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Who gets what under Obamacare, and who is left out

News stories look at who wins and who loses under the health law. Elsewhere, Obamacare message sparring gets personal.

8 Nov 2013

Reports of insurance policy cancellations spread

At least half of the 14 million people who shop in the individual insurance market can expect to receive a cancellation letter ahead of next year. A review by "Road to Reform" found that hundreds of thousands of cancellation letters had already been sent in states like Oregon, Florida and Georgia. And about 1 million of consumers affected are in California. One key PR challenge: The cancellation letters are piling up at a much faster rate than Americans are able to sign up for new coverage (Diamond, 11/6).

8 Nov 2013

For health exchange navigators, enrollment frustrations continue

Workers helping people enroll in policies through the health law's new online insurance marketplaces are still finding website problems and it's causing concerns.

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

Viewpoints: Obama's 'sin of omission;' Dems' panic grows over health law woes; men should pay for maternity care

"The big lie," as the president's broken Obamacare promise is now known, was that everyone could keep his or her doctor and insurance policy under the ACA. No one, Americans were justified in inferring, would be remotely inconvenienced by Obamacare. Instead, the reality is well-known: Millions are expected to lose their insurance policies, while others will see their premiums skyrocket. It is still jarring to my adult psyche to impugn another, especially the president of the United States, as a liar, so I won't. But it is not possible to pretend that the American people have been told the truth. Nor is it possible to pretend that Barack Obama has been completely honest (Kathleen Parker, 11/5).

7 Nov 2013

Study: Premiums in red states after health law rose more than in blue states

The Heritage Foundation reports that premiums for people who live in "red" states -- those with more Republicans -- are seeing their health coverage premiums rise more on average than those in "blue" states.

7 Nov 2013

Officials stepping up pressure on insurers to stop cancellations, or explain them better

Insurance industry officials meet with White House officials and California convinces one company to delay cancellation for three months.

7 Nov 2013

Obama resets the 'keep your insurance' pledge, heads to Texas

President Barack Obama will be visiting an area -- Dallas County -- that has one of the highest concentrations of uninsured people in the nation. He is expected to urge Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a staunch opponent of the health law, to follow the lead of other Republican state executives and pursue the overhaul's Medicaid expansion.

6 Nov 2013

Two long-term policyholders accuse Blue Cross of fraudulent scheme

Blue Cross was sued Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court in separate actions by two long-term policyholders who allege the health insurance giant induced them to switch from grandfathered policies in order to eventually cancel their health insurance.

6 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 6, 2013

Today's headlines include reports detailing the contents of the health law's "war room" notes as well as scene-setters for today's Senate hearing testimony about healthcare.gov by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

6 Nov 2013

Capsules: 17 million people eligible for premium subsidies, study finds; study points to 'imbalance' in spending on doctor training

"Seventeen million people who are now uninsured or who buy their own health insurance will be eligible for tax credits next year to help purchase coverage on the health law's online marketplaces or exchanges, according to an analysis released Tuesday" (Carey, 11/5).

6 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Law is not the fault of health system's 'age-old woes;' Obama's 'empty pledge;' dysfunctional website was inevitable

The angst over the Obamacare rollout has obscured two truths: First, the computer glitches -- while deeply embarrassing -- are a tech problem that is fixable. Second, the cancellation of some Americans' insurance policies and premium hikes for others reflect longstanding problems in the health care system that weren't suddenly caused by the Affordable Care Act. The great advancement in Obamacare is that it finally provides a framework to address these flaws (11/5).

6 Nov 2013

AMGA honors Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group with Acclaim Award

The Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group is the Honoree the American Medical Group Association's Acclaim Award.

6 Nov 2013

Benaissance hosts open house on November 8th

Benaissance announced it will host an open house Friday, November 8th from 4:30-6:30 pm as it expands its Omaha presence to a new 31,000 square foot facility.

6 Nov 2013

State highlights: Calif. hospital chain settles anesthesia billing suit; study shows graduate medical education funding imbalance

A major California hospital chain, Sutter Health, agreed to pay $46 million and disclose more pricing information to consumers to resolve a whistle-blower complaint alleging false and misleading charges for anesthesia. Sutter Health, which runs 24 acute-care hospitals in Northern California, said it reached the settlement Monday just prior to a trial starting this month over the allegations that it added thousands of dollars for "Code 37x" anesthesia charges that were already covered by other billing for the hospital operating room (Terhune, 11/4).

6 Nov 2013

Obama administration worried over paper applications when healthcare.gov problems persisted

A myriad of issues related to enrolling people in the health law's insurance marketplaces include new revelations that officials worried that allowing people to fill out paper applications for coverage on the federal marketplace would bring its own problems.

6 Nov 2013

Two Calif. residents file suit against Anthem Blue Cross over policy cancellations

In California and nationwide, millions of people have received insurance cancellation notices of their individual health plans, triggering new criticism of the health law. Kaiser Health News reports that Blue Shield will delay cancellations for some policy holders. Meanwhile, The Fiscal Times attempt to explain why insurance companies are cancelling plans.

6 Nov 2013

Obama pledges campaign to make sure health law works

As part of an effort to reframe the national discussion, President Barack Obama appeared before health law supporters at an Organizing For Action summit, asking them to help spread the word "far and wide" about the overhaul's good news.

6 Nov 2013

Who's signing up on exchanges, and what's available, trigger important questions

News outlets report on health law implementation issues, such as an early indication that customers on the marketplace tend to be older and how that could impact insurance prices for everyone.

6 Nov 2013

Health Insurance News and Research

Who gets what under Obamacare, and who is left out

Reports of insurance policy cancellations spread

For health exchange navigators, enrollment frustrations continue

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

Viewpoints: Obama's 'sin of omission;' Dems' panic grows over health law woes; men should pay for maternity care

Study: Premiums in red states after health law rose more than in blue states

Officials stepping up pressure on insurers to stop cancellations, or explain them better

Obama resets the 'keep your insurance' pledge, heads to Texas

Two long-term policyholders accuse Blue Cross of fraudulent scheme

First Edition: November 6, 2013

Capsules: 17 million people eligible for premium subsidies, study finds; study points to 'imbalance' in spending on doctor training

Viewpoints: Law is not the fault of health system's 'age-old woes;' Obama's 'empty pledge;' dysfunctional website was inevitable

AMGA honors Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group with Acclaim Award

Benaissance hosts open house on November 8th

State highlights: Calif. hospital chain settles anesthesia billing suit; study shows graduate medical education funding imbalance

Obama administration worried over paper applications when healthcare.gov problems persisted

Two Calif. residents file suit against Anthem Blue Cross over policy cancellations

Obama pledges campaign to make sure health law works

Who's signing up on exchanges, and what's available, trigger important questions

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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