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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

Some cities delay plans to move retirees to marketplaces for coverage

The problems with the healthcare.gov website has put a hold on those plans.

25 Nov 2013

As popularity of health law 'sinks,' some marketing will wait until new year

In the meantime, a new poll suggests the problems with the health law rollout have harmed the public's view of the law as a whole, and a second poll suggests the public sees addressing health care costs as the central issue.

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

Consumers shopping on health insurance exchange experience 'sticker shock'

USA Today reports prices may be higher than expected for some middle-class consumers who are not eligible for the health law's subsidies. Meanwhile, Politico highlights how one group -- older Capitol Hill staffers -- is reacting to this marketplace experience.

23 Nov 2013

Administration delays 2015 individual plan rate requirements

The change is designed to give insurers more time to compute the costs of individuals who come in late during the plan's first year -- which might avoid higher premiums and steer clear of the 2014 elections.

23 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 22, 2013

Today's headlines include reports that the Obama administration will push back 2015 Obamacare enrollment by a month, starting Nov. 15, 2014, instead of Oct. 15, 2014.

22 Nov 2013

Health law opinions: Obama asks you to talk ACA at Thanksgiving; Rove says Dems views on success are 'delusional'

Here's a hypothetical scenario: You're the president. You've just botched the roll out of what should have been your signature accomplishment, a major reform of the health insurance system. The public's hopping mad because you said anyone who liked his insurance plan would be able to keep it, but that wasn't true. So what do you do now? What the actual president did was suggest we all discuss health insurance with their families this holiday season (Andrew Rosenthal, 11/20).

22 Nov 2013

Oregon health law insurance exchange never worked, officials questioned on problems

Oregon residents are facing a state health exchange application deadline in two weeks to get coverage at the beginning of 2014, even as the online aspect of the marketplace still doesn't work -- and never did. In the meantime, Oregon lawmakers question officials on the exchanges problems and when they knew about them.

22 Nov 2013

New Medicaid 'doughnut hole' creating some pressure on states, federal officials

Health law advocates are concerned about low-income residents who are left out of health overhaul in states that are not expanding Medicaid. Meanwhile, in other states, the new enrollment in the joint federal-state program is strong.

22 Nov 2013

Patients to have online access to their prescription data for improved safety

As part of its mission to accelerate the adoption of health information exchange throughout California, the UC Davis Institute for Population Health Improvement's California Health eQuality program awarded $400,000 to L.A. Care, the nation's largest publicly operated health plan, to develop Blue Button functionality.

22 Nov 2013

Narrow choices for doctors and hospitals could keep costs down but add to consumer concerns

The Associated Press offers examples of limited networks that exclude some of the most prestigious hospitals in the Chicago and New York City areas.

22 Nov 2013

CKD children with lower socio-economic status less likely to grow to normal height ranges

Even with more prescriptions for growth hormone, children and adolescents with chronic kidney disease were less likely to grow to normal height ranges if they came from lower-income families, according to research funded by the National Institutes of Health. Results from the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children Study are published in the December issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases and online today at http://www.ajkd.org.

22 Nov 2013

State regulators share insurance 'fix' concerns with Obama

In a meeting at the White House Wednesday, a group of state insurance commissioners expressed concerns about President Barack Obama's proposal to extend canceled plans for one year that don't meet the requirements of the health law and both sides acknowledged that each state must come to its own decision about how to proceed.

21 Nov 2013

Obama seeks to redirect some of the blame for health law difficulties toward republicans

Speaking Tuesday to the Wall Street Journal's CEO Council, President Barack Obama talked about the challenges his administration has faced recently -- and still faces in the future -- regarding the roll-out of the health overhaul. Meanwhile, another poll indicated the president's approval ratings are sinking.

21 Nov 2013

On Capitol Hill, shopping for health plans from the online insurance marketplaces appears to go smoothly

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal report on how Capitol Hill lawmakers and their staffs are having a very different experience choosing coverage than most of their constituents.

21 Nov 2013

Administration tech official says about 40% of HealthCare.gov remains to be built

Henry Chao, who has overseen much of the work on healthcare.gov, said much of the "back office" work, including the system to send insurers their payments, has not been completed.

21 Nov 2013

New UI Health survey to identify unique healthcare needs of communities

The University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System will begin a survey this month to identify the unique healthcare needs of the communities it serves -- from Humbolt Park and West Town in the north, to West Lawn and Englewood in the southern corners.

21 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: GOP could fix broken health law; crisis tests whether government is capable of offering benefits through complex system; Rubio's cynical attack

Republicans are the only ones who can fix President Obama's broken promise now. The problem is simply stated. Millions will be losing their individual insurance policies that they were promised they could keep. ... What can be done is Congress creating a new option in the form of a national health insurance charter under which insurers could design new low-cost policies free of mandated benefits imposed by ObamaCare (Holman W. Jenkins Jr. 11/19).

21 Nov 2013

Maine to pay $1M to 'conservative' consultant to study Medicaid expansion

Maine's health department will pay a firm led by Gary Alexander, a controversial former welfare chief, to review the state's program and the potential costs of expanding it, according to several media reports. Meanwhile, Indiana, Missouri and South Carolina continue to debate whether to opt in to the health law's broadened Medicaid eligibility.

21 Nov 2013

Health Insurance News and Research

Will embrace of Medicaid expansion hurt some GOP presidential hopefuls?

Some cities delay plans to move retirees to marketplaces for coverage

As popularity of health law 'sinks,' some marketing will wait until new year

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

Consumers shopping on health insurance exchange experience 'sticker shock'

Administration delays 2015 individual plan rate requirements

First Edition: November 22, 2013

Health law opinions: Obama asks you to talk ACA at Thanksgiving; Rove says Dems views on success are 'delusional'

Oregon health law insurance exchange never worked, officials questioned on problems

New Medicaid 'doughnut hole' creating some pressure on states, federal officials

Patients to have online access to their prescription data for improved safety

Narrow choices for doctors and hospitals could keep costs down but add to consumer concerns

CKD children with lower socio-economic status less likely to grow to normal height ranges

State regulators share insurance 'fix' concerns with Obama

Obama seeks to redirect some of the blame for health law difficulties toward republicans

On Capitol Hill, shopping for health plans from the online insurance marketplaces appears to go smoothly

Administration tech official says about 40% of HealthCare.gov remains to be built

New UI Health survey to identify unique healthcare needs of communities

Viewpoints: GOP could fix broken health law; crisis tests whether government is capable of offering benefits through complex system; Rubio's cynical attack

Maine to pay $1M to 'conservative' consultant to study Medicaid expansion

Event guide: 4th Extra-Hepatic Lipid-Based Nanoparticles Delivery Summit eBook

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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