Obamacare and the insurance kerfuffle

John McDonough, professor of public health practice at Harvard School of Public Health and director of the HSPH Center for Public Health Leadership, discussed technical problems and controversies surrounding the Obamacare rollout on recent episodes of a new podcast series moderated by Timothy Johnson, MPH ’65, retired medical editor for ABC News. The series is posted on WBUR’s website.

The podcast on November 5, 2013 delved into recent stories about insured individuals being kicked off their current coverage by their employer due to increased costs under the Affordable Care Act. McDonough said that “about 98 percent of any Americans who have coverage won’t see a cancellation” of their insurance or face a bad choice if they do have to buy new insurance.

In an earlier podcast on October 21, McDonough expressed “disappointment” with the technical problems faced by many trying to apply for health insurance through the healthcare.gov website, while “recognizing the complexity” of the rollout. He said that he was optimistic that the problems would be soon fixed and forgotten, much like those that occurred around the 2006 rollout of the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Learn more

Experts discuss political battle over Obamacare (HSPH News)