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Nevada to use federal exchange for next open enrollment

The board of Nevada's online insurance exchange voted Tuesday to scrap its contract with Xerox, which built the exchange that has been marked by problems.

22 May 2014

First Edition: May 21, 2014

Today's headlines include status reports on the health exchanges in Nevada and Oregon.

21 May 2014

Viewpoints: Cutting costs for patients with chronic illness; Gov. Pence's change of Heart; fix the VA

Most health care plans ask that you spend some money out of your pocket whenever you use the health care system. This is known as cost-sharing .... Cost-sharing works for most people, because most people are healthy. Healthy people who use health care are often doing so inefficiently.

21 May 2014

State highlights: Calif. bill on keeping small biz health plans; Colo. rating area plan approved

A selection of health policy stories from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington state and Massachusetts.

21 May 2014

When preventive services are not free

Politico takes a look at the difficulties of carrying out the overhaul's mandate to provide free preventive services, while Kaiser Health News examines a study detailing how limited insurer competition increased consumer premiums. The Fiscal Times reports on a study projecting that high deductibles are likely to keep the premiums of exchange plans in check.

21 May 2014

States appear to be sticking to health exchange choices

Modern Healthcare reports that states -- whether they elected to run their own insurance marketplaces or use healthcare.gov -- appear to be staying the course in terms of the health law's exchanges.

21 May 2014

Viewpoints: Pence on Medicaid expansion; Jindal on Obamacare repeal efforts; 'long-shot' lawsuits

From the beginning of my tenure as governor in 2013, we have been saying no to Obamacare in Indiana.

20 May 2014

Study: Medicaid patients' health could impact health law's bottom line

The New York Times reports on a news study concluding that Medicaid surgery patients ultimately cost more than those on private insurance -- a finding that may foreshadow what happens as the Medicaid rolls grow under the health law.

20 May 2014

Insurance subsidies may be too high or low for some who got coverage

More than a million Americans listed incomes on their health insurance applications that differ significantly from those on file with the Internal Revenue Service and therefore may be getting subsidies that are too high or low, The Washington Post says.

19 May 2014

First Edition: May 19, 2014

Today's headlines include a report about federal health care subsidies and an update on states small business health exchanges.

19 May 2014

First Edition: May 16, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the Indiana governor's alternative plan to expand Medicaid. Kaiser Health News staff writer Sarah Varney, working in collaboration with PBS Newshour, reports: "Men and women involved in the criminal justice system are more likely to be sicker than the general population, with higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, depression, mood disorders and alcohol and drug addiction.

16 May 2014

State highlights: 700 nurses needed for health care help in Calif. county; Missouri abortion wait period; nursing home funding in Maine

A selection of health policy stories from California, Missouri, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas and Georgia.

16 May 2014

Viewpoints: GOP attacks on health law; challenging assumptions about Obamacare politics; is employer mandate worth it?

A crucial component of the Republican Party's assault on the Affordable Care Act always has been ignorance -- that is, the promotion of ignorance about the ACA's benefits among the general population. Now, from the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., comes hard evidence that the campaign worked, bigtime. In its latest national survey to determine how the healthcare reform act has been working, McKinsey found that the perceived cost of health insurance still was the No. 1 reason given by respondents for not enrolling (Michael Hiltzik, 5/14).

16 May 2014

Three large health plans join forces to advance health care price transparency

State highlights: Budget surplus in Calif., but higher Medi-Cal costs; court-ordered mental health care in Calif.; nurses' authority in Minn.

A selection of health policy stories from California, Minnesota, Georgia, Washington state, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Illinois and Maryland.

15 May 2014