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Viewpoints: Romneycare and cutting workers; Fla.'s surprising ruling on malpractice reform

Health reform in Massachusetts in 2006 did not cause many workers to have their work hours cut, but that is no comfort for those workers nationwide who will begin to experience this side effect of the federal Affordable Care Act (Casey B. Mulligan, 3/19).

21 Mar 2014

Obama uses March Madness to pitch health law enrollment

The president ties his NCAA picks to a campaign aimed at enrolling young people in health insurance before the March 31 deadline.

21 Mar 2014

State exchanges report stepped up activity as sign-up deadline nears

According to The Denver Post, Colorado's marketplace is seeing an acceleration in the rate of enrollment while the Los Angeles Times highlights specific outreach efforts as the clock ticks toward March 31. In Oregon, though, the countdown is on for the release of a report detailing what went wrong. And, in Connecticut, GOP state legislators want to know any of the consumers using the state's online portal were previously uninsured.

21 Mar 2014

Higher insurance premiums forecast for 2015

With less than two weeks to go in open enrollment, analysts size up the likelihood of reaching signup targets for young people and worry about the impact of that and other factors on 2015 premiums for exchange plans. The role of insurance brokers is also examined.

21 Mar 2014

New study provides first ever reliable data on antibiotic use in non-EU countries

A new study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, provides the first ever reliable data on antibiotic use in non-European Union southern and eastern European countries and newly independent states.

20 Mar 2014

First Edition: March 20, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about how the GOP is challenging the Obama administration's authority regarding the health law on various fronts, including the employer mandate delay and the birth control coverage mandate.

20 Mar 2014

Viewpoints: Supreme Court on religion and health; a GOP Senate's effect on health law; where are the young adults?

Should corporations have the right to get out of obeying federal law and refuse services and deny health care coverage to some people because of the corporate owners' religious beliefs? That's the question the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing this month – and the answer could affect millions of Americans' everyday lives (Cecile Richards and Chad Griffin, 3/18).

20 Mar 2014

State highlights: Electronic health record adoption lags; Maine's health problems; Minn. insurance costs

A selection of health policy stories from Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, Missouri, Massachusetts, Georgia and Florida.

19 Mar 2014

First Edition: March 19, 2014

Today's headlines include various stories about health law politics in the run up to the midterm elections.

19 Mar 2014

Viewpoints: NRA shouldn't derail Surgeon General nominee; Democrats need to stand up for health law

The National Rifle Association has mounted an outrageous campaign to torpedo President Obama's nomination of an outstanding young doctor to be the next surgeon general of the United States because of his attitudes on gun control.

19 Mar 2014

Analysis finds health law having mixed impact on insurance marketplace competition

A seven-state snapshot of enrollment by the Kaiser Family Foundation indicates that the overhaul has not significantly boosted competition. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent part of the Foundation.)

19 Mar 2014

Sign-up surge brings health law's enrollment tally to 5 million

In the past two weeks, an estimated 800,000 people have used the health law's online marketplaces to select health insurance. But doubts persist as to whether the number of enrollees will come close to the Obama administration's latest target, and questions continue about how many of these shoppers have actually paid their premiums.

19 Mar 2014

In Texas, enrollment push lags

Although the number of uninsured is high in the Lone Star State, concerns about cost and opposition to the law have stymied efforts to get people to sign up for policies on the online marketplace.

19 Mar 2014

Mass. cutting ties with insurance exchange website vendor after problems

The contractor, CGI Group, is also the lead contractor on the federal marketplace website.

18 Mar 2014

House Democrats ask treasury to help domestic violence victims get health subsidies

Advocates for domestic violence victims and chronically ill people urge the Obama administration to issue rules enabling them to enroll in subsidized insurance. Meanwhile, doctors say they shouldn't be left holding the bag for new health plan enrollees who have 90-day grace periods.

18 Mar 2014

Obama administration highlights 'sweet sixteen' bracket full of reasons to get health insurance

The White House is hoping to attract the interest of young people in the health law's coverage options by using unorthodox approaches such as linking insurance to March Madness and reaching out to "digital influencers."

18 Mar 2014

GOP, Dems predict fall victories, Boehner's 'absurd' claim on enrollments

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Obamacare "complete poison" on Sunday and vowed the GOP would continue to target the new health law in upcoming races. Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," he called the Affordable Care Act the "main target" for Republicans. And he said that David Jolly's victory over Democrat Alex Sink in last week's special congressional race in Florida's 13th District was largely due to opposition to Obamacare (Topaz, 3/16).

18 Mar 2014

Viewpoints: The lesson from Florida's special election; hospital deaths; costs of treating hep C

But in recent months, the political landscape has grown bleaker [for Democrats] .... The question, of course, is why so many Republicans turned out [in the Florida special election last week] and why so few Democrats did. The answer among strategists on both sides was: Obamacare. But not in the sense that the healthcare law is so unpopular that Democrats are doomed; in fact, as more people sign up for health coverage, polls suggest that Obamacare is a little less toxic now than it was last fall. Instead, the problem is that a high-decibel debate over Obamacare has the effect of prompting conservatives to come out and vote, but not liberals (Doyle McManus, 3/16).

18 Mar 2014

White House to expand federal marketplace insurance plan standards in 2015, broaden choices

The Obama administration will rely less on state insurance regulators and private groups in determining which plans will meet standards to sell insurance on the federal marketplace.

18 Mar 2014

First Edition: March 18, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the Obama administration announcement that more than 5 million people have enrolled in coverage under the health law -- an increase of about 800,000 in the last two weeks.

18 Mar 2014

Health Insurance News and Research

Viewpoints: Romneycare and cutting workers; Fla.'s surprising ruling on malpractice reform

Obama uses March Madness to pitch health law enrollment

State exchanges report stepped up activity as sign-up deadline nears

Higher insurance premiums forecast for 2015

New study provides first ever reliable data on antibiotic use in non-EU countries

First Edition: March 20, 2014

Viewpoints: Supreme Court on religion and health; a GOP Senate's effect on health law; where are the young adults?

State highlights: Electronic health record adoption lags; Maine's health problems; Minn. insurance costs

First Edition: March 19, 2014

Viewpoints: NRA shouldn't derail Surgeon General nominee; Democrats need to stand up for health law

Analysis finds health law having mixed impact on insurance marketplace competition

Sign-up surge brings health law's enrollment tally to 5 million

In Texas, enrollment push lags

Mass. cutting ties with insurance exchange website vendor after problems

House Democrats ask treasury to help domestic violence victims get health subsidies

Obama administration highlights 'sweet sixteen' bracket full of reasons to get health insurance

GOP, Dems predict fall victories, Boehner's 'absurd' claim on enrollments

Viewpoints: The lesson from Florida's special election; hospital deaths; costs of treating hep C

White House to expand federal marketplace insurance plan standards in 2015, broaden choices

First Edition: March 18, 2014

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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