Approximately 100,000 immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children are expected to enroll in the Affordable Care Act's health insurance next year under a new directive from the Biden administration. This move will open up the marketplace to participants of the DACA program, providing access to tax breaks and improving their health and well-being. While it falls short of allowing Medicaid enrollment, it is seen as a step to boost Biden's appeal among Latinos and may receive criticism from conservatives regarding border and migrant policies.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 amendment, it represents the U.S. healthcare system's most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.The ACA's major provisions came into force in 2014. By 2016, the uninsured share of the population had roughly halved, with estimates ranging from 20 to 24 million additional people covered. The law also enacted a host of delivery system reforms intended to constrain healthcare costs and improve quality. After it went into effect, increases in overall healthcare spending slowed, including premiums for employer-based insurance plans.The increased coverage was due, roughly equally, to an expansion of Medicaid eligibility and to changes to individual insurance markets. Both received new spending, funded through a combination of new taxes and cuts to Medicare provider rates and Medicare Advantage. Several Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports said that overall these provisions reduced the budget deficit, that repealing ACA would increase the deficit, and that the law reduced income inequality by taxing primarily the top 1% to fund roughly $600 in benefits on average to families in the bottom 40% of the income distribution.The act largely retained the existing structure of Medicare, Medicaid, and the employer market, but individual markets were radically overhauled. Insurers were made to accept all applicants without charging based on preexisting conditions or demographic status (except age). To combat the resultant adverse selection, the act mandated that individuals buy insurance (or pay a monetary penalty) and that insurers cover a list of "essential health benefits".Before and after enactment the ACA faced strong political opposition, calls for repeal and legal challenges. In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, the Supreme Court ruled that states could choose not to participate in the law's Medicaid expansion, but upheld the law as a whole. The federal health insurance exchange, HealthCare.gov, faced major technical problems at the beginning of its rollout in 2013. Polls initially found that a plurality of Americans opposed the act, although its individual provisions were generally more popular. By 2017, the law had majority support. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 set the individual mandate penalty at $0 starting in 2019. This raised questions about whether the ACA was still constitutional. In June 2021, the Supreme Court upheld the ACA for the third time in California v. Texas.
A new survey reveals that nearly a quarter of individuals who were removed from Medicaid during post-pandemic eligibility reviews remain uninsured, with high costs hindering them from acquiring another plan. Over 20 million low-income Americans have lost federal health insurance since states started disenrolling people post-COVID-19, surpassing the Biden administration's estimated 15 million. Medicaid enrollment surged by almost 30% during the pandemic. Concerns arise over the potentially higher number of disenrollments and uninsured individuals, particularly impacting children. Many affected individuals lacked information about the unwinding process, leading to delayed medical care and financial burdens.
House Democrats in Mississippi express concerns about a bill that they believe would offer Medicaid expansion in name only. Supporters rally at the state Capitol urging for full Medicaid expansion. Small business owners, medical professionals, and advocacy groups push for lawmakers to fully fund the expansion plan. The Mississippi Black Women's Roundtable calls for closing the coverage gap and supporting full Medicaid expansion.
In the context of American public healthcare policy, the Medicaid coverage gap refers to uninsured people who do not qualify for marketplace assistance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and reside in states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion under the ACA. People within this categorization have incomes above the eligibility limits for Medicaid set by their state of residence but fall below the federal poverty line (FPL), resulting in deficient access to affordable health insurance. As of March 2023, an estimated 1.9 million Americans in 10 states are within the Medicaid coverage gap according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Approximately 97 percent of this cohort lives in the Southern U.S., with a majority living in Texas and Florida; Texas has the largest population of people in the cohort, accounting for 41 percent of people in the coverage gap.Expansion of Medicaid was a key aspect of the ACA when it was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010, supporting the legislation's goal of ensuring universal health care in the U.S. by raising the income threshold for Medicaid eligibility to 138 percent of the FPL among nonelderly adults. States choosing to participate in Medicaid expansion would also have additional Medicaid costs fully covered by the federal government in the first three years of expansion slated to begin in 2014, with a stepwise decrease in the federal government's share to 90 percent in 2020 and thereafter. Opponents of the legislation asserted that the federal government's conditioning of additional funding for Medicaid on adoption of expansion was unconstitutionally coercive. The Supreme Court held in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius that adoption of Medicaid expansion by states was effectively optional, and that states could continue with their preexisting Medicaid requirements without risk of defunding. The decision not to implement Medicaid expansion in some states after the ACA took effect in 2014 led to a "gap" in coverage for residents of those states with incomes too low for subsidized insurance in the ACA's newly established health insurance marketplaces and incomes too high to qualify for the non-expanded Medicaid in their states. Only 24 states adopted Medicaid expansion when ACA initially took effect. As of March 2023, 40 states and the District of Columbia have adopted Medicaid expansion, leaving 10 states that have not.
In the United States, Medicaid is a government program that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by state governments, which also have wide latitude in determining eligibility and benefits, but the federal government sets baseline standards for state Medicaid programs and provides a significant portion of their funding. Medicaid was established in 1965 and was significantly expanded by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was passed in 2010. In most states, anyone with income up to 138% of the federal poverty line qualifies for Medicaid coverage under the provisions of the ACA. A 2012 Supreme Court decision established that states may continue to use pre-ACA Medicaid eligibility standards and receive previously established levels of federal Medicaid funding; in states that make that choice, income limits may be significantly lower, and able-bodied adults may not be eligible for Medicaid at all.Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with low income in the United States, providing free health insurance to 85 million low-income and disabled people as of 2022; in 2019, the program paid for half of all U.S. births. As of 2017, the total annual cost of Medicaid was just over $600 billion, of which the federal government contributed $375 billion and states an additional $230 billion. States are not required to participate in the program, although all have since 1982. In general, Medicaid recipients must be U.S. citizens or qualified non-citizens, and may include low-income adults, their children, and people with certain disabilities. As of 2022 45% of those receiving Medicaid or CHIP were children.Medicaid also covers long-term services and supports, including both nursing home care and home- and community-based services, for those with low incomes and minimal assets; the exact qualifications vary by state. Medicaid spent $215 billion on such care in 2020, over half of the total $402 billion spent on such services. Of the 7.7 million Americans who used long-term services and supports in 2020, about 5.6 million were covered by Medicaid, including 1.6 million of the 1.9 million in institutional settings.Medicaid covers healthcare costs for people with low incomes, while Medicare is a universal program providing health coverage for the elderly. Medicaid offers elder care benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and personal care services. There are also dual health plans for people who have both Medicaid and Medicare. Along with Medicare, Tricare, and ChampVA, Medicaid is one of the four government-sponsored medical insurance programs in the United States. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in Baltimore, Maryland provides federal oversight.Research shows that existence of the Medicaid program improves health outcomes, health insurance coverage, access to health care, and recipients' financial security and provides economic benefits to states and health providers.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a United States immigration policy. It allows some individuals who, on June 15, 2012, were physically present in the United States with no lawful immigration status after having entered the country as children at least five years earlier, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for an employment authorization document (work permit).On November 9, 2023, an appeal was brought before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to determine whether a September 2023 federal district court order that would terminate the codified form of DACA, based on its being a violation of federal law, will be upheld and implemented.
Mississippi's Republican-led Legislature faces challenges in expanding Medicaid due to disagreements over a work requirement. House Democrats argue the proposed plan is insufficient, while some advocate for the state to join others in expanding Medicaid. House Speaker White plans to introduce a new proposal for a November ballot. Lt. Gov. Hosemann aims to increase healthcare access but faces Senate resistance, with Gov. Reeves likely to veto any plan. The proposal includes a work requirement, similar to Georgia's, currently in dispute with the federal government.
Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president for two terms under President Barack Obama, took office following his victory in the 2020 presidential election over Republican incumbent president Donald Trump. Upon his inauguration, he became the oldest president in American history, breaking the record set by his predecessor Trump. Biden entered office amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis, and increased political polarization.On the first day of his presidency, Biden made an effort to revert President Trump's energy policy by restoring U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement and revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. He also halted funding for Trump's border wall, an expansion of the Mexican border wall. On his second day, he issued a series of executive orders to reduce the impact of COVID-19, including invoking the Defense Production Act of 1950, and set an early goal of achieving one hundred million COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States in his first 100 days.Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021; a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that temporarily established expanded unemployment insurance and sent $1,400 stimulus checks to most Americans in response to continued economic pressure from COVID-19. He signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; a ten-year plan brokered by Biden alongside Democrats and Republicans in Congress, to invest in American roads, bridges, public transit, ports and broadband access. Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, making Juneteenth a federal holiday in the United States. He appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court—the first Black woman to serve on the court. After The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Biden took executive actions, such as the signing of Executive Order 14076, to preserve and protect women's health rights nationwide, against abortion bans in Republican led states. Biden proposed a significant expansion of the U.S. social safety net through the Build Back Better Act, but those efforts, along with voting rights legislation, failed in Congress. However, in August 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a domestic appropriations bill that included some of the provisions of the Build Back Better Act after the entire bill failed to pass. It included significant federal investment in climate and domestic clean energy production, tax credits for solar panels, electric cars and other home energy programs as well as a three-year extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies. Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, bolstering the semiconductor and manufacturing industry, the Honoring our PACT Act, expanding health care for US veterans, and the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act. In late 2022, Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, which repealed the Defense of Marriage Act and codified same-sex and interracial marriage in the United States. In response to the debt-ceiling crisis of 2023, Biden negotiated and signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which restrains federal spending for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, implements minor changes to SNAP and TANF, includes energy permitting reform, claws back some IRS funding and unspent money for COVID-19, and suspends the debt ceiling to January 1, 2025. Biden established the American Climate Corps and created the first ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. On September 26, 2023, Joe Biden visited a United Auto Workers picket line during the 2023 United Auto Workers strike, making him the first US president to visit one.The foreign policy goal of the Biden administration is to restore the US to a "position of trusted leadership" among global democracies in order to address the challenges posed by Russia and China. In foreign policy, Biden completed the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan, declaring an end to nation-building efforts and shifting U.S. foreign policy toward strategic competition with China and, to a lesser extent, Russia. However, during the withdrawal, the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized control, leading to Biden receiving bipartisan criticism. He responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by imposing sanctions on Russia as well as providing Ukraine with over $100 billion in combined military, economic, and humanitarian aid. Biden also approved a raid which led to the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, the leader of the Islamic State, and approved a drone strike which killed Ayman Al Zawahiri, leader of Al-Qaeda. Biden signed AUKUS, an international security alliance, together with Australia and the United Kingdom. Biden called for the expansion of NATO with the addition of Finland and Sweden, and rallied NATO allies in support of Ukraine. During the Israel–Hamas war, Biden condemned Hamas and other Palestinian militants as terrorism and announced American military support for Israel; Biden also showed his support and sympathy towards Palestinians affected by the war, sent humanitarian aid, and brokered a four-day temporary pause and hostage exchange.Biden began his term with over 50% approval ratings; however, these fell significantly after the withdrawal from Afghanistan and remained low as the country experienced high inflation and rising gas prices. His age and mental fitness have also been a subject of discussion.
State of New York, et al. v. Trump et al. (No. 1:17-cv-05228-NGG-JO) is an ongoing lawsuit against the rescission implemented by the Trump administration of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. At issue are Fifth Amendment protections of due process, information use, and equal protection.Plaintiffs claim damage in the form of "discriminatory treatment based on their national origin, without lawful justification.": 52
Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, 591 U.S. ___ (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held by a 5–4 vote that a 2017 U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) order to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program was "arbitrary and capricious" under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and reversed the order.DACA was established in 2012 under President Barack Obama to allow children brought into the United States without proper immigration authorization to defer deportation and maintain good behavior to receive a work permit to remain in the U.S.; such children were also called "Dreamers" based on the failed DREAM Act. On his election, President Donald Trump vowed to end the DACA, and the DHS rescinded the program in June 2017. Numerous lawsuits were filed, including one by the University of California system, which many "Dreamers" attended, asserting that the rescission violated rights under the APA and the right to procedural due process under the Fifth Amendment. The University sought and received an injunction from District Court Judge William Alsup to require DHS to maintain the DACA until the case was decided. DHS challenged this order to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which upheld Judge Alsup's ruling in November 2018, and ordered the DHS to maintain the DACA throughout the U.S.DHS petitioned to the Supreme Court, which accepted the case in June 2019, joining it with two other DACA-related lawsuits, Trump v. NAACP (Docket 18-588), which had been filed by the NAACP who challenged that rescinding the DACA had a disproportionate impact on minorities, and Wolf v. Vidal (Docket 18-589), which had been filed by a DACA recipient. Oral arguments were heard in November 2019, and the 5–4 decision given on June 18, 2020. While all nine Justices concurred in part on the judgement, the five in majority, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing for the majority, focused only on the application of the due process of the APA in the DHS's decision to rescind the DACA and found it unlawful. Justice Clarence Thomas, in his dissent in part and joined by others, argued that the Court should have further evaluated the legality of the original DACA program as part of their review.
Vice President Kamala Harris announced new rules for federally-funded nursing homes in Wisconsin, requiring minimum staffing levels, leading to objections from facility operators. The rule mandates 75% of nursing homes to hire staff, potentially forcing some facilities to close. The aim is to address severe staff shortages revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, another rule from President Biden's administration will direct 80% of Medicaid funds to pay workers in these facilities, emphasizing dignity for caregivers.
Democratic strategist James Carville expressed concern over the Democratic Party losing support among young minority voters and pointed to a drop in numbers among younger Blacks, Latinos, and people of color, particularly males. Polls indicated declining support for Democrats among Black and Hispanic voters, with President Biden losing significant backing from these demographics. Carville emphasized the need for Democrats to convey the long-term impacts of re-electing Trump to young Black and Hispanic Americans. He also criticized 'preachy females' for affecting Biden's polling numbers.
President Joe Biden labelled key allies Japan and India, along with China and Russia, as failing to reap economic rewards due to xenophobia towards immigrants. Despite recent efforts to strengthen ties with Japan and India, Biden's comments at a fundraising event sparked surprise. The White House later clarified that Biden's remarks were part of a broader message emphasizing the strength derived from America's immigrant heritage. Both Japan and India have low levels of migration compared to the US, with Japan slowly opening its doors to compensate for an ageing population, while India has introduced a citizenship law fast-tracking naturalisation for non-Muslims from specific countries.
Mississippi's Senate passed a Medicaid expansion bill at the state Capitol in Jackson on March 28, 2024, with key figures including Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, Senate Medicaid Committee Chairman Sen. Kevin Blackwell, State Sen. Derrick Simmons of the Democratic party, State House Medicaid Committee Chairman Rep. Missy McGee, and other representatives participating in the debate.
The following is a list of efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (commonly called the ACA or "Obamacare"), which had been enacted by the 111th United States Congress on March 23, 2010.
Somos Votantes and its political action committee intend to allocate $57 million towards mobilizing Latino voters for the Democratic Party in the 2024 elections, with $33 million focused on supporting Biden and Democratic candidates in eight key states. An additional $24 million will be spent on nonpartisan voter education programs. Latinos, comprising the largest and fastest-growing segment of the electorate, have seen increased participation, with over 4 million new voters since the last presidential election. Despite Biden winning the majority of Latino votes in 2020, former President Trump made gains with Republicans, especially in Florida.
Former President Donald Trump's campaign calls for additional 2024 presidential debates to take place earlier, challenging President Biden. House Republicans aim to end 'rotten' DEI programs. A poll shows Latinos favor Trump over Biden on the economy and support border shutdowns. GOP governors sign bills allowing arrests of certain migrants to enforce immigration laws.
ALBANY, N.Y. Facing increased Medicaid enrollment and a cash crunch across New Yorks health care system, Democrats in Albany hope to employ a maneuver that they say will allow the state to generate billions of dollars a year essentially out of thin air. The proposal takes advantage of a loophole in the Medicaid reimbursement process that allows states to bill the federal government for billions of dollars. Heres how it could work: New York could create a tax aimed at managed care organizations such as Aetna and UnitedHealthcare that would force them to pay a hypothetical $1 billion into state coffers.
Latinos for Trump (Spanish: Latinos por Trump) is a coalition of Latino supporters of Donald Trump, formed in the U.S. state of Florida in June 2019. As of the 2024 presidential election cycle it has expanded beyond Florida with an active presence nationally, especially in the Southwest, Puerto Rico, and the Mexican American community.As in any election cycle, the Latino vote is split between candidates across the political spectrum. Although the vast majority of Latinos for Trump support came from Hispanic and Latino conservatism, some liberals identified shared priorities.
The Oregon health insurance experiment (sometimes abbreviated OHIE) was a research study looking at the effects of the 2008 Medicaid expansion in the U.S. state of Oregon, which occurred based on lottery drawings from a waiting list and thus offered an opportunity to conduct a randomized experiment by comparing a control group of lottery losers to a treatment group of winners, who were eligible to apply for enrollment in the Medicaid expansion program after previously being uninsured.The study's results have been published in the academic journals The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, and The American Economic Review. In the first year after the lottery, Medicaid coverage was associated with higher rates of health care use, a lower probability of having medical debts sent to a collection agency, and higher self-reported mental and physical health. In the 18 months following the lottery, researchers found that Medicaid increased emergency department visits.Approximately two years after the lottery, researchers found that Medicaid had no statistically significant impact on physical health measures, but "it did increase use of health care services, raise rates of diabetes detection and management, lower rates of depression, and reduce financial strain."Commentators in publications such as Forbes and RealClearPolitics cited the study as evidence that the Medicaid program fails its central cause of assisting the American poor, but other commentators in publications such as The New Republic and the Daily Kos stated that the evidence of improved financial security and mental health provided a significant social benefit.
Vice President Kamala Harris will announce final rules requiring nursing homes to have minimum staffing levels, including a specified number of hours staff must spend with residents and a registered nurse available around the clock, during a visit to La Crosse, Wisconsin. The rules aim to address poor staffing levels highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic and would also allocate 80% of Medicaid payments for home care providers to workers' wages. The event in Wisconsin is part of President Joe Biden's efforts to secure support from union workers in a battleground state.
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