Health Insurance

How does the Affordable Care Act affect children in low-income families and people who want to buy coverage on the new state insurance exchanges? Below find some answers to questions that were posed by readers. I am the breadwinner for a family of five, including my wife and three kids. The insurance for me is cheap, but for the entire family it's prohibitively expensive. I'd like to know if the health-reform law is doing anything for the kids of families — like mine — that earn less than 200 percent of the...

THOUGHT YOU HAD seen the last of the fighting over the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare? Since its passage in 2010, after all, it has survived Supreme Court review, innumerable challenges from House Republicans and Mitt Romney's unsuccessful campaign to evict its author from the White House. Nonetheless, with the heart of the reform set to take effect next year, its most contentious days may lie ahead. The law will affect Americans' health and pocketbooks, and its implementation entails many challenges and quite a few unknowns.

Military veterans will have more health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act, but some vets, like many Americans, may still struggle to find affordable, accessible care that meets their needs. Roughly 40 percent of the 22.3 million military veterans receive health-care services from the Veterans Health Administration , which operates a nationwide network of medical centers, hospitals and clinics. Many veterans are eligible for both VA health care and Medicare, Medicaid or Tricare, the health plan...

Doing the same thing over and over again — and expecting a different result — is supposed to be the definition of insanity. On Thursday, it is the only thing on the calendar for the House of Representatives . Since Republicans took over in 2011, the House has voted five times to repeal President Obama's health-care law . It has also voted 31 other times to repeal individual pieces of the law or to strip away its funding....

My hat is off to Max Baucus. He's produced a credible plan to make health care both a right and a responsibility of all Americans while beginning to rein in health spending in a way that is politically acceptable to a majority of Americans. In many ways it is the most robust proposal so far because of its emphasis on changing the way health care is organized, delivered and paid for. The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has put the reform back in health reform. During the first two days of committee action on his...

QMy company has been laying off people, and I'm worried I may lose my job soon. If that happens, what will I be able to do about my health insurance? AIf you lose or leave your job, you usually can continue coverage through your employer's plan for up to 18 months through a federal program called COBRA. You can't be rejected or charged more because of your health, but you may be flabbergasted by the price. Your policy doesn't change when you make the switch, but the price jumps because you lose the...

Most people are hit with a double whammy when they're laid off: Not only do they lose their income, but they also lose their employer-subsidized health insurance. The federal law called COBRA lets most people continue coverage with their employer's plan for up to 18 months after they lose or leave a job. And you can't be denied coverage or charged a higher premium if your health is poor or you have a preexisting condition. But the cost may flabbergast you. Employers generally pay about three-fourths of the cost of family...

My husband owns an architectural services firm, and we can't wait for January 2014. That's when his and other small D.C. businesses will finally have the opportunity to purchase affordable and comprehensive health insurance for their workers in a competitive and functional market. I support decisions made this month by the D.C. officials who are charged with implementing federal health-care reform — so-called Obamacare — to make this a reality. The District's current health-insurance...

Only a fraction of the U.S. adults who could benefit from hearing aids actually get them, and one of the main reasons is money. Hearing aids typically costs a few thousand dollars, sometimes much more, and most insurance plans don't cover that. Medicare generally doesn't pay anything, though hearing loss is a common concern among its beneficiaries. Faced with a hefty expense, many people decide that hearing what's going on around them is a luxury they can't afford. In...

After applying for 279 jobs over two years, my husband finally got the offer he'd been hoping for: a well-paid position teaching philosophy at a respected university. We should have been thrilled. There was just one little thing. The job was in Hong Kong. "I feel like we're being deported from our own country," my husband said. "It'll be an adventure," I replied, trying to sound game. "I wasn't looking for an adventure," he said. "I was just looking for a job. " We didn't know we would be part of a wave...

WASHINGTON — Of the more than 6,500 District of Columbia residents who self-identify as Native Americans, it's not clear how many will be forced to buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Many American Indians get free health care through the Indian Health Service program. But President Barack Obama's health care overhaul specifies that only people who are part of federally recognized tribes will be exempt from the law's requirement individuals either purchase health insurance or pay a...

BALTIMORE — Maryland health advocates urged religious leaders on Tuesday to learn more about how federal health care reform will be implemented in the state so they can pass information on to uninsured congregants. About 150 leaders gathered for the first summit of its kind in the state. The summit began with state officials and health advocates explaining how important it will be for the religious community to spread information about how to get insurance under the...

Robert J. Samuelson's May 10 Washington Forum column, " Why Obamacare is oversold, " gave too much weight to a short-term study examining a long-term issue, glossed over the immediate benefits apparent in Oregon's Medicaid expansion and failed to recognize that health insurance does not equal health care. The expansion increased Medicaid utilization and spending, nearly eliminated catastrophic out-of-pocket medical expenses for individuals and decreased rates of depression. Other outcomes were...

The D.C. Council could decide as soon as next week whether to require small-business owners to purchase their employee health insurance through a city-run exchange, highlighting a special implication of the federal health-care overhaul that has been strongly opposed by some business interests . Council member Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7) said she planned to introduce emergency legislation to be taken up at a May 22 meeting authorizing key policy aspects of the city's health insurance exchange, which is set to open Oct. 1. ...

MIAMI — Hospitals nationwide could lose half a billion dollars in federal funding meant to offset the cost of covering the uninsured next year. The loss that will be especially felt in states where lawmakers have decided against expanding Medicaid coverage. According to rough estimates released Monday by federal health officials, cuts could jump to $4 billion in 2020, Hospitals around the country that treat a large number of uninsured residents rely on federal funds to offset costs.

As landmark dates approach in the health-care overhaul, readers are trying to figure out how the new insurance exchanges will work. Some recent questions: After the exchanges go live in 2014, will consumers still be able to buy individual health insurance directly from carriers, without going through those state-based marketplaces? I fear the rules of the plans operating within the exchange will make the premiums unnecessarily high for younger, healthy people. Consumers will be able to buy...

Signing up an estimated 30 million uninsured Americans for coverage under the health-care law is shaping up to be, if not a bureaucratic nightmare, at the very least a daunting task. While some people will find registering for health insurance as easy as booking a flight online, vast numbers who are confused by the myriad choices will need to sit down with someone who can walk them through the process. Enter the "navigators," an enormous new workforce of helpers...

SAN FRANCISCO — When Liz DeRouen needs any kind of health care services, from diabetes counseling to a dental cleaning, she checks into a government-funded clinic in Northern California's wine country that covers all her medical needs. Her care and the medical services for her children and grandchildren are paid for as part of the government's treaty obligations to American Indian tribes dating back nearly a century. But under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, DeRouen...

More than 3 million young people have gained health insurance since the Affordable Care Act became law three years ago, allowing young adults to stay on their parents' health insurance until age 26. Starting next year, young adults will have more options for health insurance. But despite the expanded choices, some may continue to face problems commonly associated with their age group: coverage for mental health issues, substance abuse and maternity care. A recent study ...