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State exchanges report November surge

Still, reports on the ground vary -- with some states offering positive news, while others still are limping along. Here is a sampling of coverage from Kentucky, Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Massachusetts.

26 Nov 2013

Health law's Medicaid expansion running smoothly

While many Americans have struggled to sign up for insurance on the troubled healthcare.gov website, enrollment is moving faster for Medicaid in states that opted into the expanded program.

26 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Opposition to Medicaid dooming the South; Obama's 'blank check' for insurers; one woman's quest for coverage

As inapt as those comparisons are, what is distressingly similar today is how the South is once again committed to taking a backward path. By refusing to expand health care for the working poor through Medicaid, which is paid for by the federal government under Obamacare, most of the old Confederacy is committed to keeping millions of its own fellow citizens in poverty and poor health. They are dooming themselves, further, as the Left-Behind States (Timothy Egan, 11/21).

25 Nov 2013

Calif. won't extend canceled insurance policies despite presidential plea

The five-member board overseeing California's online insurance marketplace unanimously turned down President Obama's call to let insurers continue some health plans that don't meet the health law's requirements. Marketplace officials for Covered California also detailed who has signed up for coverage in the marketplace.

25 Nov 2013

Will embrace of Medicaid expansion hurt some GOP presidential hopefuls?

Some Republican governors said to have presidential aspirations, including Chris Christie of New Jersey and John Kasich of Ohio, have expanded the program in their own states, even as the party tries to unravel the law.

25 Nov 2013

Financial analysts say in addition to political turmoil, website problems could send stocks into turmoil

Wall Street health care analysts warned Thursday that a failure to successfully launch HealthCare.gov by Nov. 30 could send Democrats fleeing from Obamacare and industry stocks into turmoil. "If the website is not functioning on Nov. 30, then I think you see a stampede of Democratic legislators in risky elections next year," said Carl McDonald, a senior analyst at Citi Investment Research, at a conference organized by the Center for Studying Health System Change (Cheney, 11/21).

23 Nov 2013

Minn., Mass. officials say they will not follow Obama's advice on fixing canceled policies, but N.C. does

States are considering whether to allow insurers to continue offering current plans that are sold on the individual market and that don't meet the standards of the health law. The president suggested that fix last week.

20 Nov 2013

New report examines impact of federal and state policy decisions on community health centers

A new report by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services examines the impact of federal and state policy decisions on community health centers and their ability to continue providing primary care to the nation's poorest residents.

19 Nov 2013

Health insurers leery about 'fix' to Obamacare woes

Top insurance industry executives met with the president on Friday and two spoke this morning, saying the rules change could create "problems."

18 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: 'Nation takes stock' of Obama and his health law; Noonan says now is time to hold back Obamacare; Obama needs to be resolute

President Obama has come up with a modest fix for a self-inflicted political wound: his repeated - and wrong - assertions that Americans would be able to keep their health insurance plans if they wanted to under the health care reform law (11/14).

16 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Despite website woes, administration should be given more time; health law credibility 'going up in smoke'

The enrollment numbers are in, and as expected, they are well short of projections. Around 106,000 enrolled in new plans during October - with approximately 27,000 coming from states where the federal government is running the exchange (with its extensive problems), and another 79,000 coming through the state exchanges. Republicans are gleefully pointing to the numbers as proof Obamacare needs to be scrapped entirely. That confirms two things we've long known to be true: the website is a disaster, and short term enrollment figures are a serious political problem for the White House and Democrats (Greg Sargent, 11/13).

15 Nov 2013

California beating all other states in health law exchange enrollment

California is the bright spot in enrolling people in the health law's insurance exchanges -- beating even the federal Healthcare.gov in how many have signed up. Still, California's enrollment figures -- representing about a third of all signups around the nation -- mean less than 1 percent of uninsured Californians have signed up for plans.

15 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Some who supported health law learning first-hand about the downsides; small businesses not finding better deals; Clinton should know there is no 'magic solution'

Margaret Davis of West L.A. voted for President Obama and appreciates the ideas behind the Affordable Care Act. She agrees that everyone should have access to healthcare and no one should be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. But here's the problem: She knows firsthand, as the new law of the land rolls clumsily into being, that it's not working out to everyone's advantage (Steve Lopez, 11/12).

14 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Health law foes wage battle to keep young adults from coverage; Sen. Rubio: Website's snags could open the door to con artists

This is the strangest P.R. campaign yet against the Affordable Care Act. Generation Opportunity, the Koch-funded group behind the Creepy Uncle Sam ads, is throwing tailgate parties to "educate" young people about the exchanges. Read: To convince young people to forgo health insurance.

13 Nov 2013

Early enrollment numbers far below administration targets

The projections, which put the total number of enrollees so far at fewer than 50,000 people, is just a fraction of the tally the Obama administration initially was hoping for.

12 Nov 2013

10 GOP senators want Sebelius to be fired; some Democratic senators beginning to press for individual mandate delay

Health law politics are triggering a new wave of political posturing among lawmakers who are attempting to position themselves for the upcoming election season.

11 Nov 2013

Officials acknowledge new capacity problems with Healthcare.gov

New Healthcare.gov capacity problems are emerging -- this time as people trying to sign up for coverage get further along in the process, officials said in a conference call Thursday.

11 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: The battle over one woman's medical story; why Mass. didn't see a wave of cancellations; politicians' love of anecdotes

Edie Littlefield Sundby may not have thought she'd ignite a national debate when the stage-4 cancer survivor asked us to publish her Monday op-ed on losing her oncologist due to the Affordable Care Act. But she certainly has, and it's important to understand why. Mrs. Sundby and millions like her must be denied their medical choices if ObamaCare is going to work as its liberal planners intend (11/6).

8 Nov 2013

'War room' notes offer inside view of chaos that surrounded Healthcare.gov launch

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released more than 100 pages of documents showing how the difficulties and glitches were chronicled.

7 Nov 2013

Officials stepping up pressure on insurers to stop cancellations, or explain them better

Insurance industry officials meet with White House officials and California convinces one company to delay cancellation for three months.

7 Nov 2013

Health Reform News and Research

State exchanges report November surge

Health law's Medicaid expansion running smoothly

Viewpoints: Opposition to Medicaid dooming the South; Obama's 'blank check' for insurers; one woman's quest for coverage

Calif. won't extend canceled insurance policies despite presidential plea

Will embrace of Medicaid expansion hurt some GOP presidential hopefuls?

Financial analysts say in addition to political turmoil, website problems could send stocks into turmoil

Minn., Mass. officials say they will not follow Obama's advice on fixing canceled policies, but N.C. does

New report examines impact of federal and state policy decisions on community health centers

Health insurers leery about 'fix' to Obamacare woes

Viewpoints: 'Nation takes stock' of Obama and his health law; Noonan says now is time to hold back Obamacare; Obama needs to be resolute

Viewpoints: Despite website woes, administration should be given more time; health law credibility 'going up in smoke'

California beating all other states in health law exchange enrollment

Viewpoints: Some who supported health law learning first-hand about the downsides; small businesses not finding better deals; Clinton should know there is no 'magic solution'

Viewpoints: Health law foes wage battle to keep young adults from coverage; Sen. Rubio: Website's snags could open the door to con artists

Early enrollment numbers far below administration targets

10 GOP senators want Sebelius to be fired; some Democratic senators beginning to press for individual mandate delay

Officials acknowledge new capacity problems with Healthcare.gov

Viewpoints: The battle over one woman's medical story; why Mass. didn't see a wave of cancellations; politicians' love of anecdotes

'War room' notes offer inside view of chaos that surrounded Healthcare.gov launch

Officials stepping up pressure on insurers to stop cancellations, or explain them better

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