This year, it’s important to remember that the people who matter most in our lives have something in common: The Affordable Care Act is making their health care more affordable and easier to access.
ACA
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Angus King, Marco Rubio look to fix conflict between Social Security and ACA
SCARBOROUGH (AP) — Maine’s independent U.S. senator says he’s attempting to fix a conflict in federal law that creates a burden for recipients of disability benefits. Sen. Angus King says the conflict affects people who qualify for Affordable Care Act subsidies and have recently been approved as eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance. King says […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Short-term health plans coming to Maine won’t cover pre-existing conditions, or much else
New low-cost, short-term health insurance plans allowed by the Trump administration will be available in Maine this fall, but health care advocates say the plans won’t provide protections for pre-existing conditions and are filled with loopholes to avoid paying claims. Mitchell Stein, a Maine-based health insurance consultant, said many of the short-term plans, which cost […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine, sj-web
Maine industry leaders embrace new health insurance rules that lower costs – and benefits
Industry leaders in Maine say they welcome new rules issued Tuesday by the Trump administration that will allow national trade organizations, local chambers of commerce and other business groups to offer their own health insurance plans to their members. But some health care advocates criticized the new rules, saying they could further destabilize the state’s […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Maine’s ACA insurers seek rate increases for 2019
Maine’s two leading providers of Affordable Care Act-compliant individual health insurance are requesting average rate increases of just over 9 percent in 2019, and smaller increases if a state-run reinsurance program is revived. Massachusetts-based Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is requesting an average premium increase of 9.5 percent for its individual plans on Maine’s ACA marketplace […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Affordable Care Act individual insurance rates expected to jump in Maine
As Maine’s providers of Affordable Care Act-compliant health insurance prepare to file their rate requests for 2019, analysts say they are expecting ACA individual insurance rates in Maine to increase by double digits as they have done in previous years. Both of Maine’s existing providers of Affordable Care Act individual health insurance say they plan […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Susan Collins says she is still hopeful for ACA fixes
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on Wednesday said she’s not giving up on fixes to the Affordable Care Act’s individual marketplace, despite such efforts failing in Congress last month. But Collins said she’s “not very optimistic” that the measures would be taken up this year. Collins made an appearance at The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
'Affordable' care in question under Trump administration
Escalating premiums and deductibles have driven about 10,000 Mainers over a health care “cliff,” where they can barely afford coverage thanks to a vulnerability in the Affordable Care Act exploited by the actions of the Trump administration. Depending on the plan chosen, premiums have increased by about 70 percent or more since 2014 for people […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Collins now says tax reform vote wasn’t contingent on support for her bills to boost ACA
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine appeared Thursday to contradict previous comments she made that her vote for the Republican tax reform proposal that passed in December was based on promises she secured from Republican leaders that Affordable Care Act stabilization measures would be approved. Collins said the ACA measures were among numerous issues that were […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Maine employers dispute IRS penalties under ACA
The Internal Revenue Service has ordered at least two dozen businesses in Maine and New Hampshire to pay fines up to $1 million or more for failing to abide by the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate. But legal and accounting experts in Maine say most of the fines are based on errors and should not […]