Medicaid gap to hit local clinics, hospitals, By Carlton Proctor, September 28, 2013, Pensacola News Journal: “The decision by the Florida Legislature earlier this year not to expand Medicaid means the state’s poorest residents — those the Affordable Care Act would have helped the most — may not receive any help at all. And Pensacola area health care leaders say the state’s action not only will exclude several thousand uninsured local residents from coverage, but it also will cost this community jobs. A recent study by researchers at the University of Florida concluded the Medicaid expansion would have created an average of 1,619 full-time and part-time jobs in Escambia County annually over the next 10 years…”
State tries to simplify Medicaid, By John Webster, September 29, 2013, Spokesman-Review: “In political circles, ‘Medicaid expansion’ has been a phrase that launches arguments. But for uninsured poor people – 22,000 in Spokane County and 328,000 throughout Washington state – expansion means health care coverage is on the way. Washington is one of 25 states to accept the federal government’s offer to fund the expansion of Medicaid, the health care program for America’s poor. Idaho has not expanded Medicaid…”
Medicaid ‘doughnut hole’ leaves many working poor without healthcare subsidies, By Jim Fuquay, September 28, 2013, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “When Medicare was expanded in 2006 to include prescription drugs, the issue of the ‘doughnut hole’ arose — a gap in coverage that could cost patients thousands of dollars before coverage resumed. The Affordable Care Act will make that disappear in 2020. But the legislation, also called Obamacare, will create another unintended gap in health insurance for residents of Texas and other states that did not expand Medicaid…”
Decoding the ACA: Official says lack of Medicaid expansion will hurt some, By Naomi Creason, September 28, 2013, The Sentinel: “The Affordable Care Act was designed to make affordable health care available to those who need it — especially uninsured, low-income residents. It’s that group, however, that may have the most difficult time with enrolling in Pennsylvania’s health exchange…”
Traffic surges, glitches mark exchanges’ debut, By Jayne O’Donnell and Kelly Kennedy, October 2, 2013, USA Today: “The opening of state- and federal-run insurance marketplaces Tuesday saw a combination of huge interest and balky technology that led to a series of glitches, delays and even crashes that marred the first hours of the centerpiece of President Obama’s health law. Some of the delays were due to high volume. About 2.8 million people visited the federal website HealthCare.gov since midnight, said Marilyn Tavenner, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The site is handling exchanges for 34 states that defaulted to the federal government for at least the first year…”
Health Exchanges Open for Business—With Glitches, By Christopher Weaver, Timothy W. Martin and Louise Radnofsky, October 1, 2013, Wall Street Journal: “The health-insurance marketplaces at the center of President Barack Obama’s health law saw a surge of consumer interest Tuesday that surprised even many of the law’s backers…Officials in New York state, which is running its own insurance site, said an unanticipated surge of visitors in the first hours left the marketplace only partially functional. California said its website fielded five million page views by 3 p.m. local time…”
