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Health law's 'uninsurance' fine capped at $2,448 for individuals

The cap for a family of five is set at $12,240 -- an amount equal to the national average annual premium cost of a bronze level plan.

26 Jul 2014

Obama administration moves forward on employer mandate

A signal came Thursday when the Internal Revenue Service posted drafts of forms that employers will have to fill out to comply with the requirement that they provide workers with health insurance.

26 Jul 2014

Consumers in states around the country to get premium rebates

Local news outlets report on a federal announcement Thursday showing how much money will be sent back to people and employers under rules that say insurers must spend at least 80 percent of premium payments on medical care.

26 Jul 2014

New Mexico likely to decide health exchange plan today

Also in the news, Colorado's health exchange chief executive announced she will leave her post to become president of Cigna's private exchange business.

25 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 25, 2014

Today's headlines include reports that the Obama administration is moving ahead in preparations for the health law's employer mandate.

25 Jul 2014

Viewpoints: Looking to the supremes for answer on subsidies; 'personhood' laws

Liberals are telling themselves that the latest ObamaCare legal challenge won't amount to much, although more nervously after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the White House is defying the law's plain text by allotting insurance subsidies through the federal exchanges. Allow us to increase their anxiety by speeding things along to the Supreme Court (7/23).

25 Jul 2014

GAO official: Report intended to identify trouble spots in health law fraud controls

It's too early to draw conclusions about fraud in the Obamacare marketplaces, a congressional investigator said at a hearing focused on a report finding 11 out of 12 fake applicants were able to obtain subsidized health insurance. Republicans jumped on the report as proof that the health care law invites fraud, but the Government Accountability Office official said the sample is too small and investigators "can't draw any conclusions" until their work is complete.

25 Jul 2014

Healthcare.gov active with special enrollments

ProPublica reports that the once problem-plagued federal exchange handled an estimated 960,000 "834" forms between April 19 and July 15.

25 Jul 2014

10 million newly insured because of health law, study says

The study, done by Harvard researchers and published by the New England Journal of Medicine, was based on Gallup polling and data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

25 Jul 2014

Medicaid residents sue Tennessee on Medicaid enrollment delays

The suit claims that the state's decision to require residents to apply through the health law marketplace slowed down enrollment. In other Medicaid news, The Associated Press examines problems in Oregon caused by the rush of enrollment.

25 Jul 2014

Health insurers to refund consumers $330 million

The refunds are required under the health law when insurers spend less than 80 to 85 percent of health care premiums for medical care. Florida consumers will receive the biggest rebates, with $41.7 million returned, according to government data.

25 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 24, 2014

Today's headlines include more analysis of this week's conflicting appeals courts' decisions regarding a key part of the health law.

24 Jul 2014

Highlights: Calif. nurse union in contract fight; personhood measure in Colo.; Md. transgender coverage

But this is no church service, and nurses are not here to worship. The California Nurses Association is rousing its troops for battle. California's powerful nurses' union will begin bargaining next week with Kaiser Permanente on a new four-year contract for nurses at its Northern California hospitals. (Kaiser Health News is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.) Kaiser operates the largest hospital system in the state, by number of hospitals and number of hospital beds, and is the eighth largest health system in the country (Dembosky, 7/22).

24 Jul 2014

CNN poll: Half of Americans say Obamacare has helped their families or others

A CNN poll finds that more than half the public says the health law helped their families or others, but fewer than one in five say they have personally benefited.

24 Jul 2014

Questions abound as two appeals courts split on legality of health law subsidies

Two U.S. courts of appeals reached different decisions regarding the issue of whether the health law's subsidies can be used by consumers shopping for health coverage on the federal exchange, because their states opted against setting up their own online insurance marketplace.

24 Jul 2014

Undercover agents get health insurance subsidies with fake IDs

Federal investigators, working undercover for the Government Accountability Office, said they had been able to obtain subsidized health insurance under the health law using fictitious identities and false documents. The administration said it was working on remedying the verification problems.

24 Jul 2014

Marketplace confronts confusion in face of conflicting rulings

News outlets report that providers and insurers worry the two appellate court decisions could undermine the stability of the newly expanded health insurance markets. Meanwhile, governors in those states that opted not to set up their own marketplaces may face pressure if consumers who used healthcare.gov to shop for coverage lose their subsidies.

24 Jul 2014

How will the latest health law decisions affect you?

News outlets offer consumer impact insight over Tuesday's rulings on the health law's subsidies to buy health insurance on the federal and state marketplaces.

24 Jul 2014

Contraception accommodation for religious groups to be broadened

The Obama administration said Tuesday it will create a new option for certain religious nonprofits that object to the health law's contraception mandate and which does not entail submitting a form that they say also violates their religious beliefs.

24 Jul 2014

Dueling rulings on health law subsidies leave states in lurch

States are pondering their places in the health law's federal- or state-based health insurance exchanges after a pair of contradictory appeals court rulings Tuesday threw up in the air if states that use the federal exchange can offer subsidies to their residents to help afford coverage.

24 Jul 2014