Advisers poised to determine which insurance benefits are 'essential'

Meetings begin this week to determine what benefits insurers must cover under the new health law. The resulting regulation will be just one of the ways in which the new health law will change the health care landscape.

Kaiser Health News: Obama Administration's Balancing Act: Health Insurance Benefits Vs. Costs
Even as House Republicans press to repeal the health care law, government advisers this week are preparing to wade into one of the most contentious questions raised by the legislation: What benefits must insurers cover? (Appleby, 1/10).

CQ HealthBeat: Fight Looms Over Government's Role In Setting Health Benefits
One of the biggest — and until now, among the most overlooked — fights over the implementation of the health care law starts in earnest this week as policy makers begin to determine which benefits insurers will have to cover beginning in 2014 (Adams, 1/10).

MarketWatch: New Health-Care Law Changes Landscape For Firms And Investors
While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is expected to provide the health-care sector millions more paying customers as more of the 50 million uninsured Americans gain coverage, it also imposes significant new regulations on health insurers as of 2014. Similarly, a new tax on medical-device manufacturers is set to begin in 2013. Many firms also are grappling with the recession's impact on people's health-related behavior, such as the rational tendency to put off expensive, non-urgent medical services as long as possible when times are tight and jobs are in jeopardy (Gerencher, 1/10).