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Tactics to sell the health law: Moms and local news

he administration, as well as insurers and advocacy groups, will rely on several tactics to sell the public on the health law, appealing to mothers to recruit their adult children and seeking positive news coverage from local, rather than national, media.

27 Nov 2013

Supreme Court mulls taking health law contraception case

The justices could announce as early as Tuesday whether they will review provisions in the Affordable Care Act requiring employers of a certain size to offer insurance coverage for birth control and other reproductive health services without a co-pay. The owners of more than three dozen for-profit companies have argued that complying with that provision would violate their religious beliefs.

27 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Local political fallout from Obama insurance pledge; 'debunking' sob story; is single payer still a possibility?

Democratic state leaders have been some of ObamaCare's strongest advocates. To show his gratitude, President Obama is sticking them with political responsibility for the millions of insurance policies that are being cancelled because they don't comply with the law's minimum-benefits mandates. ... Renewing lapsed policies could weaken the state exchanges as healthy young people will want to keep their discontinued, lower-cost plans ... there are other political considerations. Namely, the criticism they'll face from both the right and left if they don't back the president's directive to allow policy renewals (Allysia Finley, 11/25).

27 Nov 2013

Health law coverage bringing changes to an array of consumers

News outlets explore some of these issues, including new costs for people with "Cadillac" coverage, "narrow networks" of doctors and other health providers, new options for part-time workers and unexpected effects on smokers.

27 Nov 2013

Administration: HealthCare.gov on target to work for most by Nov. 30

Administration officials and consumer advocates say that the enrollment website serving residents of 36 states is becoming easier for people to use, but insurers warn that flaws continue to hinder health plans. Officials acknowledge that some users will continue to experience outages and error messages. Meanwhile, Bloomberg looks at the president's efforts to monitor the situation.

26 Nov 2013

Health law commentaries: 'A reader's guide' to possible 'traumas to come;' California shows the way to success

Commentators look at the rollout of the health law and the implications for the nation and individual states.

26 Nov 2013

New small business sees health law help in clearing major expense hurdle

Some new small businesses see the health law's insurance marketplaces as a way past one of the major expenses in starting a business -- providing health care for their employees.

26 Nov 2013

N.Y. medical providers considering which exchange plans to join

Medical providers in New York are making deals with insurers to provide care to their patients buying health coverage on the state's health insurance marketplace. In California, Molina Healthcare looks for growth opportunities.

26 Nov 2013

Expanding access to health insurance may not inflate ICU usage in Massachusetts, shows study

A multi-institution study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that increasing the number of insured patients is not associated with higher intensive care unit (ICU) usage in Massachusetts.

26 Nov 2013

Enforcement of health law mandate a 'crucial test' for IRS

The Washington Post reports that enforcing the requirement that almost all Americans have health insurance represents the biggest boost in the agency's responsibilities in decades.

26 Nov 2013

Lawmakers join state exchanges ahead of tough 2014 election battles

Some Washington lawmakers are joining their home state insurance marketplaces ahead of 2014's elections so they can say they are getting the same health law choices as constituents.

26 Nov 2013

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

Healthcare.Gov progress reports and post-mortems

KHN report looks forward, about what is next in the queue in efforts to fix the website -- including possible fixes that would allow insurers and web-based brokers to enroll customers directly into subsidized coverage.

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

Administration moves health plan sign-ups to mid-November in 2015

On Friday, the Obama administration announced that starting next year, it will push back the start of the sign-up period for those buying insurance until mid-November, rather than mid-October. Republicans called the shift a blatantly political move.

25 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 25, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about how political concerns and strategies are taking shape as a result of healthcare.gov's difficulties.

25 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

Consumers given more time to get healthcare.gov coverage that starts in January

Administration officials announced Friday that consumers would be permitted to enroll in a health insurance plan on healthcare.gov as late as Dec. 23 for coverage that begins on Jan. 1 next year.

25 Nov 2013

Administration's proposed cancellation plan raises a new set of questions, concerns

News outlets explore a variety of issues related to President Barack Obama's proposed cancellation 'fix' -- including how this approach could alter the landscape for consumers, insurers and state insurance regulators.

25 Nov 2013