States and the Affordable Care Act

Posted on November 26, 2012 by townsend

• States get more time to decide if they will run their own health insurance exchanges, By Christine Vestal and Michael Ollove, November 16, 2012, Stateline: “With one day left before states were required to notify Washington if they wanted to form their own health insurance ‘exchanges,’ the insurance marketplaces authorized by the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius granted a one month extension yesterday. She said states will also have to submit detailed exchange ‘blueprints’ at that time. Since postponement of the deadline came at the last minute, this week was marked by a flurry of announcements from governors about how they intended to run their exchanges. The deadline for states to commit to partnering with the federal government is still set for February 15, 2013, according to a letter from Sebelius to the Republican Governors Association…”
• Obama’s health care law advances in the states, By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar (AP), November 16, 2012, Boston Globe: “Threatened with repeal just weeks ago, President Barack Obama’s health care law now appears on track in close to half the states, with others playing catch-up and the administration readying a fallback for states not wishing to participate. Friday was the original deadline for states to notify Washington if they would play a role in building new health insurance markets through which the uninsured can get coverage starting in 2014. Though the administration granted a month’s extension, most states have already made their intentions known…”
• Report says states can get more than $9 from feds for every $1 they spend to expand Medicaid, Associated Press, November 26, 2012, Washington Post: “States will receive more than $9 in federal money for every $1 they spend to cover low-income residents under President Barack Obama’s health care law, according to a nonpartisan analysis released Monday. Expanding Medicaid to cover about 20 million more low-income people will cost over $1 trillion nationally from 2013 to 2022, said the joint report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Urban Institute. But the analysis found that states will pay just $76 billion of that, a combined share of roughly 7 percent. The feds will pay the other $952 billion…”
• Medicaid expansion could cost Colorado $858 million over 10 years, By Michael Booth, November 26, 2012, Denver Post: “The state’s share of costs for expanding Medicaid rolls under federal health reform could be $858 million over 10 years, according to detailed new estimates from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Colorado has not released its own estimates and has declined to commit to the key building block of expanding health insurance, saying it needs to hear more program details from federal officials. The federal share of insuring 225,000 new Medicaid lives would be about $10.3 billion over the next 10 years, the Kaiser report said…”