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Viewpoints: GOP's 'cynical' lawsuit against Obama; debt crisis is not over

There's not much that Republicans like about the 2010 Affordable Care Act, but one thing they particularly dislike is the requirement that employers with 50 or more full-time workers provide comprehensive health insurance.

18 Jul 2014

Questions surround how insurers are disclosing -- or not -- their 2015 proposed rates

News outlets from Florida and Iowa report on recent developments in these states. How much will it cost Floridians to buy coverage next year on Healthcare.gov? Lots of people want to know, but the insurers are keeping the prices secret in an unprecedented way (Gentry, 7/16).

18 Jul 2014

Unitedhealth, HCA see profits from Obamacare

The giant insurer saw revenue growth from its Optum unit, which helped fix the federal health insurance website and has since been hired by several states.

18 Jul 2014

Senate Democrats fail to reverse Hobby Lobby decision

The bill, which would have restored employers' mandate to provide birth control to women, did not garner the necessary 60 votes. Republicans argued Democrats were using the issue to gain advantages in the midterm campaign.

18 Jul 2014

Insurers seek rule change that would boost profits

The industry wants to exclude brokers' fees from being factored into administrative costs, which would reduce consumer refunds under the health law's so-called medical loss ratio rule. Currently, the rule requires plans in the small group market to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical costs and no more than 20 percent on administrative costs.

18 Jul 2014

House panel begins hearings on suit against Obama

The Rules Committee hearing highlighted bickering between Republican lawmakers and constitutional law experts. The committee is expected to vote next week on a resolution authorizing a lawsuit.

18 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 17, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about how Capitol Hill politics are impacting health care policy. Houston Public Media's Carrie Feibel, working in partnership with Kaiser Health News and NPR, reports: "Primary care doctors have reported problems making referrals for patients who have purchased some of the cheaper plans from the federal insurance marketplace.

17 Jul 2014

State highlights: Health insurance changes catch Detroit teachers off guard; United Healthcare cuts 500 Tenn. doctors from Medicare advantage network

A selection of health policy stories from Michigan, Tennessee, California, Wisconsin, New York and North Carolina.

17 Jul 2014

Senate Dems aim to reverse Hobby Lobby decision, undermine state abortion restrictions

Democrats have scheduled a Senate vote Wednesday on legislation offered to respond to the Supreme Court's recent ruling. And, on Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony about another measure that would void some state abortion restrictions.

17 Jul 2014

Viewpoints: Lower health spending is welcome news; media bias against health law success

The last few years have seen a puzzling and welcome new trend in health care spending: Instead of going up and up, increases have slowed way down.

17 Jul 2014

Study finds no sign that health law has created crush of Medical demand

The industry study finds that visits to doctors are down slightly over 2013. Another study looks at how nurses could do more in managing chronic illnesses to relieve stress on doctors.

17 Jul 2014

Texas Medicaid rolls grow even without expansion

More than 80,000 Texans have enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program since the rollout of the Affordable Care Act last fall, despite the state's decision not to participate in the health law's expansion of eligibility. Enrollment and marketplace developments in Colorado and Maryland are also tracked.

17 Jul 2014

Impact of kidney donation on ability to change life insurance is unknown

People who selflessly step up and donate a kidney can face insurance challenges afterwards, despite the lack of evidence that they have increased health risks.

16 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 16, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the Congressional Budget Office's latest estimate on federal health care spending.

16 Jul 2014

Kidney donors often face pointless post-donation hurdles when seeking life insurance

Healthy living kidney donors often face pointless post-donation hurdles when seeking or changing health or life insurance, according to results of a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers.

16 Jul 2014

Survey: More than 10 million people received health law assistance from health law 'assisters'

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, about 28,000 assisters nationwide were involved in helping as consumers explore their new health insurance options under the ACA.

16 Jul 2014

North Carolina Gov. leaves 'door open' to Medicaid expansion

The Republican governor said he wants to fix the current system first, but would consider expansion if federal officials allowed the state to craft its own plan.

16 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 15, 2014

Today's headlines include news about how some states are planning to address their backlogs of new Medicaid enrollees.

15 Jul 2014

Glitch in Connecticut exchange resulted in thousands of problems

Access Health CT is reaching out to 5,784 customers who were either inaccurately enrolled in Medicaid, or who received inaccurate bills because their insurers received incorrect information from the exchange, officials say. Meanwhile, developments related to Minnesota's and Colorado's exchanges are also covered.

15 Jul 2014

HealthPlanOne plans to open new location in Phoenix

HealthPlanOne, one of the nation's leading Medicare and under-65 health insurance sales and customer acquisition companies, has announced plans to open a new location in Phoenix.

15 Jul 2014