The centers, designed to help low-income and uninsured people, offer an affordable option for care, but it can also be tough to get an appointment.
Q. What is an exchange, as envisioned by the health law?
A. It’s a marketplace where individuals and small employers will be able to shop for insurance coverage.
News organizations published multiple opinions–pro and con- marking the anniversary of the health law, here is a selection from around the country.
“If you’re a health plan, you either become a care delivery system or an information services compan . . . . The traditional business is dead.”
Survey also found that more than 40 percent of the respondents said that high costs had compelled them to forgo the care they needed—up from 29 percent in 2001.
All Vermont residents would receive health benefits paid for by the state, regardless of their employment status or income.
Seattle Times op-eds: Aubrey calls for a vote on Basic Health Plan, Davis calls for reforming the state’s entitlement programs, and Dickie scolds the GOP.
Republicans especially dislike the individual mandate – the requirement that Americans obtain insurance or face a penalty – because they see it as an unconstitutional imposition of government power.
Supporters say it’s critical to the law’s success. Without the mandate, the argument goes, healthy people won’t buy policies until they’re ill, leaving mostly sick – and expensive — people in the insurance pool.
The Republicans insist they want not just to repeal the Affordable Care Act but also to replace it. But replace it with what, exactly? It’s not an easy question to answer. They’ve have yet to embrace a specific proposal and, rhetorically, they have made contradictory arguments about what they want
Your hospital may be in your health plan’s network but its neonatal intensive care unit staff may not, putting you at risk for huge medical bills if your child is premature or needs special care.
Health-care reform has passed, but how will we implement all the changes the new law will require? To try to come up with some answers, more than 300 experts will come together in Seattle on Wednesday, Jan. 6th for the 2011 State of Reform conference.
Some will welcome the new benefits, some will face higher costs as a result of the law. The KaiserHealthNews team reviews the changes that go into effect this year.
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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Lost in translation: Lack of trained interpreters can lead to medical errors
Interpreter services at hospitals and other medical settings are often inadequate, forcing family members, including children, to step in, or the task falls to medical staff members who may not speak the language well.
Some insurers deny ER coverage to people who have been drinking
Laws in more than half the states permit insurers to deny payment for medical services related to alcohol or drug use. Faced with the prospect of not getting paid for care, some ER personnel sidestep the problem by simply not testing patients’ blood or urine for alcohol.
Travel insurance can protect your wallet — and your health on vacation
Think your regular health insurance policy will cover you if you get into medical trouble overseas?
Don’t bet on it.
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