AUGUSTA — More than 13,700 Maine residents picked plans on the health care exchange in the first three months of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, but most Mainers getting coverage are older, according to figures released by the federal government on Monday. Nearly 12,000 people signed up for coverage last month in Maine, one […]
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Posted inOp-Eds
Robert Reed: A different road to take toward health insurance
As a conservative, I am deeply concerned by the continued spending habits at all levels of government, including the large expenditure required for MaineCare programs, and the increasing reliance on government assistance by more people here in Maine. At the same time, I am also a realist who believes in analysis and facts to make […]
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Posted inMaine, Nation / World, sj-web
Health law leaves volunteer firefighting in limbo
FREEPORT (AP) — Fire chiefs and lawmakers are working to protect the system of volunteer firefighting that has served rural America for more than a century but is threatened by an ambiguity in President Barack Obama’s health care law. Small and rural fire departments from California to Maine, which has one of the country’s highest […]
Posted inRiver Valley
River Valley fire chiefs say federal insurance mandate doesn’t apply to their departments
RUMFORD — Chiefs of local volunteer fire departments in the River Valley region said they were either unaware of the Affordable Care Act ambiguity that affects volunteer firefighters or not concerned with it. According to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), employers with more than 50 full-time employees (or their […]
Posted insj-web
Marketing efforts to uninsured youth ramp up
MIAMI (AP) — The so-called “young invincibles” are so important to the success of the Affordable Care Act that supporters and detractors are spending millions to reach them with racy ads, social media campaigns and celebrity endorsements. The president is even (gasp) asking their mothers to help convince them to sign up for insurance. The […]
Posted inOxford Hills, sj-web
Towns gear up for health-insurance requirements
As key provisions of the Affordable Care Act came into effect Jan. 1, small towns across the country are grappling with ways to implement the necessary changes in order to comply with the new health care regulations. Many are facing the same predicament that forced Oxford’s hand last week when selectmen voted to change the […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Federal health market surpasses 1 million signups
HONOLULU — A December surge propelled health care sign-ups through the government’s rehabilitated website past the 1 million mark, the Obama administration said Sunday, reflecting new vigor for the problem-plagued federal insurance exchange. Of the more than 1.1 million people now enrolled, nearly 1 million signed up in December, with the majority coming days before […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Reversing ACA cancellations fails to make everyone happy
RALEIGH, N.C. — A month after President Barack Obama announced people could keep insurance policies slated for cancellation under the federal health overhaul, the reversal has gotten a mixed response from insurers, state regulators and consumers. Many consumers complained in October and November after insurers notified them that their plans were being canceled because they […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Feds extend deadline an extra day to sign up for ACA
AUGUSTA — Groups helping Mainers figure out their health insurance options on the federal marketplace said Monday that they’re keeping busy ahead of the looming coverage deadlines. The deadline to sign up on the federal marketplace for coverage that kicks in Jan. 1 had been Monday, but federal officials announced that they extended that deadline […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Feds say about 1,750 Mainers enrolled in ACA plans
AUGUSTA — The federal government says more than five times as many Mainers signed up for health insurance on the online exchange in the second month of enrollment compared to the first. The figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show that about 1,480 Mainers picked a plan last month. […]