Senate Tax Bill To Include Rpeal Obamacare Mandate

Obamacare signups for 2018 have started- with new rules

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Doctors and patients are worried about a push by the nation's second-largest health insurer to limit emergency room visits to major problems like heart attacks or strokes.

The Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurer Anthem has notified customers in a few U.S. states that they may foot the bill if they go to the ER for minor complaints. It's the latest attempt by the insurance industry to crack down on unnecessary and pricey hospital trips.

Anthem says it's focusing on claims the average person knows should not be seen in the ER.

But doctors say this policy may scare people away from the ER in a real emergency.

The insurer has warned patients in Kentucky, Georgia and Missouri and will add other states where it sees a rise in unnecessary ER visits.

TRUMP: Obioid Crisis A Public Health Emergency

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency — a step that won't bring new dollars to fight a scourge that kills nearly 100 Americans a day but will expand access to medical services in rural areas, among other changes.

"This epidemic is a national health emergency," Trump said in a speech at the White House, where he bemoaned a crisis he said had spared no segment of American society.

"As Americans we cannot allow this to continue," he said.

Trump Calls For Health Mandate Repeal

President Donald Trump called Wednesday for repealing the Obamacare individual mandate in a tax overhaul, a day before House GOP leaders planned to unveil a bill without that provision.

In a pair of tweets, Trump said: “Wouldn’t it be great to Repeal the very unfair and unpopular Individual Mandate in ObamaCare and use those savings for further Tax Cuts for the Middle Class. The House and Senate should consider ASAP as the process of final approval moves along.”

The idea, proposed Sunday by Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, could complicate the plans of Republicans to keep the health care and tax debates separate. Party leaders worry that reopening the politically painful Obamacare debate would cost them crucial votes on a tax bill.

“What I don’t want to do is to add things that could again kill tax reform like health care died over there,” House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady said Tuesday on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, when asked about the idea. “So I say focus on jobs and growth and leapfrogging America to the lead pack worldwide.”

A "skinny" repeal of Obamacare that scrapped the individual mandate failed in July to pass the Senate after three GOP senators defected. Scrapping the mandate’s tax penalty on most Americans who don’t purchase insurance would raise $416 billion over a decade, and increase the number of uninsured by 15 million, according to a December 2016 estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.

50 Votes

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders seemed to contradict the president’s stance on including individual mandate repeal in tax legislation during a press briefing Wednesday. “We’re focused on pushing through tax cuts and tax reforms, separately,” Sanders said.

“Obviously we’ve never made it a secret that we’d like to repeal and replace Obamacare,” she said, adding “We still think it’s probably more likely to do something like that in the spring.”

Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune said Tuesday he doesn’t know if the upper chamber’s tax legislation would ax the Obamacare mandate. "I don’t anticipate that it will, but at this point I wouldn’t want to rule it out," he said.

Still, the South Dakota Republican said the idea has appeal. “I’m actually somewhat interested in that, because it has significant revenue implications,” he said. “The question is: Are there 50 votes for something like that in the Senate?”

By the Washington Post

Colorado Child Health Plan Chp+

While funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Child Health Plan Plus(CHP+) in Colorado, awaits Congressional reauthorization, preparation continues in Colorado. Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) has estimated existing funding will carry the program through the end of January 2018. HCPF is providing updates on its Future of Child Health Plan Plus page, including a sample letter to members that will go out the last week of November, if funding is not restored.

Notifications for enrollmen & payment status

eal-time notifications for enrollment and initial payment status

October 30, 2017

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Did you know we get more than 300,000 calls a year from members enrolling in Individual ACA (Affordable Care Act) plans who just want to find out the status of their application or initial payment? Sometimes this means our members have to wait on the line to talk to someone over the phone. So we wanted a better, easier solution for them. Now, instead of having to call us, we simply send them a confirmation email, if they gave us an email address. This email lets them know in real time when their enrollment is complete and that we received their initial payment.

Confirmation notices go to both on- and off-exchange, new and current Individual ACA members. As long as we have a valid email address on file, they will get an enrollment confirmation email when they enroll for new benefits.

Online confirmations
We made similar updates for members completing online applications through Shopper or MyAnthem Choices. These online applicants will get email confirmations, too. But they also can log in and track their enrollment status in real time on their home page dashboard. They'll see an updated confirmation page with easy-to-understand messages about their application and initial payment status, and clear details about what, if any, next steps are needed.

Initial payment reminders
Starting November 8, we’ll send initial payment reminders to on-exchange customers with an email address, if they  didn't include payment with their application. These customers will still get a letter reminder in the mail. But the email reminder will arrive in their inbox much faster and will encourage them to pay online.

More to come
Looking ahead, we have plans to update many more application-related functions and follow-up communications. These include proposal, application transfer and application status emails, reminders and expiration notices. Some updates are scheduled to launch as early as December.

So stay tuned for more information to come.

Connect for Health Colorado Customer Notices

Connect for Health Colorado Customer Notices

Information about two important versions of our customer notifications are below:

Renewal Noticing Schedule       

The renewal notices will be sent by mail and email the week of October 30. The renewal notices can be viewed in customers’ accounts beginning Wednesday, November 1.

Similar plans

Some plans appear by name and description to be the same in 2018 as 2017. Although they might appear to be very similar, in some cases there is enough of a difference that the 2017 plan may not be auto-renewed. For customers enrolled in these 2017 plans, the similar 2018 plan will be their suggested plan. As with all 2018 health plan selections, we urge customers to carefully review the plan benefits to assure the benefits meet their anticipated needs (for example, doctors, hospitals, prescriptions) for 2018. These customers must actively select and enroll, whether they choose a suggested plan or other coverage, and make the initial January payment.