Affordable Care Act

Consumers and businesses nationwide will receive an estimated $1.3 billion in rebates in August from health insurance companies that spent more on administration, overhead and profits than allowed under the Affordable Care Act, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

In Colorado, individuals and businesses will receive almost $26 million. Insurance companies will send rebates to 511,684 enrollees, for an average of $54.58 for each enrollee in the individual market, $82.62 in the small-group market and $47.84 in the large-group market.

Recently, two Colorado congressmen wrote newspaper columns with nearly identical talking points that raised alarms about the future of Medicare and attacked a provision in the Affordable Care Act designed to reduce costs.

My Side column, Glenwood Springs Post Indepedent

By Bob Semro

Rep. Scott Tipton, in an April 2 My Side commentary in the Post Independent, "How I'm fighting for seniors in Washington," touted a "bold" budget plan approved by House Republicans as the blueprint for preserving "Medicare and other critical safety nets for seniors."

Bold? Irresponsible is more like it.

By Scot Kersgaard
The Colorado Independent

A report issued Tuesday by healthcare advocacy group Families USA illustrates how the Ryan budget, passed recently in the U.S. House on a mostly partisan vote, could cost Colorado up to $36 billion over the next decade.

According to the report, Colorado would bleed billions in Medicaid, Medicare and other federal healthcare spending over the next ten years if the budget were adopted.

Published online by San Luis Valley Health.org

By Colorado Public News
By Michael de Yoanna

The prospect of the U.S. Supreme Court throwing out the new health care law after it hears the case this month has Colorado Republicans planning alternatives – and Democrats keeping silent.

By Michael de Yoanna
Colorado Public News

The prospect of the U.S. Supreme Court throwing out the new health care law after it hears the case this month has Colorado Republicans planning alternatives - and Democrats keeping silent.

The stakes are high: Without the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or any other major changes in health care, the average annual family health premium could hit $22,000 in the next seven years, according to an economic study called "The Future of Colorado Health Care."

By Michael de Yoanna
Colorado Public News

The prospect of the U.S. Supreme Court throwing out the new health-care law after it hears the case this month has Colorado Republicans planning alternatives – and Democrats keeping silent.

The stakes are high: Without the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or any other major changes in health care, the average annual family health premium could hit $22,000 in the next seven years, according to an economic study called "The Future of Colorado Health Care."

Two years ago today, President Obama signed legislation that created the Affordable Care Act. In recognition of the anniversary, here are some facts about heath reform, courtesy of Families USA.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act:

From the beginning, there was little doubt that the minimum-coverage provision of the Affordable Care Act, also known as the individual mandate, would end up in the Supreme Court. That provision requires most American citizens and legal residents to purchase a minimum level of health insurance coverage from a private insurer or pay a tax penalty.

Perhaps the most important decision regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will be made over the next three months. That decision by the Supreme Court will address the constitutionality of the most controversial provision of the law, the minimum-coverage provision, also known as the individual mandate.