President Joe Biden will sign two executive actions Thursday that are designed to expand access to reproductive health care and health insurance through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid.
The president's memorandum instructs the Department of Health and Human Services to open a special enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act through HealthCare.gov, the federally run health insurance marketplace. The enrollment period will run Feb. 15 to May 15, giving Americans who've lost their employer-based health insurance due to the pandemic an opportunity to sign up for coverage. [Read More]
Fast times at the Minnesota Legislature? Urgency surrounds parts of Gov. Tim Walz’s budget meant to help people and businesses recover from COVID-19, students to make up for academic setbacks and security officials to guard against civil unrest during upcoming police trials.
The Legislature isn’t known for speed on the state budget. If the past is any guide, lawmakers will wait until the very end of session in May to decide how $50 billion or more are allocated.
That’s usually not a big problem because the next two-year budget won’t kick in until July. But there are a raft of proposals in the Walz plan where time is of the essence, including another shot of aid to small businesses that had to close or scale back during COVID-19 spikes. [Read More]
