THE BIG NEWS IS, of course, the “score” from the Congressional Budget Office detailing that the House Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare will result in 14 million Americans losing health insurance by 2018 and 24 million by 2026. Before that, something else caught my eye today from the Bangor Daily […]
John E. McDonough
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Republicans showing their hand on ACA ‘replacement’
LATE LAST WEEK, Politico released a leaked 105-page draft bill defining the House Republican plan to repeal/replace/repair/re-whatever the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare. The draft legislation was dated February 10, so likely it’s already out of date, though it is the best indication yet of their rapidly evolving intentions and fits with many of their prior recent […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Voices from Ohio on Medicaid expansion
OHIO IS ONE of 31 states that expanded Medicaid as permitted by the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare for nearly all low-income citizens. The state’s Republican governor, former presidential candidate John Kasich, has been among the most vocal proponents of the expansion on the Republican side and has taken a lot of grief for it from ACA […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Time to step up fight against ACA repeal
A NEW REPUBLICAN-CONTROLLED Congress is in place. And for the sixth time, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is facing extinction. Indeed, a gripping narrative history of the ACA/Obamacare could be written focused only on its numerous near-death experiences. Maybe the sixth time will be the curse, and maybe not. Let’s recall. One, in January 2010, […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Five Affordable Care Act questions for the GOP
SO, REPUBLICANS ARE planning a major blitz to repeal and delay/replace/collapse the Affordable Care Act/ACA/ObamaCare. I’ve got five questions to ask leaders of the Grand Old Party. First, if your guarantees are honest that your replacement law will be better than the ACA, why not share real numbers? President-elect Donald Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan, and […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Trump poised to dump Affordable Care Act
PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP has nominated Rep. Tom Price of George, an orthopedic surgeon and the House Budget Committee chairman, to be his first secretary of health and human services. For those lulled into believing that Trump was moderating his views on the Affordable Care Act because of recent statements on 60 Minutes that he leaned […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
State gains approval for big Medicaid overhaul
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT today approved a huge infusion of money to Massachusetts and big restructuring of the state’s Medicaid program, known as MassHealth. The five-year $52.4 billion waiver is major win for the Baker administration, and especially for Health & Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders and Medicaid director Daniel Tsai. The new waiver will preserve […]
Posted inHealth Care
Protected: Humble pie for Massachusetts health
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Baker’s big health care move
FOR THE THIRD time since 1996, the Massachusetts Medicaid program, called MassHealth, is preparing for transformation. After submitting a final proposal in July, state officials are anxiously awaiting a decision on the plan from the US Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services. The goals are to: first, transform how medical services are delivered to many […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Obama, Clinton and the new public-option debate
THE ERA OF Democratic silence on strengthening and improving the Affordable Care Act is officially over. President Obama’s tour de force review of the ACA’s successes in the new Journal of the American Medical Association is also important for his identification of key ACA improvements needed on insurance affordability, Medicaid, prescription drug prices and more. […]