The benchmark premium for an exchange plan in Prescott, Arizona, for a family of five with a 60-year-old household head is $50,923 in 2023.
- If that family made $150,000, they would qualify for a subsidy of $38,173.
- If that family made $350,000, they would qualify for a subsidy of $21,173.
- If that family made $500,000, they would qualify for a subsidy of $8,423.
- This family does not lose subsidy eligibility until they make more than $ 599,000.
The projected cost per newly insured is nearly $14,000 a year over the next decade—a high amount that shows that most of the new spending is simply replacing private spending with government spending.
Category: Cost of Healthcare
U.S. Health Care System Causes Patient Burnout (and Doctors Too)
Time Magazine discovered that seeing the doctor can be a real pain in the caboose. You aren’t feeling well so you call your doctor’s office. They tell you the next available appointment slot is several weeks away. You wait three weeks and finally present at the doctors’ office, where you wait in a “waiting room” while filling out a mountain of paperwork your doctor should already have. You are led to an exam room where you wait some more. You finally see your physician, whose face is buried in a computer screen. Ten minutes later you’re summarily dismissed and told to get lab work that has been ordered for you. A month later you get the bills (plural). Your appointment lasted only 10 minutes, but your budget will feel the sting for weeks to come. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.
Feds Want to Make School Kids Eat Healthy Food or Go Hungry
The Feds are coming for kids chocolate milk. Also, other school menu items that school kids will actually eat. Teachers, parents, school cafeteria cooks, school nutritionists and kids are in an uproar over a policy decision so dire that it might cause school kids to go hungry and thirsty.
CMS to Make Prior Authorization Quicker, Easier
Prior authorization is a requirement that health insurers use to exercise more control over enrollees’ medical treatments. If a health plan requires prior authorization for a specific service and providers fail to obtain approval, the treatment is not reimbursed. Prior authorization is controversial because doctors and patients often see it as an unnecessary interference between the doctor and patient relationship. Doctors hate the hassle of seeking permission prior to treating their patients. They also dislike so-called bean counters second guessing their treatment choices.