Health law provisions draw compliments, complaints

Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is urging young voters to support the measure during the upcoming presidential campaign and former President Bill Clinton said Democrats should have done better defending it in the mid-term election season.

Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Health Care Law May Aid Rural Towns, Agency Says
An agency that analyzes the economy in the Dakotas and other farm states said in a report Wednesday that the new health care reform law might help rural towns keep their populations. The Center for Rural Affairs of Lyons, Neb., says a key feature in the Affordable Care Act is a rule allowing young adults to remain on parents' health plans until age 26. Congress passed the law in March 2010 (7/7).

Kaiser Health News: Health Law Provision Could Cost Delaware Hundreds Of Insurance Jobs
Some of the nation's largest insurers are complaining that the Obama administration isn't doing enough to ease health law requirements they say threaten their ability to sell health coverage for millions of Americans working abroad (Galewitz and Weaver, 7/6).

The Hill: GOP, AMA Renew Attacks On Health Care Panel
Congressional Republicans — with help from the American Medical Association — are stepping up their attacks on a controversial cost-cutting panel in the health care law. The AMA reiterated its opposition Wednesday to the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a panel of health care experts that will have the power to cut Medicare payments almost automatically (Baker, 7/6).

The Hill: Sebelius Seeks Youth Support For Health Care Law
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday called on young people to promote President Obama's health care reform law during the 2012 campaign. Sebelius promoted the law's benefits for young people during a speech at a Campus Progress convention, and she encouraged attendees to educate their peers about health care (Ceronie, 7/6).

Politico: Bill Clinton: Democrats Should Have Defended Health Reform Law
Former President Bill Clinton said Wednesday that Democrats should have done a better job defending the health reform law in last year's elections, telling a group of college progressives that the Democrats allowed Republicans to accuse them of cutting Medicare. At a conference sponsored by Campus Progress, an organization of liberal activists, Clinton said the Republicans "ran to the left of Democrats on Medicare" and that Democrats allowed the attacks to overshadow changes in the health care law that strengthened the program (Samuelsohn, 7/6).