May 18, 2017 - Health

The chaos & collapsing of the ACA

Susan Walsh / AP

There's growing frustration in the health insurance industry with the way the Trump administration is managing the Affordable Care Act, senior insurance officials described to the LA Times. Here's what they found out:

  • Some insurance companies are planning dramatic premium hikes for Obamacare or exiting the Obamacare marketplaces.
  • State insurance regulators are realizing they can't depend on the Trump administration to do what's needed to run a stable market, like paying for subsidies or enforcing the individual mandate.

Why it matters: Obamacare IS collapsing, but it's not collapsing on it's own as Trump claimed it would. It's collapsing because of Trump. Blue Shield of California CEO Paul Markovich told LA Times, "All this uncertainty is not helpful."

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Felix Salmon, author of Capital
9 mins ago - Economy & Business

A white-collar crime crackdown

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

America has waited a decade for an aggressive government crackdown on white-collar crime. Now, just before the election, and in the middle of a bull market, it has arrived.

Why it matters: When times are good, investors become more trusting and more greedy. That makes them more likely to put their money into fraudulent or criminal enterprises.

  • After a decade-long bull market, there is no shortage of those frauds to prosecute.
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Ashley Gold
37 mins ago - Technology

Lawyers crystal-ball the Google antitrust case

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

The Justice Department's antitrust suit against Google is a strong, straightforward monopoly case, competition lawyers and experts tell Axios. But that doesn't mean it'll be an easy journey for the government.

The big picture: Winning any antitrust case is a heavy lift. It's even more of a challenge to pull off victory in a future-looking case that seeks to make room for potential new competition to flourish.

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Sam Baker, Andrew Witherspoon
42 mins ago - Health

The pandemic is getting worse again

Expand chart
Data: The COVID Tracking Project, state health departments; Note: Due to a database error, Missouri had a 3 day gap in reporting from Oct. 11-13; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Every available piece of data proves it: The coronavirus pandemic is getting worse again, all across America.

The big picture: As the death toll ticks past 212,000, at a moment when containing the virus ought to be easier and more urgent than ever, we are instead giving it a bigger foothold to grow from.

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