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GOP seeking to rebound on the issue of the health law

Republican leaders believe the problems with the rollout of the law's website and the concerns about policy cancellations gives them an opportunity to get beyond complaints about the government shutdown.

10 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 8, 2013

Today's headlines include coverage of President Barack Obama's apology to people who lost their individual market health coverage because of requirements of the health law.

8 Nov 2013

Longer looks: Bad behavior treatment; end of life decisions

Every week reporter Ankita Rao selects interesting reading from around the Web.

8 Nov 2013

Reports of insurance policy cancellations spread

At least half of the 14 million people who shop in the individual insurance market can expect to receive a cancellation letter ahead of next year. A review by "Road to Reform" found that hundreds of thousands of cancellation letters had already been sent in states like Oregon, Florida and Georgia. And about 1 million of consumers affected are in California. One key PR challenge: The cancellation letters are piling up at a much faster rate than Americans are able to sign up for new coverage (Diamond, 11/6).

8 Nov 2013

Diets and the famine reaction: an interview with Associate Professor Amanda Salis, University of Sydney

The statistic that you often hear is that 95% of diets fail, but in actual fact, emerging research is now showing that it’s around 70% of diets that fail. That means that around 30% of people who are losing weight are actually keeping it off. So we’re doing better now than we were doing in the past, but there’s still work to be done.

7 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Obama's 'sin of omission;' Dems' panic grows over health law woes; men should pay for maternity care

"The big lie," as the president's broken Obamacare promise is now known, was that everyone could keep his or her doctor and insurance policy under the ACA. No one, Americans were justified in inferring, would be remotely inconvenienced by Obamacare. Instead, the reality is well-known: Millions are expected to lose their insurance policies, while others will see their premiums skyrocket. It is still jarring to my adult psyche to impugn another, especially the president of the United States, as a liar, so I won't. But it is not possible to pretend that the American people have been told the truth. Nor is it possible to pretend that Barack Obama has been completely honest (Kathleen Parker, 11/5).

7 Nov 2013

Obama resets the 'keep your insurance' pledge, heads to Texas

President Barack Obama will be visiting an area -- Dallas County -- that has one of the highest concentrations of uninsured people in the nation. He is expected to urge Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a staunch opponent of the health law, to follow the lead of other Republican state executives and pursue the overhaul's Medicaid expansion.

6 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 6, 2013

Today's headlines include reports detailing the contents of the health law's "war room" notes as well as scene-setters for today's Senate hearing testimony about healthcare.gov by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

6 Nov 2013

New app now in handy pocket format to help ex-drug and alcohol abusers

Ex-drug and alcohol abusers who have completed their treatment need a simple support system and daily motivation. Now they are getting both - in a handy pocket format.

6 Nov 2013

Calif. nonprofit provides grant to get TV shows to include stories about health law

The California Endowment is giving $500,000 to ensure TV episodes add stories about the need to enroll in health coverage under the health law.

6 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Law is not the fault of health system's 'age-old woes;' Obama's 'empty pledge;' dysfunctional website was inevitable

The angst over the Obamacare rollout has obscured two truths: First, the computer glitches -- while deeply embarrassing -- are a tech problem that is fixable. Second, the cancellation of some Americans' insurance policies and premium hikes for others reflect longstanding problems in the health care system that weren't suddenly caused by the Affordable Care Act. The great advancement in Obamacare is that it finally provides a framework to address these flaws (11/5).

6 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Website is like 'a patient bleeding from self-inflicted wounds;' remembering patients who never had care and the need for health law

Obamacare is starting to resemble a patient bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. A month after launch, the online health exchanges where individuals are supposed to shop for insurance remain slow or unusable, except in states that opted to run their own marketplaces and did a more competent job than the administration. As if that weren't trouble enough, critics are justifiably mocking President Obama for his repeated, untrue promise that if people liked their health plans, they could keep them. Oops. Hundreds of thousands of people are getting termination notices for plans that don't meet the strict new requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Presumably, not all those people disliked their plans (11/3).

5 Nov 2013

Consumers losing their health policies could become potent political force

Several news stories examine how this group is adept at generating attention, especially among its elected representatives.

5 Nov 2013

Obama seeks to rally health law support with appearances this week

President Barack Obama will push the benefits of the health law at appearances this week to rally support to help the fledgling law.

5 Nov 2013

Researchers study quality, effectiveness and safety of generic drugs used to treat depression

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are studying the quality, effectiveness and safety of generic drugs used to treat depression.

4 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 4, 2013

Today's headlines include the latest on the efforts to address the problems with healthcare.gov, as well as the continuing controversy surrounding President Barack Obama's promise that Americans could keep their health coverage if they liked it juxtaposed with the news of recent policy cancellations.

4 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Policies being canceled were once considered substandard; that insurance 'was working for people'

The weirdest thing about the ongoing conniption about the cancellation of people's health insurance plans -- supposedly as a result of Obamacare -- is the notion that these are plans people liked, even loved. When did that happen? It wasn't so long ago -- months, even weeks -- when the health insurance companies were being roundly cursed for their ruthless mistreatment of individual health plan customers. Constant rate hikes. Cancellations after policyholders got sick. Endless hoops to jump through to file a claim or appeal a rejection (Michael Hiltzik, 10/31).

4 Nov 2013

First Edition: October 31, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about the Obama administration's efforts to recover from health law implementation hiccups and challenges.

31 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: House Republicans help themselves, and the country, with smart, tough questions to Tavenner; Kentucky senators out of step with eager constituents; replace health law with single payer system

When House Republicans direct their opposition to Obamacare toward aggressive oversight rather than apocalyptic budget shenanigans, they can do themselves and the country a lot of good. That was obvious when the House Ways and Means Committee posed some smart, tough questions about HealthCare.gov to Marilyn Tavenner, who, as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is perhaps the person most directly responsible for the fiasco. Yes, there were a few "gotcha" questions meant to showcase individual representatives' hatred of the health-care law. But for the most part, the queries seemed designed to find a path toward more competent management of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (10/29).

31 Oct 2013

Policy cancellation letters lead to questions, put White House on the defensive

Even as the Obama administration struggles to recover from the troubled launch of healthcare.gov, a new issue has cropped up that is calling into question one of President Barack Obama's often-repeated health law promises -- that if a person has health insurance they like, they'll be able to keep it.

31 Oct 2013

L.L. News and Research

GOP seeking to rebound on the issue of the health law

First Edition: November 8, 2013

Longer looks: Bad behavior treatment; end of life decisions

Reports of insurance policy cancellations spread

Diets and the famine reaction: an interview with Associate Professor Amanda Salis, University of Sydney

Viewpoints: Obama's 'sin of omission;' Dems' panic grows over health law woes; men should pay for maternity care

Obama resets the 'keep your insurance' pledge, heads to Texas

First Edition: November 6, 2013

New app now in handy pocket format to help ex-drug and alcohol abusers

Calif. nonprofit provides grant to get TV shows to include stories about health law

Viewpoints: Law is not the fault of health system's 'age-old woes;' Obama's 'empty pledge;' dysfunctional website was inevitable

Viewpoints: Website is like 'a patient bleeding from self-inflicted wounds;' remembering patients who never had care and the need for health law

Consumers losing their health policies could become potent political force

Obama seeks to rally health law support with appearances this week

Researchers study quality, effectiveness and safety of generic drugs used to treat depression

First Edition: November 4, 2013

Viewpoints: Policies being canceled were once considered substandard; that insurance 'was working for people'

First Edition: October 31, 2013

Viewpoints: House Republicans help themselves, and the country, with smart, tough questions to Tavenner; Kentucky senators out of step with eager constituents; replace health law with single payer system

Policy cancellation letters lead to questions, put White House on the defensive

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