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Facing a 'transition year,' Aetna's fourth-quarter profits are halved

The insurer's net income dropped 49 percent as higher medical costs squeezed the profit margin for the insurer.

3 Feb 2013

Overbilling and out-of-network care contribute to marketplace tension

Though he was living on $18,000 a year as a graduate student, [Angel] Gonzalez had good insurance and the hospital, St. Charles in Port Jefferson, N.Y., was in his network. But the surgeon who came in to remove Mr. Gonzalez's gallbladder that Sunday night was not.

2 Feb 2013

Debate about health law's Medicaid expansion is hot topic in state Capitols

Lawmakers, officials and health advocates continue to press their policy positions on the pros and cons of expanding the Medicaid program.

2 Feb 2013

Survey finds few states have laws to enforce new consumer health protections

A report by the Commonwealth Fund finds that 39 states do not have measures to allow officials to enforce some key insurance regulations from the federal health law.

2 Feb 2013

SIR, Society for Vascular Surgery partner on IVC filter study

The Society of Interventional Radiology and Society for Vascular Surgery jointly will launch PRESERVE-the first large-scale, multispecialty prospective study to evaluate the use of inferior vena cava (IVC) filters and related follow-up treatment.

2 Feb 2013

State highlights: Mayo seeks Minn. help for Rochester expansion; Texas bill on end-of-life treatment offered; Milwaukee County board considers dropping employee coverage

The Mayo Clinic is proposing more than $5 billion in investments in and around Rochester as part of an ambitious expansion plan to create what the clinic calls a "Destination Medical Center." Included in that plan is a request for more than $500 million in state taxpayer money to help fund infrastructure as the Mayo grows. Mayo claims the plan would create between 35,000 and 45,000 new jobs. Mayo is already Minnesota's largest private employer with 32,000 employees in the state.

1 Feb 2013

State roundup: Texas lawmakers ready health budget

Texas budget writers got a briefing on the state's health care programs Wednesday, and many of the biggest questions focused on how the state can reduce fraud and what to do about ever-increasing health care costs.

1 Feb 2013

Ohio might join ranks of red states opting for Medicaid expansion

John Kasich, the state's Republican governor, hints to The Cincinnati Enquirer that he might call for this step in his two-year budget plan, expected to be released in the next few days.

1 Feb 2013

Battles over availability and coverage of abortion move to states

States are the arena for new abortion battles -- both the fight over their availability and coverage of them by state and private insurance. In the meantime, new legislation on the procedure is winding through the Washington state and Arkansas legislatures.

1 Feb 2013

Eligibility for health insurance subsidies narrower than many consumer groups had hoped

A final rule, released Wednesday, set out a strict definition of affordable health insurance that will prevent many families with modest incomes from obtaining federal financial assistance.

1 Feb 2013

First Edition: February 1, 2013

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jenny Gold, working in collaboration with NPR, reports: "As of mid-January, most of NYU is up and running again, including the labor and delivery unit. But the question still looms whether NYU will lose some of the patients and even doctors who sought refuge at NYU's biggest competitors after the storm. If that happens, the storm could end up having a long term impact on NYU's valuable share of the fiercely competitive health care market in New York City."

1 Feb 2013

African-Americans without private health insurance less likely to receive kidney transplants

African-Americans and individuals without private health insurance are less likely than others to receive a kidney transplant before requiring dialysis, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

1 Feb 2013

First Edition: January 31, 2013

Today's headlines include reports on a new health law final rule issued by the Internal Revenue Service eligibility and affordability standards for insurance subsidies.

31 Jan 2013

State roundup: Ga. hospital fee bill nears passage

After a series of friendly questions and statements of support, the fast-tracked legislation on a state hospital provider fee swept through a House committee Tuesday. The House Government Affairs Committee, by a 15-1 vote, approved Senate Bill 24, which would facilitate the renewal of the assessment. The state Senate passed the bill earlier this month. The legislation could reach the House floor Thursday or Friday. If it passes, it then would go to Gov. Nathan Deal for his signature -- an unusually rapid journey into law.

31 Jan 2013

House Republicans keep target on health law's insurance subsidies

Meanwhile, a new GOP lawmaker from Texas renews his pledge to undo "ObamaCare" while a senator focuses on workforce issues.

31 Jan 2013

Tax forms to include health insurance cost info -- per health law requirement

Today's headlines also include coverage of other health law issues, such as student health plans and the health care workforce.

31 Jan 2013

States and the health law: Action on insurance exchanges, Medicaid expansion

The Associated Press and other news outlets report on state action on the health law's insurance exchanges as well as the Medicaid expansion.

31 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Baker and Dingell urge efforts to cut gun deaths; Doctors as union workers

Gun violence now rivals traffic accidents as the leading cause of death by injury in the United States. Quite simply, gun violence threatens to overwhelm us. Americans are grappling for strategies to make sure that the horror that occurred in Newtown isn't repeated.

31 Jan 2013

State roundup: Fla. leaders pay less for coverage than workers

In statehouses around the country, some of the nation's biggest biotechnology companies are lobbying intensively to limit generic competition to their blockbuster drugs, potentially cutting into the billions of dollars in savings on drug costs contemplated in the federal health care overhaul law.

30 Jan 2013

States look to speed shift of high-risk pool enrollees into exchanges

Meanwhile, the Associated Press checks on the status of the online insurance markets in the District of Columbia, New York, New Mexico and South Carolina.

30 Jan 2013