Mark Farrah News Today

Insurers are likely to pay $1.1 billion in Affordable Care Act medical loss ratio rebates in 2024, according to a new analysis.

It is now clear that at least half of any net increase in total health insurance coverage during the first year of Obamacare will be as a result of its expansion of Medicaid.

In 2017, very little changed in net health insurance coverage, but below the surface, some significant shifts occurred in sources of coverage. In 2017, net enrollment in private and public coverage increased by only 191,000 people. The individual market, however, lost nearly 1.8 million enrollees in 2017—a decrease of 10.5 percent in a single year—dropping from 17 million people at the end of 2016 to 15.2 million at the end of 2017. That drop occurred almost entirely among people who did not...

In a new analysis, Richard G. Frank and Conrad Milhaupt examine the increased spending directed to related businesses by parent companies of Medicare Advantage plans.

While enrollment in individual market coverage grew by almost 6.3 million, 61 percent of that gain was offset by a reduction of nearly 3.8 million individuals with employer-sponsored coverage. During the same period, Medicaid enrollment increased by almost 6.1 million—principally as a result of Obamacare expanding eligibility to able-bodied, working-age adults.

Last year’s changes in health insurance enrollment are of particular interest, as 2014 was the year in which key provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) took effect—most notably, the offering of subsidies for coverage purchased through the new government exchanges and the ACA’s Medicaid expansion.

During 2016, individual-market enrollment decreased by 583,000 individuals and employer-group coverage decreased by 4,000 individuals for a net decrease in private-market coverage of 587,000 persons.

During the third quarter (Q3) of 2014, enrollment in employer-sponsored coverage continued to decline, while Medicaid enrollment continued to grow. However, enrollment in individual-market plans—which substantially increased in both of the first two quarters—also declined by 357,000 during the third quarter. The net result was that total enrollment decreased by 160,000 individuals during the third quarter. That was because the declines in private coverage (individual and employer plans) duri...

More than 8 million people can expect to collect this fall.

A Penn Hills father and daughter were able to celebrate a special occasion together at Duquesne University’s commencement. Arielle and Joshua Frederick both graduated from Duquesne on May 13 at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Joshua Frederick earned his second master’s degree in analytics and information management, and his daughter earned