States, health industry moving ahead on implementing health law

Several states are preparing for aspects of the health law.

The Associated Press/NBC: NY, NJ Moving Forward On Health Care
New York and New Jersey are both moving forward with plans to comply with the national health care law, which would extend coverage to the uninsured by 2014. ... [They] are among 17 states making headway (1/22).

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Health Care Changes: Will State Remain Gridlocked?
The 2012 Legislature convenes Tuesday facing a contentious battle over consumer health initiatives that could thrust Minnesota into the national spotlight and determine whether the state is a leader or a follower in the national wave of health care innovation. One key debate will determine whether Republican opposition to federal "Obamacare" is so intense that the GOP-led Legislature will block a Republican-authored bill to create a statewide health insurance exchange (Wolfe, 1/23). 

Minnesota Public Radio: Health Plans Launch Own Exchanges Ahead Of Public Versions
Health plans are trying to lock in business before government-sponsored health insurance exchanges go online in 2014. Several large insurers are launching private insurance exchanges to protect themselves against competition from the public exchanges. Not since the advent of Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s has there been such big changes looming on the horizon for health insurers. ... An estimated 1 million Minnesotans will eventually get their health insurance through an exchange (Stawicki, 1/23). 

Related, earlier KHN story: Some Employers Already Sending Workers To Exchanges to Buy Health Insurance (Appleby, 4/29).

The Miami Herald: Hospitals Hiring Doctors To Get Ready For Reform
Hospitals made disastrous decisions in the 1990s in hiring doctors. … Now, hospitals are at it again, convinced they'll handle the physicians better this time around. Baptist in South Miami-Dade employs more than 100 doctors these days, while Holy Cross in Fort Lauderdale has hired about 150. ... The American Hospital Association reports that the number of doctors working for hospitals has increased by 32 percent since 2000, a trajectory that's accelerating as medical companies prepare for health care reform (Dorschner, 1/22).