ACA

The federal government has set the enrollment period for Affordable Care Act insurance from Wednesday to Jan. 15. Last year, Florida led the nation in the number of enrollees.

Congress has until October to avert cuts to a Medicaid program intended to support safety-net hospitals that, in practice, improves the bottom lines of other hospitals, too.

The set of health policy ideas have been GOP favorites for decades. It could mean cheaper health insurance but would undermine protections for patients in the Affordable Care Act.

That coverage was thrown into question by a March ruling from a federal judge in Texas, who said some of the preventive care requirements under the law are unconstitutional.

Agents are providing fraudulent information on applications for health plans. Those who are signed up are disqualified from other forms of free and low-cost care and risk disruptions in treatments.

An agreement could be ready to present to the court by Tuesday, attorneys for opponents of the mandates and the Biden administration said in a brief report filed with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel told attorneys on both sides of the issue to report by Friday on the possibility of a temporary compromise in the case.

The billion-dollar amount cited by former Sen. Al Franken, while an estimate, is likely very close to what insurers will owe this year under a provision of the ACA that compels rebates when insurers spend too little on actual medical care.

As appeals continue, the administration isn’t attempting to block immediate enforcement of O’Connor’s ruling as it applies to the handful of Texas plaintiffs who filed suit.

A federal appeals court issued an “administrative stay” of a ruling that would have eliminated the requirement that most insurers cover preventive care such as vaccines and cancer screenings.