IOM authors disagree with HHS decision on essential benefits

Political Pro talks to researchers who helped develop the IOM recommendations for the federal government on what should be offered in health plans. At the same time, a number of media outlets look at news about the implementation of the 2010 health care law.

Politico Pro: IOM Authors Fault HHS On Benefit Safeguards
Authors of the Institute of Medicine report on essential health benefits called the recent HHS guidance a "missed opportunity" for ensuring health insurance affordability. Most of the attention went to HHS's decision to give states great latitude in determining the benefits package. But also missing from HHS guidance issued Friday was any mention of premium targets or using medical effectiveness to select benefits. Both had been key recommendations from October's cost-conscious IOM report (Millman, 12/21).

Modern Healthcare: Providers Speculate On The Promise And Peril Of Pioneer ACOs
Providers are telling Modern Healthcare this week about the biggest potential upsides and downsides stemming from their organizations' participation in the Pioneer ACO program. Here are some highlights(Zigmond and Daly, 12/21).

Fox Business: Affordable Health Insurance Options For Young Adults
A study by eHealthInsurance.com found that 73% of employers are expecting an increase in dependent coverage in 2012 due to the law passed in 2010. Some states allow dependents to remain on these plans until age 30. Young adults do not have to be financially dependent on their parents or live with their parents to remain on their parent's plans. They can even be married (Hynek, 12/21).

Modern Healthcare: Public Support For Reform Rebounds: Poll
Public support for the healthcare reform law ended the year as it began after faltering during October and November, a monthly Kaiser Family Foundation poll found. The December poll found 41 percent of respondents considered the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act favorably. Favorable responses started the year at 41 percent and hovered between 41 percent and 43 percent throughout 2011, with the exception of 39 percent in August; 34 percent in October and 37 percent in November (Evans, 12/21).

CQ HealthBeat: Public Opinion Back To An Even Split On Health Care Overhaul
Americans once again are nearly evenly divided in their opinions about the health care law, following a rocky autumn in which public approval lagged, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll issued Wednesday. ... Kaiser Family Foundation President Drew Altman said in November that he suspected voters were listening to criticism of the law aired during a series of Republican presidential debates (Norman, 12/21).

Kaiser Health News: Public Can Be Swayed On Health Law's Mandate, Survey Finds
The individual mandate is the Affordable Care Act's least popular provision and lies at the heart of the legal challenge to the law before the U.S. Supreme Court. But a new poll finds that public opinion can be swayed by how the mandate's implications are described (Rau, 12/21).

Two outlets take a look at what's ahead in 2012.

Kaiser Health News: New Year, New Health Care Battles (Video)
Kaiser Health News reporters detail some of the major issues they expect will be in the news in 2012, including the GOP's fight to repeal the federal health law and what Republicans may offer instead; states' efforts to control growing Medicaid costs; the rising cost of health care for consumers (12/21). Watch the videos.

CNN Money (Video): Save Money On Health Care In 2012
Speaking directly with your doctor about costs and restrictions can help you save money on health care in 2012 (12/21).