2 minute read: The convergence of insurance regulation at the federal and state levels keeps getting more complex. In July, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Trump administration…
Trump Administration
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2 minute read: House of Representative Democrats have unveiled a bill that would enhance many of the ACA’s components while reversing much of the Trump administration’s onslaught to the healthcare…
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2 minute read: On July 8, 2020 the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania, upholding the new Trump Administration rule regarding contraceptive…
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2 minute read: While Trump Administration shot down the idea of a special ACA enrollment period to help individuals who have lost their coverage due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, states…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Federal Special Enrollment Period on the Horizon
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: The Trump Administration is doing the unexpected and considering a special ACA enrollment period in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The special enrollment period will provide uninsured…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
New Jersey Plans to Create Statewide Health Exchange
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: New Jersey will administer its own statewide health exchange marketplace starting in 2021. As a result, the state will no longer operate under the federal health exchange.…
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2 minute read: The Affordable Care Act has seemed to turn the corner. On a number of fronts, it appears that the ACA is now being accepted as a beneficial…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Will 2019 be the Year for Statewide Individual Health Insurance Mandates?
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: Since the Trump Administration took office, the ACA has been under fire from the White House and many Congressional Republicans. Legislative repeal of the ACA failed. However,…
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Affordable Care Act
More States Move Forward with Reinsurance Programs
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: The Trump administration has made repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act a top priority. What’s interesting, however, is that as the White House continues to undermine…
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Affordable Care Act
ACA Funding Freeze Won’t Impact the ACA’s Employer Mandate
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: The Trump administration has said it would temporarily freeze funding for the “risk adjustment” program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) because of conflicting court rulings, but…
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ACA Compliance
Association Health Plans Don’t Help Larger Employers with ACA Compliance
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: The Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate has been in effect for the past three years and IRS enforcement of the healthcare law has begun. At the same…
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Affordable Care Act
Despite Presidential Rhetoric, ACA Employer Mandate Still Here
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: The Trump Administration has been vocal about what it believes are its successful efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). At a recent campaign…
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ACA ComplianceAffordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Proposed Farm Bill Another Attempt to Undermine ACA
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: It’s well known that the Trump administration is doing all it can to undermine the Affordable Care Act. The recent decision by the federal Justice Department to…
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Affordable Care Act
ACA Backlash: Two States Create Their Own Individual Mandates
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen3 minute read: The Trump Administration effectively repealed the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate when it made the penalties for an individual not obtaining healthcare $0 beginning 2019. What seemed…
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Affordable Care ActHealthcare
ACA and Healthcare Grow in Popularity as Midterms Draw Near
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen2 minute read: Studies show that voters have prioritized healthcare as a top issue to be addressed in the upcoming 2018 midterm elections in November. For the first time in…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
ACA Complexity to Grow as States Develop Their Own Healthcare Solutions [UPDATE]
by Robert Sheenby Robert Sheen5 minute read: The many false starts of the Republican-led effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA), along with the Trump administration’s continued efforts to undermine the healthcare law,…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
The Affordable Care Act Has Helped Millions, But There’s More Work To Do
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIn 2010, former President Barack Obama introduced the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in an effort to provide more Americans with health coverage. Over the course of its now-nearly eight-year run,…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
As Congress Moves To Remove Individual Mandate, States Seek Their Own Version
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt was a decade ago when Massachusettsimplemented its own individual mandate that required state residents to obtain health insurance or face financial ramifications. Nationwide, that rule became the framework of…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Some Americans Able to Sign Up for Insurance Under the ACA Past December 15 Deadline
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenAs we wait for the latest statistics on the number of Americans who have signed up on government exchanges for healthcare insurance coverage for 2018, experts are predicting that the…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Why It Matters That More People Signed Up for ACA Health Coverage In 2018
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt was meant to have the opposite effect. The Trump administration’s decision to undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by shortening the annual open enrollment period to 45-days and cutting…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Insurance Marketplace
The Healthcare Marketplace is Stabilizing Around the ACA
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWe are well into open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Despite significant increases in premium rates for 2018, enrollment for healthcare coverage on HealthCare.gov is higher than…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
New Kaiser Family Foundation Study Shows Number Of Uninsured In 2016
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhen the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was first enacted in 2010, the mission was clear: provide affordable healthcare to the millions of Americans without it. Depending on who you speak…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Efforts to Undermine the Start of Open Enrollment for 2018 Healthcare Coverage on November 1
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenOpen enrollment for individuals to purchase healthcare coverage through government exchanges begins tomorrow and runs through December 15. Both advocates and opponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are anxious…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageHealth Care ReformHealth Insurance MarketplaceLegislation
Americans Don’t Want President Trump to Destroy the Affordable Care Act
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhile President Trump does his best to undermine the Affordable Care Act, the American public wants it to succeed. Americans don’t want the Affordable Care Act (ACA) destroyed. They want…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
In Contrast to Federal Government, California Institutes New Laws to Bolster ACA
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhile the White House and many Republicans in Washington, D.C., seem intent on undermining the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the statehouse in Sacramento is doing something to bolster it. The…
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The latest news surrounding our nation’s healthcare has kept many on the edges of their seats, but for the moment, those who most benefit from the Affordable Care Act can…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Temporary Shutdowns of Healthcare.gov Termed ACA Sabotage
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt’s become a bit of a sport. Websites and media outlets are tracking ways that the Trump administration has been working to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Organizations such as…
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Affordable Care Act
Surveys Show Public Support for ACA Continues to Grow
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt’s become clear that the American public is not so down on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), at least not anymore. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) has been conducting regular…
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HealthcareLegislation
New Ambitious Bill Proposes to Legalize Marijuana Across The Nation
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenOne of the long running controversies in America is whether marijuana should be legalized. A new bill introduced by New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker proposes to legalize marijuana on…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
Congressional Budget Office Expects Health Insurance Premiums to Increase
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenGross premiums for silver-level health insurance plans purchased through the healthcare marketplace would be 20 percent higher in 2018 and 25 percent higher by 2020 if cost-sharing reductions (CSRs) payments…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Insurance Exchanges
Ohio Residents Rest Easier as New Insurance Providers Bring ACA Exchange Plans To Counties
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenPockets of counties across the nation have endured some scares as insurance providers began withdrawing from ACA exchanges, creating limited competition and limited options for coverage. Twenty Ohio counties faced…
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Originally published on July 18, 2017 in “Compliance Week” As healthcare reform sputters along in Congress, companies still face filing deadlines under the Affordable Care Act, and the Internal Revenue Service…
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Health Care CoverageHealth Care Reform
Two New Health Care Tax Bills Approved Pending AHCA Passing
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenThere was a time in the early stages of the ACA repeal where the Trump Administration shrugged off any ACA-mandated taxes going forward. The growing concern was that a repeal…
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Health Care CoverageMedicaid
Seniors And Medicaid: The Real Connection
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenFor many Americans, the understanding of healthcare when it comes to senior citizens is that their benefits are derived from Medicare. While that may be true for millions, there are…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
New Delays Prove The ACA Will Be Around For A While
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenOn Monday (May 22), a motion was filed by both the White House and Congress requesting a 90-day delay regarding an appeal surrounding cost-sharing reduction payments (CSR). The case, known…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
New KFF Study Shows Healthcare Insurers May Be Financially Stable on the ACA Exchanges
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenIt was just last year when healthcare giants like UnitedHealth and Aetna were exiting out of certain ACA exchanges—citing the ACA as the cause for financial dips in their bottom…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
The ACA In Numbers: An Infographic
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhen the Trump Administration reluctantly agreed to keep the ACA around, many breathed a collective sigh of relief. While some were unaware that the Affordable Care Act was synonymous with…
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On April 30th, President Trump tweeted the following in a series of two tweets: “You can’t compare anything to ObamaCare because ObamaCare is dead,” he tweeted. “Dems want billions to…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
New Bill Allows Non-Exchange Health Plan Purchases With ACA Credits
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhen Senate Republicans proposed the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a major point of focus was the elimination of ACA-mandated taxes, including the Employer and Individual…
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Health Care Coverage
These New Healthcare Staffers Were Added By The Trump Administration
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenHere’s a quick staffing update regarding new hires to come to the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House: The role of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care Coverage
The Fate Of The ACA In Kentucky
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenWhile the Trump Administration is slowly putting the wheels in motion to repeal the Affordable Care Act, one state governor has been trying for over a year to do so…
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Affordable Care ActHealth Care CoverageHealth Insurance Marketplace
The Last Day For ACA Enrollment Almost Went Unmarketed
by Robert Sheenby Robert SheenHealthcare.gov has been hard at work informing consumers of a continuous countdown to the end of open enrollment, advising to sign up for 2017 Marketplace coverage ASAP. However, at the…