Sign up for Obamacare, get … Obama?
With the third annual open-enrollment period underway for Affordable Care Act insurance coverage, the administration on Friday unveiled the Healthy Communities Challenge, aimed at lowering the uninsured rate in major cities. “The victorious community gets bragging rights, a healthier community and a visit from President Obama to celebrate their success in helping ensure every American has health coverage,” the White House announcement said.
The White House said it reached out to communities in states with high uninsured rates and where officials believe there is a good chance that federal, state and local collaboration can get more people insured. It chose 20:
- Atlanta*
- Milwaukee*
- Charlotte, North Carolina*
- Nashville, Tennessee*
- Chicago
- New Orleans*
- Dallas*
- Oakland, California
- Denver
- Philadelphia
- Detroit
- Phoenix
- Great Falls, Montana
- Richmond, Virginia*
- Kansas City, Missouri*
- Salt Lake City*
- Las Vegas
- Seattle
- Long Beach, California
- Tampa, Florida*
Cities marked with an asterisk are in states that chose not to expand Medicaid, according to the Advisory Board Co., leaving millions without access to insurance subsidies. Note that Tennessee is considering expansion, while Michigan and Pennsylvania have equivalent, alternative plans to widen insurance coverage among low-income residents.
“Through this challenge, we are calling on community leadership to build outreach efforts to reach these remaining uninsured and help them gain coverage,” the White House said. The administration estimated that 10.5 million uninsured people are eligible for coverage sold on ACA exchanges.
The community that makes the most progress by the end of the current enrollment period in reducing the uninsured rate will win the presidential visit. But would Obama be welcomed favorably in places like Dallas, Atlanta or Salt Lake City? This could be fun.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Photo: Twitter user @POTUS
