Health Insurance News and Research

RSS

California's exchange undergoes a weekend tune-up; Maryland officials say site is improving, but challenges remain

In addition, news outlets offer progress reports on state-based health exchanges in Minnesota, Washington and Michigan as well as how the federal exchange is working for other states that opted not to run their own online insurance marketplace.

9 Oct 2013

Software crash in first days viewed as root cause of exchange delays

The New York Times reports that a major software component crashed under the pressure posed by millions of visitors last week to the federal online insurance marketplace. Still, other technical issues beyond traffic also are at work, and some insurers say they are getting faulty and incomplete data from the new U.S.-run health exchange.

9 Oct 2013

Senate Democrats ponder 'clean' debt limit bill; GOP holds Obamacare ground

Democratic leaders in the Senate are mulling passing a "clean" bill -- one with no other policy changes -- that would increase the nation's debt limit. House Republican leadership continues to refuse any proposal that doesn't strike some parts of the new health law. In the meantime, talk about the government shutdown sometimes ignores the health law's role in it.

9 Oct 2013

Report: Even states opting out of Medicaid expansion will see enrollees, costs rise

Media outlets reported on a Kaiser Family Foundation study that projected a 5 percent jump next year in the number of people enrolled in the state-federal insurance program for the poor, even in states that will not expand eligibility.

9 Oct 2013

Despite sales efforts, polls show continued Obamacare doubts

Even as states like California push the health law exchanges, bolstered by a growing list of celebrity pitchmen, surveys of some groups -- among them, physician practices and likely Virginia voters -- show continued doubts about the marketplaces.

9 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 8, 2013

Today's headlines include the latest on how the health law's online insurance marketplaces are operating and what caused the initial systemic problems.

8 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: U.S. 'designed for stalemate'; tea party's last stand?; 'war over Obamacare' not over

Though the big social insurance programs are still running, many federal programs that directly target those in the most need are either empty or running on fumes. ... The growth of the modern state is tied to the awareness of public issues in health and the need to address them.

8 Oct 2013

Health law provisions also help those who already have insurance; enrollment fights in Texas, Calif. could heavily impact law

Although many people think of the federal health law's focus on the uninsured, it also is driving changes for those who have coverage. Meanwhile, two news outlets look at the importance of signing up young, health individuals in Texas and California.

8 Oct 2013

Boehner: No change in shutdown, no debt vote without health law concessions

The White House hit back on House Speaker Boehner's threats, saying the president is willing to negotiate over the budget but not until the government reopens and Republicans drop the health care fight. Some cracks are appearing in the GOP stance among Tea-Party aligned members.

8 Oct 2013

Supreme Court likely to rule on abortion laws, contraception mandate in new term

The Supreme Court's new session will almost certainly see a ruling on state power to limit the use of some abortion-inducing drugs and one on Arizona's law outlawing abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

8 Oct 2013

The health law and older Americans

A pair of stories examining the health law and Medicare's prescription drug "doughnut hole" as well as what might change for people who are near retirement age, but not yet eligible for Medicare.

8 Oct 2013

Health exchanges grapple with software, server issues

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama administration acknowledged Sunday that it needs to make design, as well as capacity, fixes to the website set up to help consumers shop for health coverage. Other news outlets examined the capacity challenges faced both by the federal and state exchanges and the adjustments made over the weekend.

8 Oct 2013

Consumers see big variations in costs and networks

A Kaiser Health News analysis shows that a buyer's home county may make a big difference in the insurance options they can choose from on the new online insurance marketplaces, while Politico reports that areas where co-op plans are offered are seeing lower prices.

8 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 7, 2013

Today's headlines include reports detailing the ins and outs of the federal government's online health insurance markeplace as well as the latest from Capitol Hill on the shutdown.

7 Oct 2013

Boehner, Republicans standing ground: No end to shutdown until changes to Obamacare

News outlets covered the testy debates on the Sunday talk shows. House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday he sees no way out of the government shutdown unless President Barack Obama is willing to engage in negotiations with Republicans.

7 Oct 2013

Research roundup: Health law's effects on consumer spending; Mass. experience finds increased use of laparoscopic surgery

The authors find that average out-of-pocket spending is expected to decrease for all groups considered in the analysis, although decreases in out-of-pocket spending will be largest for those who would otherwise be uninsured.

5 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: Marketplaces offer Americans the kind of shopping they like; enrollment isn't as robust as administration claims

Americans have grown accustomed to online comparison shopping, as the overwhelming number who clicked on health-exchange websites demonstrates.

5 Oct 2013

Opinions on shutdown: Both sides have moved to indefensible positions; health law is not 'settled,' finding a 'non-disastrous' debt deal

Acrimony, insults, the government shut down. Time to talk to a wise man, someone from the days when government worked. I turned to the famous Mr. Baker - James A. Baker III. ... The Republicans made a mistake early on with a "maximalist" position on Obamacare - they could not realistically achieve their aim of defunding when the Democrats hold the White House and Senate. But the president's position is a "pretty damn maximalist position itself, and people will say that" (Peggy Noonan, 10/3).

5 Oct 2013

Cancer survivors in rural areas more likely to forgo medical care because of financial concerns

Older cancer survivors living in rural areas were more likely to forgo medical and dental care because of financial concerns compared with older cancer survivors living in urban areas, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

5 Oct 2013

States still wrestling with health exchange bugs, challenges

News outlets report on state health exchange operations in California, Kentucky, Maryland, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

5 Oct 2013

Health Insurance News and Research

California's exchange undergoes a weekend tune-up; Maryland officials say site is improving, but challenges remain

Software crash in first days viewed as root cause of exchange delays

Senate Democrats ponder 'clean' debt limit bill; GOP holds Obamacare ground

Report: Even states opting out of Medicaid expansion will see enrollees, costs rise

Despite sales efforts, polls show continued Obamacare doubts

First Edition: October 8, 2013

Viewpoints: U.S. 'designed for stalemate'; tea party's last stand?; 'war over Obamacare' not over

Health law provisions also help those who already have insurance; enrollment fights in Texas, Calif. could heavily impact law

Boehner: No change in shutdown, no debt vote without health law concessions

Supreme Court likely to rule on abortion laws, contraception mandate in new term

The health law and older Americans

Health exchanges grapple with software, server issues

Consumers see big variations in costs and networks

First Edition: October 7, 2013

Boehner, Republicans standing ground: No end to shutdown until changes to Obamacare

Research roundup: Health law's effects on consumer spending; Mass. experience finds increased use of laparoscopic surgery

Viewpoints: Marketplaces offer Americans the kind of shopping they like; enrollment isn't as robust as administration claims

Opinions on shutdown: Both sides have moved to indefensible positions; health law is not 'settled,' finding a 'non-disastrous' debt deal

Cancer survivors in rural areas more likely to forgo medical care because of financial concerns

States still wrestling with health exchange bugs, challenges

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

Latest News