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First Edition: August 6, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about the readiness of the health law's insurance online marketplaces for the Oct. 1 enrollment kick-off date.

6 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Republicans' 'temper tantrum' on health care; 'mixed message' on cancer

Last week House Republicans voted for the 40th time to repeal Obamacare. Like the previous 39 votes, this action will have no effect whatsoever. But it was a stand-in for what Republicans really want to do: repeal reality, and the laws of arithmetic in particular.

6 Aug 2013

GOP still embroiled in intra-party split over govt. shutdown and efforts to defund the health law

Some Republican governors are urging members of Congress to step away from the government shutdown threat. And while some GOP leaders are signaling that efforts to gut health law funding will not be considered in this fall's budget battle, rank-and-file lawmakers have opinions of their own.

6 Aug 2013

Aetna pulls insurance plans from MD.'s health law exchange

In state health insurance marketplace news, Aetna won't sell its plans on Maryland's version of the exchange over concerns premiums wouldn't cover costs. Officials in Colorado, Missouri, California and Oregon also face decisions about their marketplaces and the challenges to enrolling their residents in them.

6 Aug 2013

First Edition: August 5, 2013

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jordan Rau reports: "Medicare will levy $227 million in fines against hospitals in every state but one for the second round of the government's campaign to reduce the number of patients readmitted within a month, according to federal records released Friday" (Rau, 8/2).

5 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Shutting down the government over health law is 'nutty' idea; GOP's Obamacare playbook for summer recess

Led by Sens. Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, the GOP insurgents are threatening to shut down the government on Oct. 1 if the stopgap funding bill contains money for Obamacare. This is nuts. The president will never sign a bill defunding the singular achievement of his presidency. Especially when he has control of the Senate. Especially when, though a narrow 51 percent majority of Americans disapproves of Obamacare, only 36 percent favors repeal. President Obama so knows he'll win any shutdown showdown that he's practically goading the Republicans into trying. ... Every fiscal showdown has redounded against the Republicans (Charles Krauthammer, 8/1).

3 Aug 2013

Tavenner challenges GOP health law claims during Capitol Hill hearing

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Marilyn Tavenner disputed statements by Republican lawmakers that the country's health care reform law is causing workers to lose hours or benefits. The acting head of the Internal Revenue Service also testified.

3 Aug 2013

Spin battle over Obamacare premiums continues

Kaiser Health News offers five pointers to help you make sense of contradictory headlines about how much insurance could cost you when the Affordable Care Act marketplaces open for enrollment in October. Meanwhile, other media report on states' projections of what premiums may cost in the online marketplaces next year.

3 Aug 2013

Health law supporters plan August strategy to counter criticism

In response to efforts by some Republican lawmakers who are threatening to shut down the government as part of their attempt to stop the health law's implementation, some progressive groups plan to organize their own town hall meetings and stage protests at GOP events, among other things, to tout the law's perks. Others will go door to door to encourage consumers to enter the insurance market.

3 Aug 2013

Assessing health law's impact on cities, people

Texas is home to more than two-thirds of the nation's 30 counties most in need of expanded health insurance coverage, including Dallas, according to a liberal group. The Center for American Progress Action Fund ranked 22 Texas counties -- including Dallas -- as among the "30 worst" in the country.

3 Aug 2013

First Edition: August 2, 2013

Today's headlines include details about today's health law repeal vote in the House. It comes just as lawmakers prepare to leave for the August break.

2 Aug 2013

ImmunoGen reports net loss of $21.9 million in Q4 2013

ImmunoGen, Inc., a biotechnology company that develops anticancer therapeutics using its Targeted Antibody Payload antibody-drug conjugate technology, today reported financial results for the three-month period and fiscal year ended June 30, 2013. ImmunoGen also provided guidance for its 2014 fiscal year and an update on the Company.

2 Aug 2013

For states working on health law implementation, 'churn' is a matter of concern

California Healthline reports on how life events can cause individuals' incomes to change enough that it will also impact whether they qualify for subsidies to shop for insurance on the state's health exchange, or whether they should apply for Medicaid. It's an issue on which states are beginning to focus.

2 Aug 2013

Targeting the health law's enrollment message

Though some view it as a difficult sell, new advertising from the 17 states that are setting up health insurance marketplaces tends to be upbeat and positive. First Lady Michelle Obama is also pitching in on efforts to reach very specific populations.

2 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: GOP's shutdown vow; Peter Orszag defends rationale behind Medicare payment board

A dozen Republicans in the Senate have said they'd rather shut down the government than provide funding for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the 2010 healthcare reform law better known as Obamacare. Meanwhile, more than 60 Republicans in the House have called on their leadership to cut off all federal support for the law in the coming fiscal year. And they complain when President Obama doesn't hold up his end of the bargain? (7/30).

1 Aug 2013

Ohio lawmaker introduces Medicaid expansion bill; Mich. readies legislative moves on expansion

In Michigan, a committee vote on the expansion could come today. Elsewhere, New Hampshire and Wisconsin are considering expansion of coverage to childless adults, among others.

1 Aug 2013

Health law supporters and opponents focus on moms

A surge of advertising and grassroots organizing targets mothers because women usually make the health-care decisions for families and use more health care than men, Bloomberg reports.

1 Aug 2013

Lawmakers' aides fret over requirement to buy Obamacare coverage

The New York Times explores how congressional staffs are anxious about a health law provision requiring them to buy coverage in online insurance markets because the federal government may no longer pay a share of their premiums.

31 Jul 2013

Selling of Obamacare begins in earnest

President Barack Obama tells the New York Times that his plan to build support for the health law is simply to implement it. Meanwhile, high level aides and supporters meet to craft a new message, while volunteers for the nonprofit Enroll America fan out across the country to tell the uninsured about new coverage options.

30 Jul 2013

Mississippi, Nevada Wrestle with the development of their health exchanges

In other state and local health law implementation news, the health law may prove key to Detroit's efforts to manuever its bankruptcy process. Also, opponents in many states focus on limiting what they see as "the long arm of Washington."

30 Jul 2013