Health Insurance News and Research

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New details emerge on health law spending, effects on business

News outlets examine how some businesses are dropping their cheapest health plans and steering employees to the new health insurance online exchanges. Others explore how insurers are responding to new rules and the cost of the Obamacare exchanges.

27 Sep 2013

For regional audiences, the key question is what will a new policy cost here?

Local news outlets examine data released by the Obama administration to see the average rates that local consumers will pay for insurance on the new health marketplaces.

27 Sep 2013

D.C.'s Obamacare insurance exchange hits technology snag

The District of Columbia's online health exchange will not be able to immediately calculate a person's subsidy to help them buy coverage or sign up for Medicaid when the health law exchange opens Oct. 1. Instead, such determinations will be done offline as officials try to fix the problems.

27 Sep 2013

Health law's success or failure to unfold in individual stories

How people judge the health law will depend on whether they get insurance that proves affordable and adequate through the new exchanges, The Washington Post reports. In the meantime, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey finds that three out of four California residents of modest income believe wrongly that they're not eligible for government help to buy insurance.

27 Sep 2013

Low health insurance premiums may come with high deductibles

News accounts looks at the price data for the new insurance marketplaces released by the administration Wednesday and note that consumers need to consider costs beyond the premiums. That's because some lower-cost policies may have stiffer copayments and deductibles layered on top of their monthly costs.

27 Sep 2013

Affinity Health Plan's Medicare Advantage plans to be expanded into five counties

On October 1, 2013, Affinity Health Plan's Medicare Advantage plans, currently offered in the five boroughs of New York City, will become available in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties.

26 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 26, 2013

Today's headlines include details regarding the ongoing congressional battle over the future of the health law in the context of avoiding a government shutdown, as well as the developments on the ground as the Oct. 1 launch of the health law's insurance marketplace nears.

26 Sep 2013

Viewpoints: Health law premium rates reveal 'mostly good news' but renew critics arguments; 'Cruz-ing for a bruising;'

President Obama, President Clinton, and Senator Ted Cruz all spent a lot of time talking about Obamacare on Tuesday. But the real news came just as the day was ending, right at midnight, when the Department of Health and Human Services released data on insurance premiums available through the new Obamacare marketplaces. Several states had already released their data. With this report, HHS provided premium information for most of the rest. Overall, the numbers are pretty consistent with previous reports, albeit with some new and interesting wrinkles. It seems like mostly good news, though the law's critics would argue it vindicates some of their arguments, as well (Jonathan Cohn, 9/25).

26 Sep 2013

Consumer Reports launches web-based tool that offers personalized guidance on health insurance

Consumer Reports, the nonprofit consumer service organization empowering consumers for more than 75 years, today announced the launch of HealthLawHelper.org, an innovative web-based tool that offers personalized guidance to help consumers better understand how they may be affected by the Affordable Care Act.

26 Sep 2013

Outreach efforts, especially for young adults and minorities, take center stage

The Detroit Free Press looks at the challenges in getting the message about the new insurance programs out to the uninsured, while in Florida, some officials are defying the governor's decision to curb federal outreach efforts.

26 Sep 2013

Threatened shutdown may not officially slow health law's implementation but could trigger technical difficulties

Many aspects of the health law will be mostly untouched by the looming federal government shutdown. But some officials are concerned that it could jam up the exchanges' data hub.

26 Sep 2013

Some consumers may not find Obamacare premiums affordable

Even as the Obama administration releases average premiums for insurance policies to be sold in each state exchange, some news outlets explore how affordable those options will be for certain groups of consumers.

26 Sep 2013

Obama, Clinton make joint pitch to uninsured Americans

White House officials said the rare, hour-long appearance by the two presidents was an attempt to focus attention on next week's opening of enrollment in health insurance exchanges, which are key to the health law's expansion of coverage.

26 Sep 2013

Popular or unpopular, health law rollout fires up backers, detractors

The popularity, or unpopularity, of the health law in different parts of America remains a flashpoint issue in determining how the law rolls out, as lawmakers and health officials share their points of view with a skeptical public.

26 Sep 2013

'Average' exchange premiums come in lower than projected

The Obama administration said Wednesday that average premiums in the health law's online insurance marketplaces will be lower than projected by the Congressional Budget Office - 16 percent lower nationwide.

26 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 25, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about projected health insurance premium costs on the health law's new online marketplaces, as well as news from Capitol Hill and a joint appearance by President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton to talk about the overhaul.

25 Sep 2013

Majority of qualified patients fail to receive lifesaving treatment for sudden cardiac arrest: Study

A new study of patients who died of sudden cardiac arrest, a usually fatal condition that causes the heart to stop beating, shows the majority who qualified to receive potentially lifesaving treatment did not receive it.

25 Sep 2013

Viewpoints: GOP's 'charge into the fixed bayonets;' Republican health plan is superior to Obama's; Congressional hypocrisy on its health policy

So House Republicans have passed and sent to the Senate a budget that includes no funding for the Affordable Care Act, setting up a political showdown that could result in a government shutdown. We wish the GOP luck, since we support the policy if not the strategy. But however this charge into the fixed bayonets turns out, we hope the folks who planned it will take responsibility for what happens now (9/23).

25 Sep 2013

Senate Republican rank-and-file poised to block Cruz' health law defunding strategy

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced he won't support the pledge made by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to use parliamentary procedures as he tries to stop Democrats from stripping a provision cutting money from the health law.

25 Sep 2013

State highlights: N.C. Medicaid director resigns, heads to private sector; Ohio readies funding for new Medicaid computer system

Carol Steckel, the state's Medicaid director, is leaving after eight months on the job. Her departure is the latest in a string of high-profile departures from the Department of Health and Human Services, which has been plagued of late by personnel issues (Hoban, 9/23).

25 Sep 2013

Health Insurance News and Research

New details emerge on health law spending, effects on business

For regional audiences, the key question is what will a new policy cost here?

D.C.'s Obamacare insurance exchange hits technology snag

Health law's success or failure to unfold in individual stories

Low health insurance premiums may come with high deductibles

Affinity Health Plan's Medicare Advantage plans to be expanded into five counties

First Edition: September 26, 2013

Viewpoints: Health law premium rates reveal 'mostly good news' but renew critics arguments; 'Cruz-ing for a bruising;'

Consumer Reports launches web-based tool that offers personalized guidance on health insurance

Outreach efforts, especially for young adults and minorities, take center stage

Threatened shutdown may not officially slow health law's implementation but could trigger technical difficulties

Some consumers may not find Obamacare premiums affordable

Obama, Clinton make joint pitch to uninsured Americans

Popular or unpopular, health law rollout fires up backers, detractors

'Average' exchange premiums come in lower than projected

First Edition: September 25, 2013

Majority of qualified patients fail to receive lifesaving treatment for sudden cardiac arrest: Study

Viewpoints: GOP's 'charge into the fixed bayonets;' Republican health plan is superior to Obama's; Congressional hypocrisy on its health policy

Senate Republican rank-and-file poised to block Cruz' health law defunding strategy

State highlights: N.C. Medicaid director resigns, heads to private sector; Ohio readies funding for new Medicaid computer system

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Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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