Daily Report Blog

The 6/22/12 USA Today reported that, although the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are not scheduled to take effect until 2014, at least 67,000 people with pre-existing conditions have already entered high-risk insurance pools, and 360,000 companies have received small business tax credits. 

CMS announced on 6/25/12 that, as a result of ACA provisions, more than 5,254,000 seniors and people with disabilities have saved a total of $3.7 billion on prescription drugs since the law was enacted; the average savings for the first five months of 2012 was $651 per beneficiary. 

Despite wide-ranging federal efforts to reduce teen smoking, 70,000 youths living in Washington State smoke cigarettes and 50 more start every day; more than 1,200 people die nationwide every day from tobacco use, and 88% of smokers begin smoking by age 18, the 6/15/12 Seattle Times reported. ​