- Contact us |
- Customer care |
- Subscribe |
- Advertise |
- Submit news |
- Sign in
Check It Out:
What are your favorite local places for shopping, pampering or entertaining? Vote now in this year's Best Of Holiday Shopping readers' choice poll.
Understanding 'Obamacare'
"Understanding 'Obamacare'" is a series of occasional stories examining how the Affordable Care Act — widely called Obamacare first by critics and now also by some supporters — will change how you access and pay for health care. The series will look at the impact the new law has on individuals, businesses and health care providers in Southwest Virginia.
Obamacare: Uninsured face tough choice
Fresh out of college, Paula Wallace soon encountered a real education in the mixed-up world of poverty, health care and insurance. Working for a Roanoke nonprofit, Wallace was helping an uninsured, low-income family when it was hit by medical bills as unforeseen as they were huge. "I don't know what I'm going to do," she recalls one of the parents repeating. "I don't know what I'm going to do.
PREVIOUS INSTALLMENTS
PART 1
Virginia still undecided on Medicaid expansion, June 16, 2013
PART 2
Details still murky about health insurance exchanges under 'Obamacare', July 14, 2013
Reporter Laurence Hammack is hosting discussion about the series on his blog:
- Meeting details insurance plans offered through Affordable Care Act, July 17, 2013
- "Understanding Obamacare" series to continue this Sunday, July 12, 2013
- Roanoke health center gets grant under Affordable Care Act, July 11, 2013
- State panel takes first hard look at expanding Medicaid, June 18, 2013
- "Understanding 'Obamacare'" series to kick off today, June 16, 2013
Virginia Medicaid panel leader cites progress in overhaul efforts
RICHMOND — Virginia is making progress in an effort to reform — and then possibly expand — its Medicaid program, the leader of a legislative panel overseeing the process said today. “I would say that we’re a little over half way there,” said Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta County, chairman of the Medicaid Innovation and Reform Commission, which under the new federal health care law is mulling an expansion of the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled. Meeting for the second time today, the commission received an update on 19 areas of reform identified by the General Assembly, which has mandated that the system must to be improved before eligibility requirements are broadened. The commission will hold a public hearing, likely in late September or October, that could draw heated opposition and ardent support for the proposal, one of the key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. “We’ve had battle lines drawn from a political standpoint, but I really do sense the interest” from citizens across the state, Hanger said in explaining the need for a public comment process. “Our long-term interest is not to say whether Obamacare is good or bad,” but rather to strive for quality and cost-efficient health care, Hanger said.
Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
Nine hospitals in a region that stretches from Bedford to Tazewell will see their Medicare reimbursements cut this year for having too many patient readmissions. The penalties, part of the new federal health care law, are aimed at prodding hospitals nationwide to do a better job of making sure that patients admitted with heart problems and pneumonia don’t wind up back in the hospital too quickly. Starting in October, hospitals
Offices in Roanoke, NRV to help with subsidized insurance sign-ups
Legal aid offices in Roanoke and Christiansburg will soon be helping people sign up for subsidized insurance under the new federal health care law. Legal Aid Society Roanoke Valley and Southwest Virginia Legal Aid Society will each be able to hire a outreach coordinator with grant money announced Thursday. A total of $1.3 million in so-called Navigator grants was awarded to the Virginia Poverty Law Center, which will be working
Virginia near bottom in spending for health care law outreach
RICHMOND -- Only one state will spend less per capita than Virginia to promote public awareness of the new health care reform law. According to data compiled by The Associated Press from federal and state sources, the $3.9 million in outreach spending in Virginia amounts to 49 cents per resident. Only Wisconsin, at 46 cents, is spending less per capita. States that resisted President Barack Obama's health overhaul generally are
State officials fighting clock to ready health exchange by October
RICHMOND — For that rare bird in the health care world — a high income, young and healthy man who bothers to buy health insurance — the Affordable Care Act is likely to mean a rate shock, health plans’ presentations to the State Corporation Commission suggest. Insurers who aim to offer coverage through the new health insurance exchanges sketched their proposals to the commission on Tuesday, even as the staff
Details still murky about health insurance exchanges under 'Obamacare'
With the insurance exchanges set to begin on Oct. 1, many pieces of the system still have to be designed and implemented. Over the course of five years, Charlene Humphrey’s kidney stone has grown to nearly the size of a walnut, demanding an operation she cannot afford. Humphrey makes $9.25 an hour working the front desk of a Christiansburg motel. While it’s not enough to pay for health insurance, Humphrey
Appeals court rejects Liberty University's health care reform suit
A federal appeals court in Richmond rejected Liberty University's challenge to the Obamacare federal health care law Thursday, but it left a door open for the school to appeal its case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Although it was the third time courts have ruled against its claim, LU isn't giving up, said Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, which is handling the university's challenge of the law. click here! "The next
New Horizons earns $87,083 federal grant
A community health center in Roanoke is getting a federal grant to help spread the word about how low-income residents can find assistance through the new federal health care law. New Horizons Healthcare will receive $87,083, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday. The money is part of a national effort by the Obama administration to make health care more accessible through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A
Delay of employer-coverage requirement raises questions about health care law
WASHINGTON — The sudden delay of a major part of President Barack Obama’s historic health care overhaul is raising questions about other potential problems lurking in the homestretch. The requirement that many employers provide coverage is just one part of a complex law. But its one-year postponement has taken administration allies and adversaries alike by surprise. White House officials said Wednesday that the delay was firm and won’t be extended
Medicaid expansion could give Virginia flexibility, official says
RICHMOND — Virginia is in a strong bargaining position to get the flexibility it wants if it opts to expand Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled, the state's top health official said today. And the state has already made much progress reforming its Medicaid services on the lines that this year's budget compromise on expansion calls for, said the chairman of the legislative panel that
Virginia still undecided on Medicaid expansion
Lois Casto takes home $1,260 a month from her job serving students at a Virginia Tech dining hall, hardly enough to feed her family of six. Unable to afford health insurance, she gets most of her care from a free clinic. But in some times of sickness, she says, “I’ll just ride it out.” She does not qualify for Medicaid. * * * In the small white frame house where
McDonnell wants ‘dramatic’ cost-saving reforms to expand Medicaid in Virginia
If Medicaid is expanded in Virginia, it will only be after major changes are made to what some call a cumbersome and inefficient system. “The federal mandates, regulations, taxes and spending create an expensive, top-down, bureaucratic system,” Gov. Bob McDonnell wrote in a March 5 letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. McDonnell made it clear that he does not support an expansion, and that the state
1. Britney Spears spotted at Lynchburg restaurant
2. Roanoke resource officer's quick action saved young girl
3. One person injured in Friday night shooting in Roanoke
4. East Carolina poses new challenge for Virginia Tech football
5. Captive in Roanoke County describes harrowing time with angry friend
6. Lowe's tapes may hold clues to Roanoke woman's death
7. William Byrd stuns Salem in football win
8. Roanoke County electrical short quiets 5 Wheeler radio stations
9. History says this one will matter for Virginia Tech
10. Concert review: Timeless Willie Nelson plays to appreciative crowd
THE ROANOKE TIMES
