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Healthcare.gov troubles continue to claim headlines

The Washington Post offers a not-so-rosy progress report on repairs to the federal online health insurance marketplace. Other news outlets examine what went wrong in terms of the project management and what might be gleaned from the soon-to-be released enrollment numbers.

14 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 13, 2013

Today's headlines include not-so-positive predictions about whether healthcare.gov will be fully functional by the end of November.

13 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

State highlights: States updating Medicaid primary care pay to Medicare rates; University of Va. Hospital CEO says health law could cost millions; D.C. hospital cutting jobs

States are making progress carrying out a provision of the health care reform law that calls for increasing Medicaid primary-care payments for 2013 and 2014 to match what Medicare pays. Anecdotal evidence has suggested that few physicians were getting the promised pay bump (Robeznieks, 11/11).

13 Nov 2013

FibroGen presents China-based Phase 2 study data of roxadustat for treatment of CKD patients

FibroGen, Inc. (FibroGen), today announced that data from a China-based Phase 2 study of roxadustat (FG-4592), a first-in-class oral compound in late stage development for the treatment of anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD), were presented in an oral session at the 2013 American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Kidney Week in Atlanta, Georgia.

13 Nov 2013

HealthSouth enters into privately negotiated exchange agreements

HealthSouth Corporation (NYSE: HLS) today announced that the Company entered into separate, privately negotiated exchange agreements under which it will issue $320 million in aggregate principal amount of new 2.0% Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes due 2043 in exchange for 257,110 shares of the Company's outstanding 6.5% Series A Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock, par value $0.10 per share.

13 Nov 2013

Oversight investigation turns up CMS memo warning of 'high' website security risks

But news outlets are reporting that the project manager working on the healthcare.gov website was not made aware of these issues.

13 Nov 2013

Kaiser Permanente's Medicare health plan website launches new seminar search tool

Kaiser Permanente's highly rated Medicare health plan website, kp.org/medicare, has launched a new feature that is designed to help seniors find information more easily and conveniently.

12 Nov 2013

'Crunch time' for Obama on health law; the problems with that apology; young people feeling the sting of higher prices

But today, it's Obama in the spotlight. A president famous for his unflappability, he is now struggling to square assurances that he is on top of the problems confronting his administration with assertions that he was unaware of the problems as they were developing.

12 Nov 2013

Research roundup: Pricing and the SHOP exchange; health use in rural vs. urban areas; the health law and AIDS care

Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.

11 Nov 2013

Penn Medicine awarded $1.5M to study health care disparities among people with disabilities

The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has been awarded $1.5 million by The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to launch the Mrs. A and Mr. B Project to study health care disparities among people with disabilities. A collaborative research effort with Virtual Ability, Inc., the study aims to provide patients with information that will help them make more informed decisions about their medical care.

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

First Edition: November 8, 2013

Today's headlines include coverage of President Barack Obama's apology to people who lost their individual market health coverage because of requirements of the health law.

8 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

Top IT official for Healthcare.Gov resigns

Tony Trenkle, the federal official responsible for Healthcare.gov's launch and security, is moving to the private sector. CBS News reports that Trenkle was supposed to sign off on the site's security before launch but didn't.

8 Nov 2013

Humana offers perspective on how botched Healthcare.gov rollout has affected insurance industry

In a Wednesday call with investors, the company's chief operating officer said Humana assumes that, because of the website problems, the government will extend the open enrollment period beyond its current March 31 cutoff. The insurer also scaled back its estimates of how many people will sign up for new coverage options.

8 Nov 2013

HealthPlanOne adds Employer Solutions offering to portfolio of services

HealthPlanOne, a leading national provider of private healthcare exchange services for retirees and individuals, today announced the addition of its Employer Solutions offering to its portfolio of services.

8 Nov 2013

New coverage gaps, cost issues spur health law worries

News outlets look at the nuts and bolts of the health law's implementation, including a worry that coverage gaps will persist for some vulnerable people, as well as how the government pays for insurance subsidies and why some premium costs increase under the health law.

8 Nov 2013

Tavenner tells Senate panel to expect 800K enrollees by end of Nov., answers security questions

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner said Tuesday that fixes have been made to the federal website to improve users' experiences. She also answered questions about an exchange security breach that she said is fixed. In the meantime, the Obama administration faces growing skepticism from those in its own party on the rollout.

7 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

Medicare News and Research

Healthcare.gov troubles continue to claim headlines

First Edition: November 13, 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

State highlights: States updating Medicaid primary care pay to Medicare rates; University of Va. Hospital CEO says health law could cost millions; D.C. hospital cutting jobs

FibroGen presents China-based Phase 2 study data of roxadustat for treatment of CKD patients

HealthSouth enters into privately negotiated exchange agreements

Oversight investigation turns up CMS memo warning of 'high' website security risks

Kaiser Permanente's Medicare health plan website launches new seminar search tool

'Crunch time' for Obama on health law; the problems with that apology; young people feeling the sting of higher prices

Research roundup: Pricing and the SHOP exchange; health use in rural vs. urban areas; the health law and AIDS care

Penn Medicine awarded $1.5M to study health care disparities among people with disabilities

Officials acknowledge new capacity problems with Healthcare.gov

First Edition: November 8, 2013

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

Top IT official for Healthcare.Gov resigns

Humana offers perspective on how botched Healthcare.gov rollout has affected insurance industry

HealthPlanOne adds Employer Solutions offering to portfolio of services

New coverage gaps, cost issues spur health law worries

Tavenner tells Senate panel to expect 800K enrollees by end of Nov., answers security questions

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

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