Healthcare Compliance Inc: 2019

Tuesday, 2 April 2019

ACA Reporting Services | What Happens If the Affordable Care Act Is Struck Down?

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has existed largely on the edge of a cliff since President Donald Trump entered the White House.

While Trump has thus far failed to fulfill his campaign promise of repealing and replacing former President Barack Obama’s signature health care plan, he appeared to get a second wind last week. The Justice Department sided with a federal judge in Texas, who ruled in December that the law’s individual mandate was unconstitutional and that the rest of the law was therefore invalid—despite the Supreme Court previously upholding the law in 2012.

The Texas ruling calls into question one of the key components of the ACA: protection for those with pre-existing conditions. But Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney sought to assuage the concerns of those with such pre-existing conditions over the weekend, while speaking on ABC’s “This Week.”

Saturday, 2 March 2019

Spot Audit On Previous ACA Filings | Here’s what’s at risk in the Texas Obamacare ruling

(CNN)Whether you know it or not, Obamacare has affected nearly every American.

The Affordable Care Act does far more than allow millions of people to get health insurance through exchanges or Medicaid expansion.

It saves senior citizens money on their Medicare coverage and prescription drugs. It lets many Americans obtain free birth control, mammograms and cholesterol tests. It requires many restaurants to post the calorie counts of their menu items. And it allows children to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until they turn 26.

Even the Trump administration is using the landmark health reform law to try to lower prescription drug prices.

Wednesday, 13 February 2019

ACA Employer Mandate | House Democrats Trot Out First Bills to Shore Up Obamacare

WASHINGTON (CN) – House Democrats rolled out new bills Wednesday clapping back at Republican efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act, specifically targeting short-term, limited-duration insurance policies.

The four bills introduced Wednesday are the first steps in reversing the Trump administration’s rollbacks for President Barack Obama’s landmark health care legislation, cuts that included slashing advertising and outreach budget by 90 percent. The Trump administration also eased the process of approval for Section 1332 requests, which allows states to waive certain requirements of the Affordable Care Act in favor of state-focused health coverage options.

But these efforts have “sabotaged” the Affordable Care Act’s potency, committee Democrats say. By slashing enrollment advertising and encouraging potential state subsidies of short-term coverage plans, healthy young people are choosing cheaper, sub-par coverage that drive up premiums for everyone else opting for government health care.

Monday, 21 January 2019

ACA Penalty Reduction Service | Judge Says Affordable Care Act Will Remain In Effect During Appeal

(CNN)The federal judge who declared the Affordable Care Act’s individual coverage mandate unconstitutional earlier this month issued an order on Sunday saying despite his previous ruling the law can remain in effect pending appeal.

Texas federal District Judge Reed O’Connor said in his ruling that “many everyday Americans would otherwise face great uncertainty during the pendency of appeal.”

Sunday’s order also paves the way for a coalition of Democratic states defending the law to appeal O’Connor’s original ruling.

O’Connor had ruled that the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, is unconstitutional because Congress eliminated the individual mandate penalty by reducing it to $0. This rendered the mandate itself unconstitutional and the rest of the act therefore cannot stand. However, he did not issue an injunction to stop federal and state governments from enforcing the law.