What We're Reading: No Premiums; Ariz. Medicaid Expansion; Coverage of the Opioid Epidemic

More ACA Plans Will Have No Premiums

The Fate of Arizona’s Medicaid Expansion

A Look at the Opioid Epidemic

The decision by President Donald Trump to cut off the cost-sharing subsidies to insurers may actually help the Affordable Care Act (ACA). According to The Wall Street Journal, ending the insurer subsidies actually increased consumer subsidies and the number of people who can buy an ACA plan with no premium. Insurers are expected to promote the no-premium plans to draw in more enrollees.A challenge to the funding mechanism for Arizona’s Medicaid expansion plan has reached the state’s supreme court. Republicans who brought the lawsuit argued that the hospital assessment fee that helps pay for the expansion plan, reported AP. Arizona’s Medicaid expansion program covers 400,000 residents, and the whole Medicaid plan covers 1.9 million Arizona adults. The court hasn’t indicated when it would issue a ruling.With the president declaring the opioid epidemic a public health emergency, The New York Times has provided a look at its ongoing reporting of the crisis. The coverage includes how toddlers and young children have also been affected, a dive into the data on overdose deaths from 1999 to 2014, and treating inmates who are recovering addicts.