Special enrollment period through April 30 is available for people who learned of penalties on their 2014 tax return. It shouldn’t have been news to anyone that if you don’t have health insurance, you’ll have to pay a penalty unless your income is so low you can’t afford coverage. But since 2014 was the first year the Affordable Care Act […]

Instead of being tied to a job for the insurance benefits, Americans have the freedom to pursue their dreams. Ever since he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 10, Shawn Dhanak says he worried about what he was going to do when he was no longer covered by his parents’ insurance. He remembers his grandmother telling him, “You […]

These are only five of the millions of Americans whose lives have been changed for the better thanks to the ACA. Call it Obamacare, call it the Affordable Care Act or the ACA. Whatever you call it, you have to call it a success — because it is. March 23, 2015, marks the fifth anniversary of President Obama signing the […]

If Republicans are trying to show people how crucial Obamacare is, King v. Burwell could be the perfect way to do it. The lawsuit that could end subsidies to the millions of Americans in 34 states who purchased insurance through the federal health care exchange will be argued on March 4. But we already have hints of what the impact […]

This week a somewhat abstruse debate about whether America should purposely try to antagonize 1.6 billion Muslims morphed into an impossibly stupid debate about whether the President of the United States really loves the United States. Meanwhile, in actual news, there’s an absurd lawsuit that threatens to wreak havoc on our health care system. The Urban Institute projects a victory […]

After a rough year, Democrats should savor what happened on Monday February 17, 2015. President Obama and Obamacare both hit 50 percent. The president’s approval rating is back at 50 percent in the Gallup daily tracking poll. He hit the halfway mark for the first time since June 2013 just after his most recent State of the Union and then […]

The King v. Burwell case could leave millions without health insurance. That’s not good for anyone. When Dawn Erina needed some minor surgery early this year, she was able to afford it. She could afford physical therapy visits, too. Without the surgery, Dawn would have struggled to do her job. When Dawn needed to refill one of her prescriptions, she […]

If you started enrolling before midnight on February 15, you can still get covered. But don’t delay! This post has been updated to reflect that all states have granted extensions. It’s not like there wasn’t plenty of advance notice. But if you were trying to sign up for health insurance and didn’t finish the process before midnight on February 15, […]

Brian was the picture of health before his diagnosis. He’s grateful he has insurance and wants everyone to get covered. Back in 2012, Brian Skibo had no reason to think there was anything wrong other than some work-related back pain. But when the pain didn’t respond to treatment, and he started getting headaches, his doctor ordered some tests. What the […]

If SCOTUS eliminates the ACA’s tax credits, Dolly and Chip would no longer be able to afford insurance — and the consequences could be life-threatening. UPDATE: After this story was posted, Dolly resubmitted an application for Medicaid and she and her husband were accepted into the program based on their very low income. So although they are no longer at […]

In anticipation of the Supreme Court hearing King v. Burwell — the case that could take health insurance from millions based on a garbage legal argument that Congress wanted to deny subsidies to people in states that didn’t build their own exchanges and didn’t tell anyone because conspiracy — Republicans have been pretending that they will have a plan to […]