SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon voters are being asked to decide whether the state should be the first in the nation to amend its constitution to explicitly declare that affordable healthcare is a fundamental human right.
Communities of color recorded huge health insurance coverage gains from 2020 to 2022 due in large part to improved affordability and increased outreach efforts to get people enrolled, according to a report this week from the Department of Health and Human Services. During that time, Hispanic people saw a 53 percent jump in enrollment rates through the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace, Black people 49 percent and Native Americans 32 percent.
Prices for people who buy health insurance on their own are set to increase next year in Colorado — but not quite by as much as initially proposed. When insurers first filed rates with the state this summer, they requested an 11% increase in premium prices in the individual market, which is the category of the health insurance market that covers people who buy insurance without help from an employer.
WHY IS MEDICAID STANDING IN THE WAY OF MORE KINDS OF HOME CARE? Many state Medicaid offices are stymieing the use of remote patient care, refusing coverage for low-income residents who suffer from chronic diseases at higher rates than Americans with private insurance, POLITICO’s Ruth Reader reports.
The average cost of employer health coverage for a family this year is about $22,000, a figure similar to last year’s total, according to a new survey that shows upward pressure on healthcare costs hasn’t yet broadly translated into higher premiums.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Tuesday that UnitedHealth Group-owned OptumRX, one of the largest pharmacy benefit managers in the nation, will repay the state $15 million under a settlement. "Another shoe has dropped,” Yost said in a statement. “This is another win for Ohio – time for OptumRx to pay up.”
