IMAGE: Health Insurance Coverage Before and After Job Loss Among People in a Family Experiencing Job Loss as of May 2, 2020, courtesy kff.org

An estimated 27 million Americans may have lost employer-based health insurance because of pandemic layoffs, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report released Wednesday. Read the rest

In today's edition of impeached president Donald Trump's brain melting down on live television, fresh word salad featuring health care and the verb 'terminate.' Read the rest

From Politico:

President Donald Trump and administration officials recently said they were considering relaunching HealthCare.gov, the federal enrollment site, and insurers said they privately received assurances from health officials overseeing the law's marketplace. However, a White House official on Tuesday evening told POLITICO the administration will not reopen the site for a special enrollment period, and that the administration is "exploring other options."

The annual enrollment period for HealthCare.gov closed months ago, and a special enrollment period for the coronavirus could have extended the opportunity for millions of uninsured Americans to newly seek out coverage. Still, the law already allows a special enrollment for people who have lost their workplace health plans, so the health care law may still serve as a safety net after a record surge in unemployment stemming from the pandemic.

[…]

Trump confirmed last week he was seriously considering a special enrollment period, but he also doubled down on his support of a lawsuit by Republican states that could destroy the entire Affordable Care Act, along with coverage for the 20 million people insured through the law.

Healthcare.gov is of course a product of the Affordable Care Act, which is also commonly referred to as Obamacare, a branding that has inspired a decade's worth of spite from Republican politicians determined to destroy the legacy of the first black president at all costs.

There are honestly few things in this world that baffle me as much as the vitriol that some conservatives feel about Obama's "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" quote. Read the rest

Poor people were not the primary target of Obamacare; as a group, their care is more likely to be "non-compensated" (trips to the emergency room while classed as "indigent" and unable to pay), so insurance shouldn't make a big difference to them, right? Read the rest

The United States Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said Friday it was responding to a data breach that exposed the files of about 75,000 people. Read the rest

American health care is so screwed up, so horribly distorted by the insurance companies' abusive practices, that millions of Americans (even those with insurance) fly to Mexico every year to get state-of-the-art medical care -- and a resort vacation in the bargain -- rather than face the US system, and save money by doing so. Read the rest

Get insured, folks: just because the Trump administration is doing everything it can to take away healthcare from millions of Americans (including refusing to tell anyone that enrollment is open!), doesn't mean you have to go along with it. Pass it on! Read the rest

Health insurance premiums for many people who get their coverage on the ACA/Obamacare individual insurance markets will go up 20 percent next year if President Donald Trump executes on his repeated threats to halt billions of dollars in payments to health insurers. Read the rest

The establishment wing of the Democratic Party has spent decades receiving dump-trucks full of money from the insurance industry and then, totally coincidentally, explaining that the time isn't right for single-payer for completely unrelated reasons. Read the rest

Once big data systems agglomerate enough data about you to predict whether you are likely to get sick or badly injured, insurers will be able to deny coverage (or charge so much for it that it amounts to the same thing) to anyone who is likely to get sick, forcing everyone who might ever need insurance into medical bankruptcy, and turning Medicaid into a giant "high-risk pool" that taxpayers foot the bill for. Read the rest

After 7 years of grandstanding, the GOP failed to pass its utterly indefensible 'skinny repeal' bill to destabilize American healthcare. The Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, lost on a 51-49 vote that included some surprise yesses and nos.

What a weird night this has been in America. GOP Senators wrote a health care bill over sandwiches at lunch, released the text at night, wouldn't answer reporter's questions about the content of the bill, then held a vote at 1am. And they failed. Read the rest

The U.S. Senate has voted to reject a proposal to repeal major portions of the Affordable Care Act (aka ACA, aka Obamacare) without providing a replacement. Read the rest

The U.S. Senate, aided by Trump's second in command, has voted to begin debate on the GOP's plan to destroy Obamacare. Read the rest

As Senators vote on proceeding to debate the secret Trump/GOP health care plan aka Obamacare repeal plan *they haven't even seen,* protesters in the senate chambers and outside shouted “Kill the bill, don't kill us.” Read the rest

You know all those health industry lobbyists who say that the American healthcare industry will go broke if it has to take care of the health of Americans? Read the rest

The GOP's 7-year promise to "repeal and replace Obamacare" ends in a flaming pile of fail. Read the rest