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What the health law's future holds: Fixing the website and everything after

News outlets report on the various ways the website issues and sign-up woes could be addressed, as well as what a variety of experts say about the global outlook for the health law.

15 Nov 2013

House oversight panel grills administration tech officials on website woes

The White House's chief technology officer, Todd Park, told the committee that teams are working aggressively to get the website functioning "for the vast majority" of consumers by the administration's Nov. 30 deadline. Meanwhile, a second panel heard testimony about website and security concerns.

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

Rural residents have fewer choices for Medicare Advantage plans

A new analysis from HealthPocket examines enrollee options for Medicare Advantage plans and finds that rural residents have fewer plan choices, and higher premiums and out-of-pocket maximums than their non-rural counterparts.

15 Nov 2013

With political pressures increasing in response to health law roll-out and policy cancellations, the White House spin machine must move into overdrive

News outlets report on the pressure coming from both Democrats and Republicans regarding what some are calling President Barack Obama's "broken promise."

14 Nov 2013

HHS: Nearly a million consumers have completed the health insurance sign up process; 106,185 have selected plans

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced enrollment numbers today for the federal and state online health insurance marketplaces that opened Oct. 1. Medicaid enrollment data were also released.

14 Nov 2013

JAMA asks experts to examine 'critical issues' in health care

The Journal of the American Medical Association's current edition, published Tuesday, invited well-known health policy experts to comment on some of the big questions in their fields.

14 Nov 2013

Will Healthcare.gov troubles slow Medicaid expansion too?

Medicaid sign-ups, part of the health law working the way many officials thought it should, could also be hurt by technological malfunctions. But one state is finding the opposite to be true. In the meantime, states consider new Medicaid expansions or report on how many new Medicaid enrollees are signing up.

14 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

Swept up in Healthcare.gov's troubled launch, the 'Mona Lisa of health care' speaks

Identified only as "Adriana," the woman whose face appeared on the federal online insurance website says she does not understand the reasons behind the mockery and speculation of which she became the focus.

14 Nov 2013

State regulators explore options on insurance plan cancellations

Oregon regulators rejected calls to push back the cancellation dates of 140,000 health insurance policies in the state, even as momentum to delay the cancellations builds among California officials and some national Democratic figures. Meanwhile, PBS Newshour explores the reasons for the cancellations of policies which are sold directly to individuals.

14 Nov 2013

State marketplaces still plagued by technical problems

The New York Times examines how states running their own insurance exchange websites are doing. Meanwhile, USA Today looks at how insurance choices vary across the country.

14 Nov 2013

Some Democrats supporting GOP bill allowing Americans to keep canceled health plans

Democrats consider or profess their support for a Republican plan that would allow Americans to keep their canceled health insurance plans. In the meantime, fights continue to rage over the health law's navigators, and in political races.

14 Nov 2013

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

Health law outreach efforts try new controversial ads, enrollment tactics

Health law outreach efforts take on new wrinkles -- Colorado officials launch controversial ads geared toward women and Enroll America changes how it tries to get people to sign up for health coverage. In the meantime, Republicans are releasing their own set of ads mocking the law.

13 Nov 2013

Bay Area Surgical Management reaches agreement to become in-network provider for Cigna

Bay Area Surgical Management, one of the largest and fastest growing ambulatory surgery center providers in the San Francisco Bay Area, has reached an agreement to become an in-network provider for Cigna, one of the country's largest health insurance companies.

13 Nov 2013

Bill Clinton says health law should be changed so consumers can keep coverage they like

Comments by the former president piled pressure on to the White House's efforts to find a solution to the policy cancellations that may affect several million consumers who buy their own insurance. His statements were immediately pounced upon by Republicans.

13 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

Medicaid enrollment is 'early success story,' but website's problems are still causing sign-up difficulties

The Associated Press reports on the larger enrollment in states that are expanding their Medicaid programs. However, The New York Times points out that the snags on the marketplace websites may be holding up thousands of others who will be eligible for the state-federal program for low-income people.

13 Nov 2013

Health Insurance News and Research

What the health law's future holds: Fixing the website and everything after

House oversight panel grills administration tech officials on website woes

California beating all other states in health law exchange enrollment

Rural residents have fewer choices for Medicare Advantage plans

With political pressures increasing in response to health law roll-out and policy cancellations, the White House spin machine must move into overdrive

HHS: Nearly a million consumers have completed the health insurance sign up process; 106,185 have selected plans

JAMA asks experts to examine 'critical issues' in health care

Will Healthcare.gov troubles slow Medicaid expansion too?

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'

Swept up in Healthcare.gov's troubled launch, the 'Mona Lisa of health care' speaks

State regulators explore options on insurance plan cancellations

State marketplaces still plagued by technical problems

Some Democrats supporting GOP bill allowing Americans to keep canceled health plans

Healthcare.gov troubles continue to claim headlines

Health law outreach efforts try new controversial ads, enrollment tactics

Bay Area Surgical Management reaches agreement to become in-network provider for Cigna

Bill Clinton says health law should be changed so consumers can keep coverage they like

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

Medicaid enrollment is 'early success story,' but website's problems are still causing sign-up difficulties

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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