Enrollment In Job-Based Plans Is Steady In Lead-Up To Employer Mandate
A new survey from Mercer finds little change from 2014 to 2015. Elsewhere, coverage for more than 3.3 million children may be in jeopardy if the health law changes, and premiums rise nearly 3 percent for the cheapest Obamacare plans.
Politico:
Survey: Little Impact Of Employer Mandate On Companies’ Enrollment
Obamacare’s employer mandate on large businesses barely had an impact on enrollment in employer- sponsored plans this year, according to a new survey.
Human resources firm Mercer on Tuesday released a survey of 572 employers and found very little change between 2014 and 2015 in the average number of full- and part-time workers getting health coverage through their job. (Pradhan, 3/17)
CQ Healthbeat:
Children's Health Coverage Losses Outlined In Multiple Scenario Study
More than 3.3 million children could lose their health care coverage if Congress does not renew the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Supreme Court strikes down subsidies in the federal marketplace and states scale back coverage. That scenario is the most dramatic of seven situations affecting children’s coverage that the Urban Institute analyzed in a report released Tuesday. (Adams, 3/17)
Health News Florida:
Premiums Rose 2.9 Percent For Cheapest Obamacare Plans
The price of the cheapest ObamaCare plan increased an average of 2.9 percent nationally, according to a new report by the Urban Institute. The new data, which were collected frome every state over the last year, ease widespread concerns that ObamaCare was fueling massive premimum hikes. (Ferris, 3/17)
And, a health care giant seeks to reinvent itself --
The New York Times:
Cleveland Clinic Grapples With Changes In Health Care
While it has traditionally relied on its ability to provide high-priced specialty care, the system, along with every stand-alone community hospital and large academic medical center, is being forced to remake itself. Patients are increasingly seeking care outside the hospital — in a family health center, a doctor’s office, a drugstore or at home. Medicare and other insurers are moving away from volume-based payments to new models, to pay less for better care. (Abelson, 3/17)