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Health insurance exchange news: Investors say 4 million Americans will initially enroll

This number is well below the Congressional Budget Office's prediction of seven million. Meanwhile, USA Today reports that many Americans will pay less than $100 a month in premiums, based on an HHS report to be released today.

18 Sep 2013

Emotional stress, cognitive impairment linked to early hospital readmission of heart patients

Heart patients' mental state and thinking abilities may help predict whether costly and potentially dangerous early hospital readmission will follow their release after treatment, according to the results of a significant new study by Henry Ford Hospital researchers.

18 Sep 2013

As the clock ticks down, premium information still elusive in some states

The St. Louis Beacon reports that Missouri consumers will have to wait for the Oct. 1 launch date to get answers about how much the new coverage will cost. Other news outlets offer state-specific coverage of how the marketplaces are taking shape and what types of impact they might have.

18 Sep 2013

BMS Licenses Peptidream Technology, Extends Collaboration

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17 Sep 2013

BMS Licenses Peptidream Technology, Extends Collaboration

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17 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 17, 2013

Today's headlines include stories detailing how the health law's new online insurance marketplaces will work.

17 Sep 2013

PA. Gov. Corbett expected to announce Medicaid expansion plan today; issue also contentious in VA. governor's race

Corbett, a Republican, is reportedly likely to call for a hybrid program similar to what Arkansas is doing. In Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe's vows to expand the program for low-income people could hold the state's budget hostage, Republicans argue.

17 Sep 2013

Viewpoints: GOP willing to move to default if they can't cripple health law; it's time to figure out if workplace wellness programs work

This year, as has been the case so often in the past, their target is President Obama's health care reform law. If it is not repealed or defunded or delayed or otherwise left bleeding in the public square, they will not pass a spending bill needed to keep the government open past Sept. 30. And if that doesn't cripple the health law (which it won't), they will resort to the far more serious threat of default, refusing to raise the nation's debt ceiling, no matter the catastrophe that would cause (9/14).

17 Sep 2013

Young people remain in the dark as Obamacare exchanges prepare to open

Several newspapers explore how uninformed many young people are about new online insurance exchanges which open in two weeks, even though their participation is considered crucial to the markets' success.

17 Sep 2013

Health law enrollment: Gearing up to get the message out

Health law outreach efforts are proceeding with fits and starts, as one company returns its "navigator" grant because of the high level of scrutiny, while others vow they will be ready to begin enrolling people in the health law's new coverage.

17 Sep 2013

Final countdown on for health exchange launches

Federal officials are happy with what may turn out to be a soft launch of the health law's insurance exchanges Oct. 1. In the meantime, states are busy readying consumers for the exchanges' kickoffs with informational sessions and campaigns designed at creating a better-informed public.

17 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 16, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about new polling indicating that the health law still faces an uphill climb.

16 Sep 2013

FDA Panel Urges Fast Approval Of Perjeta For Early-Stage Breast Cancer

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13 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 13, 2013

Today's headlines include stories highlighting how the health law factors into Capitol Hill's current political dynamics.

13 Sep 2013

State highlights: Nation's older population strains budgets in Northeast; Detroit may replace health coverage with stipends; access to care in rural Alaska

Most of the nation's oldest population is now clustered in the Northeast and growing rapidly, according to Census data, straining medical, housing and transportation budgets and forcing lawmakers to look for new approaches. And legislators and governors are reaching the conclusion that the way to pay for the elderly is to cater to the young (Wilson, 9/12).

13 Sep 2013

With gov't. shutdown looming, GOP rift over Obamacare stalls budget bill

House Republican leaders delayed a vote Wednesday on the stopgap funding measure that would have kept the federal government financed until mid-December after conservatives balked because it didn't explicitly end funding for the health care law.

13 Sep 2013

As marketplaces get ready for opening, several states still facing debates about Medicaid expansion

Pennsylvania and Ohio are among the states where the Medicaid question is still in play this year. Meanwhile, in Arizona, an effort to get a referendum to block the expansion fails and an advocacy group vows to bring a lawsuit to stop it.

13 Sep 2013

Federal data system for health exchanges passes a test

Reuters reports this system has now been tested and certified as secure. Meanwhile, Medicare beneficiaries are increasingly confused by the media blitz surrounding the law's new online insurance marketplaces.

13 Sep 2013

The final push for Obamacare

News outlets report on the ambitious plans of a handful of health insurance co-ops starting from scratch after being funded by the law, how smokers may be charged higher premiums if they don't take cessation classes and the challenge of explaining the law in multiple languages.

13 Sep 2013

AFL-CIO ramps up criticism of health law

The labor federation approved a resolution Wednesday urging changes to parts of President Barack Obama's health care law that it says would drive up the costs of union-sponsored health plans to the point that workers and employers would abandon them.

13 Sep 2013