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First Edition: March 14, 2013

Today's headlines include reports that compare and contrast how the two budget blueprints released this week -- one by House Republicans, the other from Senate Democrats -- would treat Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs.

14 Mar 2013

States select health insurance plan that will serve as essential health benefit package

Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have selected the health insurance plan in their state that will serve as the "essential health benefit" package sold by all insurers participating in the new health insurance marketplace and the individual and small-group markets beginning January 2014, according to a new Commonwealth Fund study.

14 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Ryan's 'tired ideas;' House GOP 'reboots' on budget; Bloomberg's soda campaign 'ill-conceived'

All the tired ideas from 2011 and 2012 are back: eliminating Medicare's guarantee to retirees by turning it into a voucher plan; dispensing with Medicaid and food stamps by turning them into block grants for states to cut freely; repealing most of the reforms to health care and Wall Street; shrinking beyond recognition the federal role in education, job training, transportation and scientific and medical research.

14 Mar 2013

Ariz., Fla. governors face intra-party opposition to Medicaid expansion

News outlets reports that, in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott's support for the expansion was rebuffed by a Senate panel that voted against the expansion plan and instead is advancing an idea that would use federal money for private insurance.

14 Mar 2013

Applying for benefits in online marketplaces might be daunting

The Associated Press reports that the draft version of the application for a three-person family is 15 pages while the online version has 21 steps, some with additional questions.

14 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: 'Grim' backlog at VA; Feds should stay away from reforming medical malpractice

A new report based on previously unreleased data from the Department of Veterans Affairs paints a distressing portrait of an agency buried helplessly in paperwork -- with a claims backlog that has gotten far worse in the past four years.

13 Mar 2013

Health law challenges leave some Democrats complaining -- in public, even

Some challenges associated with implementing the health law have some Democrats complaining about the law in public -- something once unthinkable.

13 Mar 2013

Roundup: N.Y. psychiatrists sue insurer over parity; Calif. lawmakers hear from families of prescription drug victims

News outlets cover health care developments in California, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Missouri and New York.

13 Mar 2013

Florida Senate committee rejects Medicaid expansion

The vote doesn't stop an expansion of coverage to the state's uninsured since the panel could make an alternative recommendation.

13 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 12, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about this week's roll out of budgets on Capitol Hill and how Democratic and Republican fiscal blueprints will underscore key partisan differences.

12 Mar 2013

State health law implementation efforts trigger confusion -- and even arguments

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that businesses continue to find some provisions of the law "bewildering" while the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel offers a view on the size and scope of issues in play in Wisconsin.

12 Mar 2013

Progress report on health exchanges: More may be happening in some states than expected

Politico reports some states that have been reticent or even opposed to setting up their own exchanges, like Ohio and Virginia, may be more hands-on than expected. Various reports from the Associated Press and MinnPost chart action in other states.

12 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 11, 2013

Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews answers a reader question about insurance options for people with pre-existing conditions.

11 Mar 2013

Calif. Insurance Commissioner calls Blue Shield rate hike 'unreasonable'

The state's top insurance regulator criticized proposed rate hikes of as much as 20 percent for 268,000 individual policyholders, but he and other state officials don't have the authority to reject the increases.

11 Mar 2013

Research roundup: Insurance coverage and access to care in Massachusetts

With increasing interest in public health problems such as obesity and alcohol and tobacco use, lawmakers are increasingly considering using policy to modify behavior. According to the authors, little is currently known about the public's willingness to accept such policies.

11 Mar 2013

Survey: Large employers pushing health providers for more price transparency

The survey, conducted by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health, also found that most large companies plan to keep continue offering employees an insurance benefit in the next five years.

11 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Congress should make CMS leader nonpartisan position; 'Extreme' attack on abortion in Arkansas; Daschle on new health workforce

Mr. Obama has nominated the acting CMS administrator, Marilyn Tavenner, to head the agency permanently. ... The Senate should move expeditiously to confirm Ms. Tavenner. More broadly, Congress should consider whether short-term political appointment remains the best way to fill this trillion-dollar post. The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation serves a 10-year term.

11 Mar 2013

Statehouses become next flashpoint for Medicaid expansion debates

Even as Republican governors like Rick Scott in Florida have chosen to back the health law's Medicaid expansion, they are facing push back from GOP-controlled legislatures.

8 Mar 2013

Health insurers launch TV campaign opposing Medicare Advantage cuts

The ads, including a 30-second TV spot that will run in a dozen states and Washington, D.C., are designed to increase pressure on Congress and the Obama administration to stop proposed 2.3 percent cuts to these private plans. In addition, some analysts predict earnings drops for some insurers if the cuts go forward.

8 Mar 2013

Upheaval caused by Hurricane Katrina seems to have disrupted heart attack timing

The upheaval caused by Hurricane Katrina seems to have disrupted the usual timing of heart attacks, shifting peak frequency from weekday mornings to weekend nights, in a change in pattern that persisted a full five years after the storm, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session.

8 Mar 2013