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In 'symbolic' move, President signs up for health insurance

President Barack Obama selected a plan over the weekend while vacationing in Hawaii.

24 Dec 2013

Administration extends enrollment one day after crush of website customers

More than a million people signed onto the federal health website Monday as consumers rushed to sign up for coverage to begin Jan. 1.

24 Dec 2013

Capsules: Catastrophic Obamacare policies prove hard sell so far; explaining Obama's move to allow some 'catastrophic' health coverage plans

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Phil Galewitz examines catastrophic insurance policies: "The Obama administration's decision this week to allow people to buy catastrophic-level policies if their individual health plans had been canceled comes amid reports that few people have bought these less expensive policies sold in new online insurance marketplaces" (Galewitz, 12/20).

24 Dec 2013

Young adults remain a focus of insurance marketplace outreach

The success of the Affordable Care Act's online marketplaces may depend on people like [26-year-old] Lizzie Bunnen. If healthy adults her age don't sign up, the risk is that predominantly older and sicker members will drive up costs and threaten the portals' future. With the Dec. 23 deadline approaching for January coverage, and at the end of March for all 2014 enrollment, the clock is ticking on what many believe is one of the health law's biggest challenges.

24 Dec 2013

First Edition: December 24, 2013

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby, working in collaboration with NBC News, reports: "If you buy one of the less expensive insurance plans sold through the health law's marketplaces, you may be in for a surprise. Some plans will not pay for a doctor visit before you meet your annual deductible, which could be thousands of dollars" (Appleby, 12/23).

24 Dec 2013

White House to health insurance consumers: You've got another day to sign up

The White House has decided to allow an extra 24 hours for people to sign up for insurance on HealthCare.gov, through the end of the day Tuesday, to receive coverage beginning on Jan. 1, according to a senior official familiar with the change. The official deadline for getting insurance remains 11:59 p.m. on Monday. But because of record traffic on the website Monday morning, officials wanted to reassure the public - and themselves - that people who sought coverage in good faith would be covered (Shear, 12/23).

24 Dec 2013

Viewpoints: Impact of 'meddling with' health law; antibiotics on farms; 'Let thirtysomethings' join Medicare

[A]ll of these last-minute policy shifts confuse people who were already struggling to understand a complex new system, ... The cumulative effect is that at least some people - we hope not many - will misunderstand their responsibilities under the law or be deterred from seeking coverage. The biggest danger is that the Obama administration is encouraging politicians to meddle in the health-care system every time a few vocal constituents get upset about its requirements (12/21).

24 Dec 2013

State highlights: Minn. to cut elderly Medicaid benefits; Calif.'s Insurance Commissioner finds fault with Obamacare, seeks re-election

Starting in January, thousands of low-income elderly Minnesotans could lose government benefits intended to help them stay in their homes and out of nursing care. In an effort to constrain runaway Medicaid spending, Minnesota is implementing stricter rules that will make it harder for senior citizens to qualify for home-based services, potentially leaving them with reduced care or no care at all (Serres, 12/21).

24 Dec 2013

Monday's deadline to buy health law insurance coverage leaves many scrambling

People who want policies in place by Jan. 1 face a deadline today, but a series of changes in how the health law is being implemented has complicated the process for consumers and insurers.

24 Dec 2013

States, feds struggle to enroll consumers in health coverage

Officials attempting to enroll people for coverage through the health law's exchanges are facing education challenges, website headaches and a deadline of today to get people signed up for Jan. 1 coverage. News outlets provide snapshots in Colorado, California, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Minnesota, Texas, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

24 Dec 2013

Insurers unnerved by rule changes for consumers with canceled policies

The Obama administration's announcement last week that consumers whose policies had been canceled could buy catastrophic health plans and were also exempt from the law's mandate in the first year spurred handwringing in some quarters.

24 Dec 2013

As consumers enroll in marketplace plans, questions remain for many

Questions remain about insurance pricing, the cost of reform to taxpayers, and who is and isn't covered by the employer mandate.

24 Dec 2013

First Edition: December 23, 2013

The early morning highlights from the major news organizations examine today's deadline for enrolling for health insurance that would begin Jan. 1, as well as a variety of other health law stories and several articles on mental health issues:

23 Dec 2013

Research roundup: ACA 'can survive' low enrollment; rural/urban differences in O.B. Care; teaching residents cost consciousness

The Health Reform Monitoring Survey (HRMS) was launched in 2013 as a mechanism to obtain timely information on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ... HRMS data from summer 2013 show that more than 60 percent of those targeted by the health insurance exchanges struggle with understanding key health insurance concepts.

23 Dec 2013

Viewpoints: Health announcement creates 'utter chaos;' a serious chip in the individual mandate; law's benefits aren't free

Last night, in a stunning reversal, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that Americans who have had their plans canceled will be exempt from enrolling in the exchanges, "because some consumers were finding other coverage options to be more expensive than their cancelled plans or policies."

23 Dec 2013

President takes blame with healthcare.gov but notes 'more than a million' new insured

News outlets highlighted health care aspects of President Barack Obama's news conference. More than one million Americans signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act during the first three weeks of December, including 500,000 through the federal exchange, President Barack Obama announced Friday.

23 Dec 2013

Manchin says health law could be heading toward 'meltdown'

President Barack Obama's healthcare law could have a "meltdown" and make it difficult for his Democratic Party to keep control of the U.S. Senate next year if ongoing problems with the program are not resolved, a Democratic senator said on Sunday.

23 Dec 2013

Get ready to pay more for health coverage, but it may not be just health law's fault

Although many blame the health law for all recent health care cost increases, trends that bump up the cost of care were in place before the law was enacted and are being driven up even more by routine costs, some say.

23 Dec 2013

States report surges in health plan sign-ups; California at the front of the pack

The increase has ranged from 30 percent to 40 percent, reports ABC News. In California, an estimated 50,000 people picked a health plan in the first week of December. News outlets also reported on the latest developments in Maryland, Oregon and Minnesota.

22 Dec 2013

People with canceled plans exempted from insurance mandate

In addition, the administration said Thursday that those with canceled plans will be able to buy bare-bones catastrophic plans, regardless of their age, under a hardship exemption.

22 Dec 2013

Health Insurance News and Research

In 'symbolic' move, President signs up for health insurance

Administration extends enrollment one day after crush of website customers

Capsules: Catastrophic Obamacare policies prove hard sell so far; explaining Obama's move to allow some 'catastrophic' health coverage plans

Young adults remain a focus of insurance marketplace outreach

First Edition: December 24, 2013

White House to health insurance consumers: You've got another day to sign up

Viewpoints: Impact of 'meddling with' health law; antibiotics on farms; 'Let thirtysomethings' join Medicare

State highlights: Minn. to cut elderly Medicaid benefits; Calif.'s Insurance Commissioner finds fault with Obamacare, seeks re-election

Monday's deadline to buy health law insurance coverage leaves many scrambling

States, feds struggle to enroll consumers in health coverage

Insurers unnerved by rule changes for consumers with canceled policies

As consumers enroll in marketplace plans, questions remain for many

First Edition: December 23, 2013

Research roundup: ACA 'can survive' low enrollment; rural/urban differences in O.B. Care; teaching residents cost consciousness

Viewpoints: Health announcement creates 'utter chaos;' a serious chip in the individual mandate; law's benefits aren't free

President takes blame with healthcare.gov but notes 'more than a million' new insured

Manchin says health law could be heading toward 'meltdown'

Get ready to pay more for health coverage, but it may not be just health law's fault

States report surges in health plan sign-ups; California at the front of the pack

People with canceled plans exempted from insurance mandate

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