Exchanges, high risk pools grab headlines

News outlets also continue to explore issues related to the development of state-based health exchanges as well as the costs and enrollment numbers associated with high-risk insurance.   

Politico Pro: Roles In Exchanges Evolve As Deadline Nears
When HHS issues revised rules for health insurance exchanges -- some of which are expected any day -- it may be like watching a mourner enter the "acceptance" phase of grief. Draft rules issued last July were written in a "bargaining" mode. They signaled that HHS was willing to go to great lengths to work with states that couldn't do everything necessary to run their own exchange under the timeline spelled out by the health care reform law. This was a major step beyond their initial position, that states would drive exchange development. That increasingly sounded like "denial" against the backdrop of exchange bills stalling in one state legislature after another (Feder and Millman, 3/9).

Stateline: In High-Risk Insurance, Enrollment Lags And Costs Soar
One of the most popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act -- cheap insurance plans for people with medical conditions that prevent them from getting coverage anywhere else -- has run into a couple of snags. Though nearly everyone agrees a lifeline for sick people is needed, these new so-called high-risk insurance plans have attracted fewer than 50,000 -- far less than the 375,000 Congress anticipated. At the same time, the costs of health care services for each member are more than twice as much as projected (Vestal, 3/9).