OCT News and Research

RSS

California shuts down 10 sites imitating state insurance marketplace

The California attorney general said her office shuttered 10 websites that had mimicked the state's official health insurance exchange "in order to lure consumers away from plans that provide the benefits of the Affordable Care Act."

16 Nov 2013

HHS health insurance enrollment figures far below targets

Only about a fourth of the enrollees signed up through the federal health exchange. The low initial sign up could set up a steep challenge for the health law.

15 Nov 2013

Congressional Democrats fuming at White House handling of health law

An increasing number of these lawmakers say they favor a legislative plan offered by Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana to allow people whose insurance has been canceled because of the law to keep it.

15 Nov 2013

What the health law's future holds: Fixing the website and everything after

News outlets report on the various ways the website issues and sign-up woes could be addressed, as well as what a variety of experts say about the global outlook for the health law.

15 Nov 2013

House oversight panel grills administration tech officials on website woes

The White House's chief technology officer, Todd Park, told the committee that teams are working aggressively to get the website functioning "for the vast majority" of consumers by the administration's Nov. 30 deadline. Meanwhile, a second panel heard testimony about website and security concerns.

15 Nov 2013

Obama faces trust issues as a result of health law woes

President Barack Obama -- and Democrats, by proxy -- face big political problems as a result of the botched rollout of the insurance website and the debunking of his pledge that Americans could keep their health plans if they liked them. Recent polls have Democrats and Republicans neck-and-neck in midterm election polls, and Fox News reports that half of voters think the president "knowingly lied" about the health law.

15 Nov 2013

California beating all other states in health law exchange enrollment

California is the bright spot in enrolling people in the health law's insurance exchanges -- beating even the federal Healthcare.gov in how many have signed up. Still, California's enrollment figures -- representing about a third of all signups around the nation -- mean less than 1 percent of uninsured Californians have signed up for plans.

15 Nov 2013

Both sides in the health law battle spin insurance sign-up figures

Health law advocates offered positive messages about the enrollment numbers released Wednesday by the Obama administration while the measure's critics pounced on the low figures and renewed calls for action.

14 Nov 2013

Svelte completes enrollment in drug-eluting coronary stent Integrated Delivery System study

Svelte Medical Systems today announced enrollment of the final patient in the DIRECT II (Direct Implantation of Rapamycin-Eluting stents with bioabsorbable drug Carrier Technology) clinical study. DIRECT II is a prospective, randomized study comparing the safety and efficacy of the Svelte drug-eluting coronary stent Integrated Delivery System (IDS) to the Medtronic Resolute Integrity drug-eluting stent in 159 patients at 19 investigative sites.

From Medtronic 14 Nov 2013

HHS: Nearly a million consumers have completed the health insurance sign up process; 106,185 have selected plans

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced enrollment numbers today for the federal and state online health insurance marketplaces that opened Oct. 1. Medicaid enrollment data were also released.

14 Nov 2013

State marketplaces still plagued by technical problems

The New York Times examines how states running their own insurance exchange websites are doing. Meanwhile, USA Today looks at how insurance choices vary across the country.

14 Nov 2013

Healthcare.gov troubles continue to claim headlines

The Washington Post offers a not-so-rosy progress report on repairs to the federal online health insurance marketplace. Other news outlets examine what went wrong in terms of the project management and what might be gleaned from the soon-to-be released enrollment numbers.

14 Nov 2013

Health law outreach efforts try new controversial ads, enrollment tactics

Health law outreach efforts take on new wrinkles -- Colorado officials launch controversial ads geared toward women and Enroll America changes how it tries to get people to sign up for health coverage. In the meantime, Republicans are releasing their own set of ads mocking the law.

13 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 13, 2013

Today's headlines include not-so-positive predictions about whether healthcare.gov will be fully functional by the end of November.

13 Nov 2013

Early enrollment numbers far below administration targets

The projections, which put the total number of enrollees so far at fewer than 50,000 people, is just a fraction of the tally the Obama administration initially was hoping for.

12 Nov 2013

Issa issues another subpoena about health law website -- his target: Top White House tech officer

So far, the White House has resisted congressional Republican efforts to speak with chief technology officer Todd Park about the roll-out of healthcare.gov.

12 Nov 2013

More numbers expected this week on October health law enrollment

In related news, The New York Times reports that state and federal exchanges are using "happy talk" to market the new health coverage options available through the online insurance marketplaces, but they rarely mention the penalty. Other news outlets report on developments from Maryland, Oregon and Colorado.

12 Nov 2013

Generating an alternative to IVIG therapy: an interview with Professor Richard Pleass, LSTM

IVIG is a hugely successful biological with FDA approval for treating idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), Kawasaki disease, Guillain-Barré syndrome, Graves ophthalmopathy and numerous polyneuropathies.

11 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 11, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about how Republicans are positioning themselves to capitalize on the health law's implementation difficulties in the upcoming election season.

11 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Campaigning won't help solve health care problems; health law sought 'sturdier safety net;' court's decision on contraception benefit 'goes wrong way'

The Obamacare Web site doesn't work. Hundreds of thousands of insured Americans are seeing their plans summarily terminated. Millions more face the same prospect next year. Confronted with a crisis of governance, how does President Obama respond? He campaigns (Charles Krauthammer, 11/7).

11 Nov 2013