deal will never go into effect. The pair of budget deals negotiated by congressional leaders would halt or delay three ObamaCare taxes, forcing the president to make his biggest concession yet since his healthcare law was passed. Hours after the deal was announced, White House spokesman Josh Earnest downplayed the biggest change – a delay of the Cadillac tax – as "minimal." But supporters of the law say they're worried that the delay of these taxes, until after Obama leaves office, will ultimately lead to their demise.
While millions of Americans have gained insurance coverage since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) expanded access to health insurance coverage in January 2014, little is known about how access to and affordability of care are changing under the ACA. A new study, being released as a Web First by Health Affairs, found that between September 2013 and March 2015, there was a 3.4 percentage-point increase in the share of nonelderly adults with a connection to a health care system. Among low-income adults targeted by the ACA's Medicaid expansion provision, the increase was 5.2 percentage points.
Target Corp. expects to net $1.2 billion after taxes for the sale of its pharmacy and clinic businesses to CVS Health Corp. The $1.9 billion acquisition closed on Wednesday, the companies said. CVS acquired Target's 1,672 pharmacies in 47 states and will operate and rebrand them as CVS/pharmacy. Seventy-nine of the clinics will be rebranded as Minute Clinics. CVS also will open up to 20 new clinics in Target stores within three years. "Today's milestone in our relationship with CVS Health is an important step in driving Target's strategic priorities forward while giving our guests easy access to industry-leading health care services," Chief Executive Brian Cornell said in a statement.
The spending deal Congress passed Tuesday night includes an unprecedented increase in funding for Alzheimer's research: $350 million in fiscal 2016. If approved by the White House, it will increase government spending on the disease by over 50 percent. Advocates have long pushed for significant increases in Alzheimer's spending, calling it a coming crisis and saying it should be funded at the same level as cancer, HIV/AIDS and heart disease research. A panel of scientists convened by the Alzheimer's Association estimated that the National Institutes of Health would need $2 billion a year to maximize the chances of curing or preventing the disease by 2025. This year's increase puts the NIH well on its way toward that goal.