Trump rolls back Obamacare provision for free birth control

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration annulled on Friday an Obamacare provision that obliged employer health plans to pay for contraception, potentially stripping free birth control from millions of women.

The move extends to all commercial enterprises an exemption already given to religious institutions.

Rights groups erupted in anger and the American Civil Liberties Union threatened a lawsuit, but the White House called it a matter of religious freedom.


The ruling expands "exemptions to protect moral convictions for certain entities and individuals whose health plans are subject to a mandate of contraceptive coverage" under Obamacare, a note published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said.

Millions of American women who had the cost of contraception reimbursed could be affected by the Trump administration's decision, which conservative groups had been seeking since Obamacare began.

Challenges to Obamacare had reached the US Supreme Court, which in 2014 ruled that family-owned private companies could choose not to provide contraceptive coverage to female employees on religious grounds.

In May, Trump signed a decree on religious liberty ordering his administration to take account of objections of conscience on matters of contraception.

Obamacare is the common name for the Affordable Care Act, health reforms that took effect under former President Barack Obama in 2010. It allowed millions of uninsured people to get health insurance.

The powerful American Civil Liberties Union said on Twitter that it is "suing the Trump administration to block new rules allowing employers to deny insurance coverage for birth control."

Planned Parenthood, also on Twitter, said the new rule "puts our birth control coverage at risk."

The non-profit health organization, targeted for cuts by Trump's administration because it provides abortion services, added that the decision on contraception coverage "shows the Trump admin's disdain for women's health & lives."

Bernie Sanders, who sought the Democratic nomination for president in last November's election, called the new rule sexist.

"It's the latest display of Republicans' total disdain for women's ability to control their own lives," he said.

But the White House framed it as an issue of religious liberty and asserted that the law was on its side.

"The president believes that the freedom to practice one's faith is a fundamental right in this country and that's all today was about," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.

"I don't understand why that should be an issue. The Supreme Court has validated this decision, certainly many times over and the president is somebody who believes in the constitution," Sanders said.

Repealing Obamacare was one of Trump's most strident campaign promises. He described Obamacare as a "total disaster," but his Republican Party has failed in efforts to repeal the health reforms.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US House passes Obamacare repeal in win for Trump

The US House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly passed a Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, delivering a welcome victory to President Donald Trump after early legislative stumbles.

Following weeks of in-party feuding and mounting pressure from the White House, lawmakers voted 217 to 213 to pass a bill dismantling much of Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act and allowing US states to opt out of many of the law's key health benefit guarantees.

Some 20 Republicans voted in opposition, along with all Democrats, in the most contentious congressional vote of Trump's young presidency.

Eyeing a victory, a jubilant Trump tweeted during the vote that, if successful, Republicans would gather for "big press conference at the beautiful Rose Garden of the White House" immediately afterwards.

The bill's passage is a conservative dream seven years in the making: doing away with a reform which Republicans accuse of sending health premiums soaring while reducing options for millions of Americans.

An earlier version of the plan to repeal Obamacare collapsed in March, torpedoed by opposition from both moderates and conservatives in the Republican party -- and dealing the president one of the most stinging setbacks since he took office.

In extraordinary scenes in the House chamber, Republicans clapped and cheered while Democrats shouted their disapproval.

"We can continue with the status quo or we can put this collapsing law behind us. End this failed experiment," House Speaker Paul Ryan declared on the House floor.

"This bill delivers on the promises that we have made to the American people," Ryan said, referring to the relentless campaign pledges by most Republicans, including Trump last year, to do everything they could to repeal and replace the reforms that came into law in 2010.

"A lot of us have been waiting seven years to cast this vote," added.

Uphill battle in Senate

Republican leadership endured strong criticism from Democrats and several Republicans for rushing the legislation through without extended debate.

The measure now heads to the US Senate, where it faces an uphill battle.

"Where's the score?" Democrats hollered, referring to the lack of a budget office estimate of the legislation's cost for the federal government.

Republicans including Trump had campaigned relentlessly on the pledge to dismantle the 2010 reforms.

Democrats counter that Obamacare, as it is known, helped 20 million Americans gain health coverage and saved thousands of lives by barring insurers from denying policies to people with pre-existing conditions.

The American Medical Association issued a scathing rebuke of the latest Republican effort, warning that it would lead millions of Americans to lose their health care.

The Republican party leadership apparently won over enough skeptical members with an amendment that adds $8 billion over five years to help cover insurance costs for people with pre-existing conditions.

Several medical experts and health groups publicly ridiculed the amendment, saying it falls woefully short of the hundreds of billions of dollars likely needed to help control health costs for the sick under the new bill.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

World equities take a spill on Trump healthcare setback

HONG KONG - Asian stocks are set to start the week on a cautious note as President Donald Trump's stunning failure to get healthcare reform passed raised concerns about the prospects for his plans to use fiscal stimulus to boost economic growth.

Financial markets were unnerved on Friday by Trump's inability to get enough support for legislation to "repeal and replace" the Obamacare health insurance reforms, a major 2016 election campaign promise.

Despite some recent profit-taking, US stocks are still up more than 12 percent since Trump was elected on Nov. 8, the stock prices reflecting views that lower taxes, deregulation and fiscal stimulus would boost economic growth and corporate earnings.

But the failure of Trump's healthcare bill knocked the wind out of risky assets in early Asian trading with US stock index futures falling to a six-week low in heavy volumes while Treasury futures edged higher. and

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat in early trade though Australia's stock market tumbled 0.9 percent at the open.

Rising policy uncertainty also raised concerns that a recent revival in business and consumer sentiment, particularly in Asia as evident from recent industry surveys, would be derailed at a time when market valuations appeared stretched.

"For markets, that doesn't sound like an ideal situation," ANZ strategists wrote in a daily note.

The greenback took a spill in early Asian trade on Monday with early moves exaggerated in a very thin market.

The US dollar was down 0.8 percent against the yen at one stage to a 110.44.

The euro rose to a near four-month peak at $1.0847. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was down nearly half a percent at 99.306..

Treasury futures gained 5/32s in price, suggesting benchmark yields would start lower. On Friday, benchmark 10-year U.S. yields closed near their lowest levels in a month.

Safe-haven gold perked up, rising to $1,253 an ounce..

Oil prices were broadly flat as investor concerns lingered that OPEC-led supply cuts were not yet reducing record U.S. crude inventories.

US crude was trading slightly higher at $48.15 per barrel.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Republicans fail to repeal Obamacare

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump suffered a stunning political setback on Friday in a Congress controlled by his own party when Republican leaders pulled legislation to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, a major 2016 election campaign promise of the president and his allies.

Republican leaders of the House of Representatives pulled the legislation due to a shortage of votes despite desperate lobbying by the White House and its allies in Congress, ensuring that Trump's first major legislative initiative since taking office on Jan. 20 ended in failure.

House Republicans had planned a vote on the measure after Trump late on Thursday cut off negotiations with Republicans who had balked at the plan and issued an ultimatum to vote on Friday, win or lose.

Republican moderates as well as the most conservative lawmakers had objected to the legislation. The White House and House leaders were unable to come up with a plan that satisfied both moderates and conservatives, despite Trump's vaunted image as a deal maker.

"We learned a lot about loyalty. We learned a lot about the vote-getting process," Trump told reporters at the White House, although he sought to shift the blame to the Democrats, who were unified in their opposition, even though his party controls the White House, the House and the Senate.

Amid a chaotic scramble for votes, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, who championed the bill, met with Trump at the White House before the bill was pulled from the House floor after hours of debate. Ryan said he recommended that the legislation be withdrawn from the House floor because he did not have the votes to pass it, and that Trump agreed.

"There were things in this bill that I didn't particularly like," Trump added, without specifying what those were, but expressed confidence in Ryan's leadership.

"Perhaps the best thing that could happen is exactly what happened today, because we'll end up with a truly great healthcare bill in the future after this mess known as Obamacare explodes," Trump said.

Friday's events cast doubt on whether Ryan can get major legislation approved by fractious Republican lawmakers.

"I will not sugarcoat this. This is a disappointing day for us," Ryan said at a news conference, adding that his fellow Republicans are experiencing what he called "growing pains" transitioning from an opposition party to a governing party.

"Doing big things is hard," Ryan added, noting that he got close but failed to muster the 216 votes needed to pass it.

Ryan said he did not know what the next steps would be on healthcare, but called Obamacare so flawed that it would be hard to prop up.

Without the bill's passage in Congress, Democratic former President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement, the 2010 Affordable Care Act - known as Obamacare - remains in place despite seven years of Republican promises to dismantle it.

Repealing and replacing Obamacare was a top campaign promise by Trump in last year's presidential election, as well as by most Republican candidates, "from dog-catcher on up," as White House spokesman Sean Spicer put it during a briefing on Friday.

AGENDA AT RISK

The House failure to pass the measure called into question Trump's ability to get other key parts of his agenda, including tax cuts and a boost in infrastructure spending, through Congress.

News that the bill had been pulled before a final vote was greeted initially with a small sigh of relief by U.S. equity investors, who earlier in the week had been fretful that an outright defeat would damage Trump's other priorities, such as tax cuts and infrastructure spending.

Benchmark U.S. stock market indexes ended the session mixed after rallying back from session lows following the news. The S&P 500 Index ended fractionally lower, the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped about 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose about 0.2 percent.

The dollar also strengthened modestly on the news and U.S. Treasury bond yields edged up from session lows.

"There's nobody that objectively can look at this effort and say the president didn't do every single thing he possibly could with this team to get every vote possible," Spicer told reporters before the legislation was pulled.

Trump already has been stymied by federal courts that blocked his executive actions barring entry into the United States of people from several Muslim-majority nations. Some Republicans worry a defeat on the healthcare legislation could cripple his presidency just two months after the wealthy New York real estate mogul took office.

In a blow to the bill's prospects, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen announced his opposition, expressing concern about reductions in coverage under the Medicaid insurance program for the poor and the retraction of "essential" health benefits that insurers must cover.

"We need to get this right for all Americans," Frelinghuysen said.

Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher said before the bill was pulled that voting it down would be "neutering Trump" while empowering his opponents.

"You don't cut the balls off a bull and then expect that he can go out and get the job done," Rohrabacher told Reuters. "This will emasculate Trump and we can't do that. ... If we bring this down now, Trump will have lost all of his leverage to pass whatever bill it is, whether it's the tax bill or whatever reforms that he wants."

Trump and House Republican leaders could not afford to lose many votes in their own party because Democrats were unified in opposition, saying the bill would take away medical insurance from millions of Americans and leave the more-than-$3 trillion U.S. healthcare system in disarray.

Republican supporters said the plan would achieve their goal of rolling back the government's "nanny state" role in healthcare.

Obamacare boosted the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies. About 20 million Americans gained insurance coverage through the law.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said under the Republican legislation 14 million people would lose medical coverage by next year and more than 24 million would be uninsured in 2026.

Days of negotiations involving Republican lawmakers and the White House led to some changes in the bill but failed to produce a consensus deal.

The House plan would rescind a range of taxes created by Obamacare, end a penalty on people who refuse to obtain health insurance, end Obamacare's income-based subsidies to help people buy insurance while creating less-generous age-based tax credits

It also would end Obamacare's expansion of the Medicaid state-federal insurance program for the poor, cut future federal Medicaid funding and let states impose work requirements on some Medicaid recipients.

House leaders agreed to a series of last-minute changes to try to win over disgruntled conservatives, including ending the Obamacare requirement that insurers cover certain "essential benefits" such as maternity care, mental health services and prescription drug coverage.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US health care vote postponed in blow to Trump

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump's bid to repeal his predecessor's signature health care law suffered a bitter blow Thursday, as opposition from within his Republican Party forced the delay of a crucial vote in Congress.

"No vote tonight," a House leadership source told AFP, signaling a stunning political setback for Trump -- who prides himself on his deal-making skills -- to win sufficient support for a Republican bill repealing and replacing Obamacare.

The president and his lieutenants repeatedly voiced optimism about the bill's prospects and said they had made progress in convincing doubters to join his camp in dismantling the Affordable Care Act.

But the votes for Trump's plan -- dubbed the American Health Care Act -- weren't there.

"I am still a no at this time. I am desperately trying to get to yes," said Mark Meadows, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, whose members have demanded major changes to the plan before giving their blessing.

While Meadows sought to portray optimism about the process, he revealed the width of the gap between Trump and plan opponents.

"At this point, we are trying to get another 30 to 40 votes that are currently in the 'no' category to 'yes,'" Meadows said after meeting with his caucus.

"Once we do that, I think we can move forward to passing it on the House floor."

House Republicans were preparing to head into a closed-door conference at 7 p.m. (2300 GMT) to thrash out their differences and perhaps come to agreement on a way to bring enough Republicans on board.

A White House official said the expectation was for a vote Friday, and downplayed suggestions that Trump had failed to close the deal, claiming the delay did not spell doom for the measure.

"The vote will be in the morning to avoid voting at 3 am," the official said.

"We feel this should be done in the light of day, not in the wee hours of the night and we are confident the bill will pass in the morning," the official said.

That schedule was reiterated by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy after the vote's postponement.

But with negotiations unable to provide the necessary breakthrough, nighttime debate is likely to be intense as the two sides seek an elusive compromise.

Failure to work out their differences would mark a humiliating defeat for Trump's biggest legislative battle to date.

DIVISION

Republicans have spent years railing against the Affordable Care Act, branding it an example of Democrats pushing for socialized medicine.

But seven years to the day since Barack Obama signed his landmark reforms into law, House Republican leaders were unable to present a united front within their own ranks for the alternative.

With Democrats opposed to Trump's effort to rip out his predecessor's crowning domestic achievement, and his own party's right flank in revolt, the White House and Republican leaders have been burning the midnight oil to find ways to make the bill palatable to enough conservatives without angering moderates.

Confidence by the White House appeared to highlight the disconnect between Trump's team and rank-and-file conservatives.

Asked Thursday whether House Speaker Paul Ryan might delay the vote, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said "nothing leads me to believe that that's the case."

A few hours later, the vote was postponed.

Many conservatives say their party's plan is still too costly for the government.

They have said they want to repeal health benefits that all insurance policies must pay for under Obamacare -- including maternity care, emergency room visits, and preventive care like screenings and vaccines -- arguing they have driven up costs.

LIMITING DEFECTIONS

The House Freedom Caucus, about 30 lawmakers who are heirs apparent to the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement, have dubbed the new bill "Obamacare Lite," as it will only reduce, not eliminate, health coverage subsidies by replacing them with refundable tax credits.

At the other end of the spectrum, some Republican moderates also worry their constituents would no longer be able to afford health insurance under the new plan.

A nonpartisan congressional budget estimate says it would lead 14 million Americans to lose their coverage from next year.

The Democratic minority is prepared to vote against it as a bloc, so Republican leaders need to limit defections to fewer than 22 out of their party's 237 representatives among the House's 430 current members.

Further pressuring recalcitrant Republicans, Trump tweeted out messages to his tens of millions of followers urging them to contact their local lawmakers in support of the plan.

Congressman Thomas Massie said the arm-twisting would not work on him.

"I'm still opposed to the bill," the Kentucky Republican told MSNBC. "I think it's worse than Obamacare."

Obama himself weighed in Thursday on the law's anniversary, saying the reform that has helped 20 million people get coverage should be improved, not pulled out by its roots.

"We should start from the baseline that any changes will make our health care system better, not worse for hardworking Americans. That should always be our priority," Obama said in a statement.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Trump's busy Day 1: Scrap Obama orders, deport illegals

WASHINGTON - Rolling back Obamacare and industry regulations. Deporting undocumented immigrants. Scrapping trade deals. And of course, building that border wall.

It will be an extremely busy first day in the White House for Donald Trump if he lives up to his various campaign and transition pledges to undo the policies of Barack Obama's eight-year presidency.

Some orders or guidance can be reversed with the stroke of a pen. Other policies will take months or longer to unwind. But he will be able to set efforts in motion on several fronts.

Trump has outlined dozens of actions he intends to take in the first hours of his presidency, but experts told AFP that the 70-year-old billionaire's effectiveness will be limited, given that the executive office is just one branch in a government that includes Congress and the judiciary.

"He can't just walk in there and do everything he wants to do on day one," immigration attorney David Leopold told AFP.

"In a democracy, there is no CEO."

Some of Trump's promises are pie-in-the-sky political messaging, like proposing a constitutional amendment imposing congressional term limits.

Other proposals, like his day one vow to "cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama," would dramatically shatter tradition.

But Trump is about nothing if not upending established order.

Here are some highlights of his stated opening day plans.

- Health care -

Trump has pledged to introduce, with Republican leaders in Congress, legislation to "repeal and replace" Obamacare, and his team stresses he will immediately sign executive orders related to dismantling the law.

He could issue them on two fronts: allowing people to keep their plans which might not have qualified under the Affordable Care Act, and voiding penalties for individuals not having coverage.

Trump recently said he then hoped to see Congressional action to repeal and replace Obamacare "essentially simultaneously," although Republicans have yet to unveil their replacement.

- Immigration -

During the campaign, Trump was eager to order the deportation of convicted criminals who were living in the country illegally, a group he said topped two million people.

"Day one, my first hour in office, those people are gone," he told supporters in Arizona in August.

But Leopold said such processes are already underway: Obama's administration made deporting criminals a high priority.

Plus, the president "doesn't have the power to order anybody's deportation," Leopold said.

Trump has vowed to introduce legislation on day one that would fund construction of the "great wall" he wants built on the US border with Mexico.

He could immediately suspend the Syrian refugee program, and pledged a day one suspension of immigration "from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur."

Another controversial move he has advocated is scrapping the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which Obama instituted in 2012 to allow more than 750,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the country as young children to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation.

"Trump could reverse that guidance with the stroke of a pen," Leopold said.

- Environment, energy -

Trump has made no secret of his intent to end what he sees as the Environmental Protection Agency's intrusion into American industry, including Obama's Clean Power Plan compelling power plants to slash carbon emissions.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence has said Trump will "end the war on coal on day one."

Trump pledged to scrap coal leasing moratoriums and open federal lands for drilling and mining in order to access a mother lode of oil, natural gas, coal and uranium.

He has also expressed intent on day one to approve the Keystone XL pipeline project linking Canada to US Gulf Coast refineries, which the Obama administration blocked.

Trump also pledged to immediately cancel "billions in payments to UN climate change programs" and use that money to improve environmental infrastructure.

- Trade, government -

Defying the longstanding free trade traditions of his own party, Trump said that on his first day he will announce the United States will back out of or renegotiate two sweeping trade pacts: the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation agreement that has yet to come into force, and the longstanding North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

He vowed to immediately instruct his Treasury secretary to label China a "currency manipulator," a move that some observers warn could spark retaliation by the world's second largest economy.

As a way to "drain the swamp," his catchphrase for cleaning up Washington, Trump has said he will issue a five-year ban on political appointees becoming lobbyists after they leave the administration. He would also slap a hiring freeze on federal employees.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US Congress approves first step for repealing Obamacare

WASHINGTON - The US House of Representatives on Friday joined the Senate in passing a critical measure that marks the first major step toward repealing outgoing President Barack Obama's landmark but controversial health care reforms.

The House's near party-line vote of 227 to 198 approved a budget blueprint which provides Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, with a framework for dismantling the Affordable Care Act.

But one week before Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office, a sense of urgency has swept over Washington about what his party will put forward as a replacement for the law, with Democrats warning of disastrous consequences should Republicans act too hastily.

"This resolution essentially fires the starting pistol... for repealing Obamacare," said Representative Bill Johnson, an Ohio Republican.

"This is a critical first step to deliver relief to Americans struggling under this law," House Speaker Paul Ryan told fellow members, describing as a "rescue mission" the latest effort to unwind Obamacare.

"This experiment has failed," and "we have to step in before things get worse."

The Senate passed the resolution Thursday. It received no Democratic support in either chamber, highlighting the intensely partisan fight that lies ahead.

The resolution provides Republicans with a powerful tool, called reconciliation, which allows repeal legislation to proceed through the 100-member Senate with a simple majority, protected from a Democratic filibuster that requires a 60-vote threshold to overcome.

Trump made repeal of the law a central plank of his insurgent campaign, and he sounded triumphant ahead of the vote.

"The 'Unaffordable' Care Act will soon be history!" he tweeted early Friday.

Days earlier he said the Republicans ought to repeal and replace Obamacare quickly and "simultaneously."

During a Thursday town hall style event Ryan said he was on board, and that he envisioned action on a plan "within the first hundred days."

'CUT' AND RUN?

Unwinding Obamacare will be a monumental task. Republican leadership is moving carefully, stressing it does not want to "pull the rug out from anyone" who might lose coverage if there is no replacement plan on offer.

But there is debate among Republicans about how -- and how fast -- to proceed.

Charlie Dent, one of nine House Republicans who voted against the resolution, expressed "reservations" about quickly repealing parts of Obamacare without a credible replacement at the ready.

"I think the repeal plan needs to be fully developed and better articulated prior to moving forward," he told CNN.

The White House touts Obamacare as a success, saying more than 20 million Americans have gained health insurance through the law.

The Affordable Care Act forbids insurance companies from denying health care due to pre-existing conditions, abolishes lifetime caps on care, and allows children to stay on their parents' plans until age 26, three provisions that have proved popular nationwide.

Ryan insists the Republican plan that moves forward will include its own versions of such provisions.

Democrats warn that scrapping the law could result in tens of millions of Americans losing coverage.

"They want to cut benefits and run. They want to cut access and run," House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said of Republicans, and accused Ryan of peddling "mythology" about the law.

House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries offered harsher criticism about Republican efforts to swiftly dismantle the reforms, despite not formulating a viable replacement plan in the last six years.

"All you have is smoke and mirrors, and the American people are getting ready to get screwed," Jeffries said on the House floor.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

How Obamacare helps boost BPO employment in PH

MANILA – More and more Filipino nurses are finding jobs in Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) firms following the US Supreme Court verdict upholding Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act.

According to Pasig City Representative Roman Romulo, chairman of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, the Philippine units of Dublin-based Accenture plc and New York-based EXL Service Holdings Inc. have increased their hiring of Filipino nurses, mainly for deployment to their global delivery centers in Cebu City.

"Both firms are signing up Filipino nurses with US licenses as well as those who have passed the NCLEX but still without US licenses," said Romulo.

Romulo said both firms provide a wide range of outsourced business support services to American health insurers. Accenture has 16 delivery centers in the Philippines, while EXL has three.

"There's no question Obamacare is driving US health insurers to transfer additional contact center, insurance claims processing, clinical support analysis, medical coding, and other non-core, business support jobs to the Philippines, either through independent BPO providers, or through in-house back offices,'' Romulo said.

Meanwhile, Romulo said UnitedHealth Group Inc. is also enlisting Filipino nurses and other fresh college graduates for training and employment opportunities as transition managers, assistant managers, team leaders, specialists handling health care accounts, customer service representatives and medical coders, whether certified or not.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Fewer uninsured Americans thanks to Obamacare

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – As critics of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act continue to attack it, a new report shows the law is actually working.

Gallup says the rate of Americans without health insurance has dropped, thanks in part to Obamacare.

As of the end of 2014, 12.9 percent of adults lacked health coverage. That’s down by over 4 percent since the program rolled out in 2013.

As of last fall, about 6.7 million Americans have enrolled in the health program.

The expansion of Medicaid in more than half of the country also helped to bring down the number of uninsured Americans.

Read more from Balitang America

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Fil-Ams getting health insurance as Obamacare deadline nears

NEW YORK – March 31 is a deadline that will cost you $95 if you don’t have health insurance and it's a fine that will cost you even more next year.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or more commonly known as Obamacare is a federal law enacted to increase the quality and affordability of health insurance.

It's meant to lower the rate of the uninsured by expanding public and private insurance coverage and reducing the costs of healthcare for individuals and the government.

New York's Office of Citiwide health outreach specialist Iman James said, "Don't wait until March 30th because they might ask for income verification or they may ask you to verify your identity and that might take longer and you might miss that open enrollment date."

US Department of Health officials said you don't have to enroll in plans in the marketplace if you already have health insurance coverage through your employer.

But if an individual is unemployed, or if their health insurance premium costs are equal to or greater than 10 percent of their personal or household income, they may be eligible for free public insurance or lower cost health insurance.

New York resident John Mallonga said he is young, in good health and he feels that he doesn’t really need to spend for health insurance at this time.

While the penalty is not his main concern, he said it doesn’t hurt to start looking into the cheapest available private insurance he could get at the Obamacare Market Place.

Mallonga said, "I just think that Affordable Care Act is a good proposition for the whole country so it will be better for us in the long run. The truth is, all of us should be covered.”

Meantime, Jen Furer and her husband are self-employed, running a consulting company that makes more than $126,000 a year.

Pre-Obamacare, she said, for a family of six, they pay nearly $17,000 a year for premium health insurance plan.

"No Deductibles, very minimal co-payment and I could go to any specialist that I want. When Obamacare kicked in starting this year, I was informed that my plan was increasing to $33,000," Furer said.

Furer said under Obamacare, their consulting firm no longer qualifies as small business without having a single paid employee.

She pointed out that if their income stayed below $120,000 annually, she would have qualified for a tax subsidy of $8,376.

Obamacare experts advise Furer to look into other ways to insure her family with the help of navigators who could guide her through her family’s healthcare needs.

Navigator Caitlin O’Brian said, "If you have four kids, I'd have you come see a navigator, instead of just doing it on the website because there are lots of other things that you can do to kind of tweak it."

The deadline to find a healthcare plan using the Market Place is on March 31. Obamacare experts told people not to wait until the last minute to get insured to avoid various penalties.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Many Fil-Ams still unsure about 'Obamacare'

NEVADA - As the deadline to sign up for Affordable Care Act draws near, many kababayans living in the valley are still longing for answers if this health care is sustainable and will provide long term coverage for years to come.

Obamacare has been the talk of the town for months in Nevada. With President Obama's 'mea-culpa” for the glitch and confusion brought to Americans on healthcare coverage, Nevadans still continue to wonder what Obamacare is really all about and if it will be beneficial for them.

Enrique Jamelo was in the military for five years. Because he voluntarily discharged from the service, he wasn't able to carry over the coverage veterans and military personnel have.

He is back to ground zero in providing healthcare insurance for his family. Although his wife Joan works in a casino, she is still not eligible for insurance coverage as she only works part time.

"Mahirap kasi it's like no security at all lalo na may kids. You have kids na magka-kasakit. Yun yung concern namin. That's why we are asking about those coverage and how much plans," said Joan.

Her husband added, "Kasi hindi mo naman alam kung kelan ka magkakasakit paano kung wala kang insurance magkano ang babayaran mo sa hospital?”

Like many other households, the Jamelos is just one of the many families in Nevada who are longing for affordable healthcare insurance.

White House Commissioner Rozita Villanueva Lee said that the Affordable Care Act had a very slow start due to some technical glitches.

"Nevada ACA is almost the same as national because we had glitches in our computer as well. But we are so glad that Governor [Brian] Sandoval decided to make it as state thing and its really gonna be more helpful to our people," Lee said.

"What our role is to make sure that the Filipinos, our kababayans, know about what's happening because many of them don't know that they can get subsidize as well even though they are not working. They're so afraid to come and sign up. We can also help them out to get good health care,” she said.

Lee added that although security issues are now a concern to many, she assured Nevadans that all information is kept confidential. She is optimistic that technicalities are being fixed and will be running smoothly in the silver state of Nevada.

"Many of them still have a big question mark primarily, and that our role is to help them to understand. How expensive is it? It's the cost. They don't know what the cost is. It's not expensive. It's affordable. That's why we tell them come here. We will put all the information about you and your family in here," Lee said.

Dr. Noel Fajardo of Las Vegas Gastroenterology said that in the medical community, misconceptions by both medical practitioners and patients alike, led to confusion regarding Obamacare coverage.

"People are misinformed and there's a lot of confusion as to when they are going to be eligible for receiving services under the ACA, and whenever they asks us questions we could not give direct answers because it's quite difficult for us to find a resource and this is the same situation when they go to the website and internet. They find a lot of misinformation as well. So I think this is where the government can come in and educate us what this act is all about,” said Dr. Fajardo.

Dr. Fajardo added that a more aggressive educational campaign for the ACA should be given to both medical practitioners and patients to gain a better understanding and awareness.

"We may get some newsletter from insurance companires but not exactly specific guidelines and this is quite frustrating for the patient, and also our practice as well, because there are some inconsistencies on what they tell us and this is something we don't know if it's the act itself or the insurance,” he said.

In a recent meeting, US Majority Floor Leader Senator Harry Reid said that the ACA will be beneficial for uninsured Americans.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Obama vows health website fix, says some rates may rise

BOSTON - President Barack Obama took the heat Wednesday for his health reforms' bungled rollout, and acknowledged perhaps for the first time that some Americans will pay more for coverage under Obamacare.

One month after the October 1 debut of the online portal, thousands of Americans have signed up for new health insurance but millions more have been stymied by a cascade of technical problems afflicting HealthCare.gov.

And Republican critics have jumped all over the administration for the law itself, saying millions of Americans were being kicked off current plans because of Obamacare, and that many will end up paying more for new coverage that must comply with the reforms.

Obama took his defense of his signature domestic legislation to Boston, in the state where his 2012 Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney unveiled a universal health coverage plan seven years ago that Obama used as "the model for the nation's law."

"I take full responsibility for making sure it gets fixed ASAP," Obama told a crowd. "We're working overtime to improve it every day."

He also acknowledged that some rate hikes may occur.

"There's a fraction of Americans with higher incomes who will pay more on the front end for better insurance with better benefits and protections like the patient's bill of rights, and that will actually save them from financial ruin if they get sick," Obama said in what is believed to be the first time he has made such an admission.

"But nobody is losing their right to health care coverage. And no insurance company will ever be able to deny you coverage or drop you as a customer altogether. Those days are over, and that's the truth."

Efforts by critics to scare people into thinking their insurance company was dropping customers without providing equal or better coverage were "grossly misleading," Obama said.

He was immediately hit with criticism from the country's top Republican, House Speaker John Boehner, who recalled the president's promise that Americans could keep their insurance plan if they liked it.

"It wasn't true when he said it years ago, and, as millions of Americans are finding out, it's not true now," Boehner said.

"All across the country, cancellation notices are hitting mailboxes because of the train wreck that is the president's health care law. Millions are being forced to buy new, Washington-approved plans, regardless of whether they liked their old plan or not and often at a higher cost."

Skeleton policies that do not measure up to Obamacare's rules, including not providing free mammograms or charging women 50 percent more than men, will need to be changed to conform to the law.

Republicans have sought for years to repeal or defund Obamacare. With the website glitches, they are now calling for a delay to the so-called individual mandate, which compels nearly all Americans to have insurance by next year or pay a fine.

Obama acknowledged that the rollout was tarnished by the poor functionality of the website, which in the first few weeks prevented many users from enrolling.

"Right now the website is too slow, too many people have gotten stuck. And I'm not happy about it," Obama said.

But he turned to the Romney plan as an example of how early problems and low enrollment numbers could be overcome.

"Today, there is nearly universal coverage in Massachusetts," Obama said.

Back in Washington, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius regretted that navigating the online portal has been a "miserably frustrating experience" for many.

"Let me say directly to these Americans: You deserve better. I apologize. I'm accountable to you for fixing these problems," Sebelius, the most senior administration official to testify before Congress on the law, told a closely-watched House of Representatives panel.

Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Fred Upton said he has seen little improvement since October 1.

"Sadly here we are now five weeks into enrollment and the news seems to get worse by the day," Upton said.

"After more than three years to prepare, malfunctions have become the norm."

Sebelius appeared at the third hearing in a week addressing the faulty start to Obamacare.

With Republicans seizing on the policy cancellation letters, Sebelius pushed back, saying it was insurance companies altering their inadequate plans in order to conform with Obamacare.

"This market has always been the Wild West," she said of the individual marketplace, in which some five percent of Americans buy health coverage.

Democrats like Henry Waxman rode to Sebelius's rescue.

"The early glitches in this rollout will soon be forgotten," he told the panel, "and then every American will finally have access to affordable health insurance."

Last week, the lead contractors, which collectively have been paid hundreds of millions of dollars to create and manage the website, said there was insufficient testing of the online portal.

Asked if the two weeks of end-to-end testing was enough, Sebelius replied "clearly not."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Red State or Blue, Obamacare Pricing Seems Apolitical

NEW YORK -- For Americans who are able to check out new insurance plans launched under President Barack Obama's health care reform, the price differences from state to state may be surprising.

Residents of Minnesota, a Democratic-led state, are likely to pay the lowest monthly premiums in the country. Just two states away, some residents of Republican-dominated Wyoming might be surprised to find they will pay among the highest.

But the ideological debate between Obamacare's supporters and opponents seems to have had little relevance when it comes to the affordability of care, the main goal of the Democratic president's signature program, health economists and actuaries say.

Instead, they point to regional differences in medical costs, the relative health and age of local populations and competition among insurers as having greater influence over the monthly premiums. Those differences lead to a wide variance in prices between states, and even within states.

Of the 24 states that fall below a national average of $328 in monthly premiums, laid out in a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services analysis last month, at least half are dominated by Republican state governments.

The affordability of the plans will likely determine whether enough uninsured Americans, particularly young and healthy ones, sign up to make the program successful.

The new insurance plans became available for enrollment nationwide on Oct. 1. But technical problems with the federal government's health care.gov website serving 36 states have blocked millions of people from accessing the information.

In Wyoming, the cheapest mid-tier plan, or "silver" plan, costs $307 for a 27-year old in Laramie County, one of the state's only two counties considered "urban" and where the state capital Cheyenne is located. It has 60,000 residents with an average age of 37 years old. Venture outside those two counties and prices rise by $25. Change to the one other insurer offering a plan, and prices climb $100.

In Minnesota, a 27-year old in Minneapolis could pay $126 for a silver plan. Its population is 393,000, and the median age is 34. Go out to Traverse County, with the oldest population in the state, and that starting price rises to $153. In Minnesota, residents can choose from four insurers.

"It seems that basically the eligible populations in those areas, and the relative negotiating power of providers and insurance plans seem to really be the driver" of prices, said Matthew Buettgens, a mathematician at the Urban Institute, a social and economic research, "not necessarily politics."

Maryland, a staunchly Democratic state with an active insurance department, emphasized its ability to reduce premium rates by about 30 percent overall on the new products. But the average price on its mid-tier "silver" insurance plan is $299, only $6 less than in Republican-led Texas, whose leaders have been at the forefront of an effort to kill the health care law, culminating in a federal government shutdown.

Even within a state, there are variations. In Georgia, a 100-mile difference can mean hundreds of dollars in the monthly cost. Monthly premiums in rural regions cost much more than in more populated areas.

According to the data on the federal health care.gov website, the cheapest "silver" plans in the state are in the counties surrounding Atlanta -- about $185 a month -- where five insurers sell plans. The most expensive are in Georgia's southwest corner, where only Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, a unit of WellPoint (WLP), sells Obamacare plans at a minimum of $200 a month higher for a comparable plan.

Florida and Texas Rates

To be sure, politics historically has played a role in how states regulate insurance. Many of the Republican "red" states have had a laissez-faire attitude towards regulation compared with activist Democratic, or "blue," states.

And to a lesser degree, that regulation did affect Obamacare prices. Many Republican states have deferred to the federal government to run their exchanges, while Democratic states that support Obamacare have taken an active role in running their own exchanges.




Leaders in Texas and Florida also blamed Obamacare for skyrocketing health insurance costs, arguing that the new plans will take a toll on individuals and businesses.

In Florida, the Republican-led legislature and governor suspended the state insurance department's rate review authority for 2014 and 2015, saying they didn't want the state to participate in the overhaul.

But even without official authority, Florida still conducted "informational" reviews of rates for 2014 insurance products, and the federal government examined premiums there.

A Reuters review of insurance filings in both states showed their insurance departments played an active role in examining the plans proposed by insurance companies before they were submitted to the federal government. In at least one instance in Texas, the review led an insurer to lower prices for their plan, the insurer said.

In Florida, the average monthly premium matches the national average at $328. In Texas, it is lower at $305. A check of the benchmark mid-tier, or "silver," plans shows Texas is among the least expensive, costing $108 to insure a 27-year-old.

Florida's silver plans start more than $100 below the national average price, with prices at around $200 for a 27-year-old available in much of the state. The figures are before government subsidies for people earning less than 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or $94,200 for a family of four.

Standardizing Benefits

Obamacare requires all insurance policies for individuals to cover 10 standard health benefits, including maternity and emergency services, making the estimated cost of covering an individual the single biggest factor in premium rate. Regional differences play a role in making those estimates, experts explain.

"Colorado is purportedly a very healthy state and knowing people who live there, I understand why. They are always out there climbing mountains," said Jim O'Connor, a principal at actuary firm Milliman in Chicago.

Spending also varies by the price of medical services rendered in each region -- the cost of an X-ray in Topeka versus Miami, for example. A third factor is how often someone living in the region typically goes to the doctor when they are sick, which can be heavily influenced by social norms.

Other wild cards involved in setting premiums include how many of the very sick people in their state will buy a particular insurer's plan, and how many of the previously uninsured population will come in with pent-up demand for doctor visits and new treatments -- one of the true tests of Obamacare.

source: dailyfinance.com

Pinoy's legal status in jeopardy due to US govt shutdown

NEW YORK- Despite President Barack Obama’s meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday night, there’s still no deal in sight to end the historic government shutdown.

This is bad news for an overseas Filipino worker from La Union, Philippines.

Joel Cruz (not his real name), who requested ABS-CBN News not to reveal his identity, said he could lose his legal status because of the shutdown.

Cruz, who came to the US in January on a temporary H1B work visa, is in the process of switching to a new employer after his previous contract expired last September 30.

Labor and immigration lawyer Felix Vinluan said, “It’s very difficult doing transfer nowadays, considering the shutdown, because a requirement for the H1B petition to be filed would be to secure an LCA or Labor Condition Application… with the shutdown, the Department of Labor is not doing any LCA’s.”

Cruz’s new employer filed an LCA on September 24 but the shutdown has prevented him from filing an H1B transfer petition without the LCA.

"It normally takes the Department of Labor 7 days to approve an LCA application," Vinluan said, "Next Thursday, with the shutdown, the new employer won’t have the LCA so magiging out of status na yung H1B beneficiary by Friday next week, yung I-94 card niya expires next week."

"Dahil sa shutdown, walang pasok yung mga taga Department of Labor kaya pending yung pag approve ng certified na LCA ko," Cruz said, "Malaking epekto kasi siyempre dahil nga sa magiging out of status na ako, wala akong trabaho, hindi ako pwedeng magtrabaho unless mai-transfer nila yung H1B ko."

The clock is ticking for Cruz’s legal status and he may even lose the field engineer job that he was offered.

Vinluan said Cruz is only one of his several clients affected by the shutdown.

With 70% of court employees, including judges, furloughed nationwide as a result of the shutdown, Vinluan said he is expecting further delays in immigration hearings.

Vinluan said his Filipino clients, who are victims of human trafficking were scheduled to be interviewed by the US Attorney General Wednesday, has been postponed indefinitely.

"Last Friday, I got a call from the US Attorney General’s Office, they told me don’t bring your’ clients because we are anticipating — we are going to have a shutdown , so there won’t be an office yesterday so hindi natuloy ang aming investigation," said Vinluan.

Vinluan said as the shutdown lingers, case backlogs in the nation’s 59 immigration courts are expected to experience further delays until the US government re-opens.

“Wala naman talagang koneksiyon yung Obamacare sa pag promulgate ng budget for this new fiscal year, sana they come to their senses and come up with the solution very soon," Vinluan said.

Cruz said, "Siguro tapusin na nila yan, at ayusin na lang nila para mag-open na lahat ng mga offices para lahat ng mga pending applications ay maituloy na at maipasa na nila."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Will enough Americans sign up for Obamacare?

WASHINGTON - Healthcare reform should be the signature Democratic achievement of President Barack Obama's presidency.

But with "Obamacare" five months from show time, Democrats are worried about whether enough Americans will sign up to make the sweeping healthcare overhaul a success - and what failure might mean for Congress heading into the 2016 presidential race.

Some of the law's main advocates fear that not enough of America's 49 million uninsured will know about health coverage offered in their own states. Even if they do, new insurance plans may not be attractive to young, healthy consumers needed to offset an expected influx of older and sicker patients.

Only a handful of states are beginning campaigns to promote the online health insurance marketplaces created by the law. Known as exchanges, the markets will offer private coverage at federally subsidized rates to individuals and families with low-to-moderate incomes, with enrollment set to begin Oct. 1.

The federal government has kept quiet about its promotion plans, which are expected to begin in earnest over the summer.

While Obama and his administration say they are working nonstop on reform, analysts believe a poor performance could make the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act a big enough campaign issue in 2014 to jeopardize Democratic control of the Senate - particularly if insurance costs rise sharply.

"There is reason to be very concerned about what's going to happen with young people. If their (insurance) premiums shoot up, I can tell you, that is going to wash into the United States Senate in a hurry," said Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat.

Some Democrats are frustrated about the lack of details surrounding administration plans to promote the exchanges.

Senator Max Baucus, a chief architect of the reform law, said federal outreach efforts deserve a failing grade so far and could be heading for a "huge train wreck." He criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for the scant information her department has provided.

Funding embargo

"Why in late April can't they show us any of what they've got planned? The rollout plan should already be in existence," an exasperated Democratic Senate aide said separately.

The law is expected to cover 15 million Americans next year through the exchanges and an expansion of Medicaid. The overall number is forecast to jump to 38 million by 2022.

Reform is facing challenges on several fronts. Big insurers appear wary of participating, raising questions about how competitive the exchanges will be. Businesses are mounting a new legal effort to stop the use of federal subsidies in exchanges run by Washington. And most states have balked at the exchanges and the Medicaid expansion.

Meanwhile, the enrollment effort is under threat from months of delay, a congressional Republican embargo on new funding and worries about how affordable the new plans will be, according to analysts, lawmakers, congressional aides and former officials.

"I don't see how what they're planning to do is going to be adequate. The resources are too limited, the (law's) penalties are too weak and elite opposition in much of the country will undermine" enrollment, said Paul Starr, a Princeton professor and former health adviser to President Bill Clinton.

Add to that the challenge of reaching a public that is highly skeptical and often misinformed about the most complex social legislation since Medicare and Medicaid in the mid-1960s.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 77 percent of Americans know little or nothing about exchanges, while 40 percent erroneously think reforms create a government panel to make end-of-life decisions for people on Medicare.

An April survey of 1,003 people by HealthPocket, an online company that helps consumers find insurance, also found that the law's penalty for not buying coverage would not induce most 25-to-34-year-olds or 18-to-24-year-olds to purchase it.

Glitches and bumps

Obama this week defended the pace of implementation, telling reporters that the government was working hard to "make sure that we're hitting all the deadlines and the benchmarks" even with the challenge of building the new online exchanges.

"That's still a big, complicated piece of business," Obama said, adding the task was made harder by a dedicated Republican opposition still determined to block the law's implementation.

"Even if we do everything perfectly, there'll still be, you know, glitches and bumps," he said.

The administration is building exchanges in 33 states that are unwilling or unable to do so on their own, and has limited funds for marketing. The remaining 17 states are building their own and have received sizable budgets for outreach.

Among states taking the lead, Vermont has launched radio advertising to raise public awareness. Colorado begins its public outreach this month, while California, Maryland and the District of Columbia will hold off until later in the year.

For the federal exchanges, HHS has a contract worth at least $8 million with public relations firm Weber Shandwick and $54 million to train and pay "navigators," or counselors who will help consumers choose a health plan. It also has a $28 million contract with General Dynamics to set up a call center and will make its Healthcare.gov website consumer-oriented.

The administration is seeking help from major U.S. insurance providers to market aggressively to consumers on the federally run exchanges and help convince healthy citizens between 26 to 45 to pay for insurance instead of a first-year penalty amounting to $95 per person or 1 percent of household income.

Blowing up

But reform advocates worry that the HHS budget is too small and the spigot for new funding from Congress is shut off by partisan politics. The "navigator" program allocates just $600,000 each for 13 states including Delaware, Iowa, Kansas and New Hampshire.

"There's a limited amount of money that should be increased. But that's subject to appropriations and Congress is not likely to appropriate additional money," said Ron Pollack of the advocacy group Families USA. "It's going to require a very robust effort in the private sector."

Analysts say reform could be as big an issue in next year's congressional midterm elections as it was in 2010, when dislike for the law among senior citizens helped install a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. This time, failed implementation could end Democratic hopes of recapturing the House and leave enough Senate Democrats vulnerable to give Republicans an edge in that chamber.

"We have to see how bad it is. This issue blowing up on Democrats would make the Republicans' job a lot easier," said Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report.

But Democrats believe implementation will also provide favorable coverage of deserving individuals and families finally being able to secure adequate and affordable health coverage after a long sojourn through the current marketplace.

There has been encouraging news for consumers. Vermont says 2014 premium rates will save money for residents. A family of four with an annual income of $75,000 would pay less than $600 per month for coverage with a federal subsidy, versus $900 for the cheapest small group plan available today.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com