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Larry Levitt
@larry_levitt
Executive Vice President for Health Policy, @KFF. Cal Bear.
Oakland, CA
Joined June 2009
Posts
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    Trump has rescinded a Biden executive order calling for the development of policies to lower drug costs for people in Medicare and Medicaid.
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    It looks like Democrats are on their way to giving the government the authority to negotiate the prices of certain drugs in Medicare and enhancing ACA affordability. This would be the biggest health reform since passage of the ACA itself over 12 years ago.
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    Fact check: Mary Lou Retton's pre-existing conditions would not make her ineligible for health insurance or increase her premium. That's been prohibited under Obamacare since 2014.
    Mary Lou Retton opens up about why she didn't have health insurance in an exclusive interview with Hoda Kotb. today.com/health/womens-…
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    I was just looking through an insurance underwriting manual from before the ACA. You know what would have gotten you denied individual insurance? Using hydroxychloroquine in the previous 12 months.
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    To be clear, the Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover pre-existing conditions. President Trump is arguing before the Supreme Court that the ACA be overturned.
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    This is a remarkable statistic: 18.7 million out of the 24.3 million Obamacare enrollees are in states won by President Trump in 2024.
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    Every time I help a family member or friend enroll in Medicaid, I come away amazed at how many people actually manage to succeed in navigating the application process. We focus a lot on eligibility for public benefits and not nearly enough on the complexity of accessing them.
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    When "hotspot" ceases to become a useful concept. kff.org/health-costs/i…
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    New: 83% of the public supports having the federal government negotiate drug prices, even after hearing arguments for and against the idea. We didn't poll on baseball, motherhood, and apple pie, but I'm not sure they would score much higher. kff.org/health-costs/p…
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    Starting July 1, people who have received any unemployment benefits during 2021 can get no premium health insurance on healthcare.gov for the rest of the year. This could be a big source of coverage, if people hear about it. hhs.gov/about/news/202…
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    After trying for decades, Democrats are finally succeeding at giving the federal government authority to negotiate drug prices. This is not the sweeping drug pricing measure originally envisioned, but it is the biggest political loss the pharmaceutical industry has suffered.
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    The ACA did 3 big things in the insurance market: 1. Guaranteed access irrespective of pre-existing conditions. 2. Required benefits like maternity and mental health, and prohibited lifetime and annual limits. 3. Provided tax credits to help people afford insurance.
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    Under the ACA people with incomes up to 150% of poverty pay an average deductible of $255. In the Senate hill bill it would be over $6,000.
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    New: Suicide death rates vary tremendously by state, and that variation is due largely to suicides by firearms. kff.org/other/issue-br…