Hawaii Weighs Efforts To Fix Online Health Marketplace
The state set up its own exchange, but it's losing money, and officials are considering options for a long-term fix or a switch to the federal marketplace instead. Also, new reports examine how the uninsured view the marketplaces and young adults' deliberations on health insurance.
The Associated Press: Hawaii Health Care Faces Federal Threat
The problem starts with the Hawaii Health Connector, a federally mandated insurance marketplace that's losing money. A temporary funding plan went into effect this month, but once that money runs out, lawmakers will need to settle on a long-term fix that officials characterize as a choice between propping up a failing system at the expense of taxpayers, or turning control over to federal authorities at the risk of unravelling the state's comprehensive Prepaid Health Care Act (Bussewitz, 7/29).
Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Survey Finds 1 In 5 Uninsured Don't Want Coverage
Though millions of people gained health coverage this year as a result of the Affordable Care Act, millions more remain unaware of their options or have no interest in getting insured, a new survey has found (Galewitz, 7/30).
Fox News: Cost Trumps 'Invincibility' For Millenials Enrolling In Obamacare
During the 2014 enrollment period, a big question mark hung over the success of the law: would young people's [invincibility-mentality] discourage them from signing up? Turns out, the price tag was more of a deterrent. According to a new report from Deloitte, costs played a more important role in the decision-making process among enrollees ages 18 to 34 when signing up for coverage than the invincibility factor (Rogers, 7/29).
In other news, a report on how hospital emergency departments are faring under the health law -
Marketplace: ERs Are Still Busy, Affordable Care Act And All
One of the arguments in favor of the Affordable Care Act was that it would reduce dependency on emergency rooms by covering more people with basic preventive care. Now, millions of people are newly covered by Obamacare. So are emergency departments seeing a slowdown? Not so much (Wallace, 7/29).