By Phil Galewitz and Andy Miller A record 13.6 million Americans have signed up for health coverage for 2022 on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, with nearly a month remaining to enroll in most states, the Biden administration announced Wednesday. President Joe Biden’s top health advisers credited the increased government subsidies, which lowered out-of-pocket costs,…
By Ariel Hart and Andy Miller A top federal official in charge of negotiating with Gov. Brian Kemp on Georgia’s high-stakes health care proposals visited Atlanta on Tuesday to talk about maternal health and other topics. But Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, had no answers for when any of the…
Democrat Stacey Abrams’ entry Wednesday into the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial race almost guarantees that health care will be a leading issue in the campaign. Abrams, who narrowly lost to Brian Kemp in the 2018 race, pushed Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act as a top priority in that campaign. As governor, Kemp has taken…
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.) said Monday that the health insurance provisions in the social policy and climate change bill pending in Congress would be a “game changer’’ for Georgia. The $1.7 trillion legislative package, which recently passed the U.S. House, would offer coverage in the health insurance exchange for hundreds of thousands of Georgia…
In September, when Shelly Azzopardi went to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital with abdominal pain, she didn’t worry about her insurance. Doctors said she had a case of appendicitis. But she also tested positive at the hospital in Marietta, Georgia, for Covid-19. Physicians decided not to do surgery and treated her with antibiotics and painkillers. Azzopardi, 47,…
By Phil Galewitz and Andy Miller At least 2.2 million low-income adults — nearly all in Texas and the Southeast — would be eligible for government-funded health insurance under the Democrats’ $1.75 trillion social spending and climate change plan. That’s the number of people who are eligible for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act but…
Tens of thousands of UnitedHealthcare members will now face higher out-of-pocket fees if they go to Wellstar Health System hospitals and doctors. The contract between the two organizations ended Sunday without a new agreement. An estimated 80,000 United members will be affected. Payment for medical services is the sticking point. United says the Wellstar demands…
For the second time in recent months, insurance giant UnitedHealthcare is mired in a contract squabble with a large Georgia health care system. And as before, the battle to hammer out an agreement that both sides can accept is coming down to the wire. About 80,000 of the insurer’s members would face being out of…
Georgia had the third-highest number of people signing up for coverage during this year’s special enrollment period for the federally run health insurance exchanges. The state’s 147,000 enrollees were exceeded only by Florida and Texas among the 36 states that use the healthcare.gov enrollment platform, according to federal data recently released. Exchange enrollment — like open enrollment…
By Rebecca Grapevine and Andy Miller Just before Frank Berry left his job as head of Georgia’s Medicaid agency this summer, he said the state “will be looking for the best bang for the buck” in its upcoming contract with private insurers to cover the state’s most vulnerable. But whether the state — and Medicaid…