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Study: More young adults gain coverage after health law

The share of young adults without health insurance fell by one-sixth in 2011 from the previous year, the largest annual decline for any age group since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began collecting the data in 1997, according to a new report released on Monday.

11 Sep 2012

Big profits for Minn. HMOs despite Medicaid money give-back

Minnesota HMOs recorded another year of healthy operating profits in 2011 despite agreeing to cap income on state Medicaid underwriting programs, a new analysis of state plans shows. Four HMOs returned $103 million in 2011 to the state after agreeing to limit their income on Medicaid underwriting business to 1 percent of their premiums.

11 Sep 2012

Mont. ballot initiative banning individual mandate could be powerful message

In the meantime, programs in Missouri and Minnesota are being held up as examples of how provisions of the health law could unfold across the nation.

11 Sep 2012

As candidates attempt to woo swing voters, Medicare, health law become fodder on campaign trail

In addition, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports how wary voters are struggling to sort out what the candidates' different positions on Medicare would mean for them.

11 Sep 2012

Low-income children of immigrants have poor health, see doctors and dentists less often

Health is an important part of development, with links to how children do cognitively and academically, and it's a strong predictor of adult health and productivity. A new study of low-income families in the United States has found that children's health and access to health care services differ according to the immigrant status of their parents.

11 Sep 2012

VP ideological divide sparks health care sparring match

The vice presidential candidates prepare to meet each other in a debate -- each with very different ideas on moving forward on health care. In the meantime, GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan defends his stance on automatic cuts to lower the deficit -- which differ from his running mate's stance.

10 Sep 2012

Romney says health law isn't 'all bad'

In Sunday news appearances, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney said that if elected, he would dismantle the health care law, but retain some of the more popular provisions, including coverage of pre-existing conditions for those who had had continuous health insurance.

10 Sep 2012

First Edition: September 10, 2012

Today's headlines include news from the presidential campaign trail, including reports detailing how GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said, if elected, he would retain some parts of the 2010 health law.

10 Sep 2012

Post-conventions, parties sharply divided on health care politics

President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney, their contest defined anew by joblessness, are seeking to frame the campaign on their own terms. Romney was concentrating on the economy while Obama sought to play to his strengths, with top aides all but daring their challenger to engage in a debate over Medicare.

10 Sep 2012

Campaigns trade Medicare barbs, Romney praises parts of health reform law

Mitt Romney said Sunday that he would retain elements of President Obama's health care overhaul ... The remarks, made in an interview on the NBC News program "Meet The Press," seemed to mark the emergence of a less openly partisan, more general-election-oriented Republican nominee.

10 Sep 2012

State leaders wrangle over approaches to health insurance marketplaces

Officials and business leaders in Wyoming, Kansas and Michigan are considering their next moves among the myriad options of how to approach federally or state-based health insurance marketplaces.

7 Sep 2012

State news: Fla. hospitals fight over trauma center rules

She has been at the center of at least three public firestorms -- for removing consumer protections in health insurance rules approved by her predecessor, for attending a campaign fund-raiser held by an insurance company and for suggesting that the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association raise premium rates.

7 Sep 2012

Health law among Obama's accomplishments as he makes case for second term

During the final night of the Democratic convention, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden pledged to protect Medicare from GOP proposals to turn it into what they called a voucher program and extolled the benefits of the health law.

7 Sep 2012

IOM report: Estimated $750B wasted annually in health care system

The Institute of Medicine offers an analysis of how the money is misspent and some steps that might address these trouble spots.

7 Sep 2012

First Edition: September 7, 2012

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Sarah Varney reports on California Gov. Jerry Brown, his absence from the Democratic convention and efforts to implement the health law: "California's Jerry Brown, the governor of the most populous state in the union, a state that has aggressively pushed ahead with the Affordable Care Act even when it wasn't the "in-thing," is sitting out this year's Democratic National Convention.

7 Sep 2012

Rwanda to host regional conference on social health protection in East Africa

Rwanda next week will host the Conference on Social Health Protection in the East African Community, which "will consider various approaches to providing universal health coverage in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi," VOA News reports.

7 Sep 2012

Clinton skewers GOP on Medicare, offers strong defense of Obama on health law

In former President Bill Clinton's speech to nominate Barack Obama for re-election, he made a point-by-point case to return Obama to a second term, lauding his efforts to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid and to pass the health law.

7 Sep 2012

Kansas Blue Cross executive pitches one of his plans to define 'essential benefits' benchmark

An executive with Blue Cross Blue Shield in Kansas is stumping for one of his company's plans to become the measure by which other plans' "essential benefits" are judged.

7 Sep 2012

Longer looks: Insurers balk at price of new asthma relief; Despite health law, costs still overwhelming for some patients

For two decades, Patricia DiGiusto struggled with severe asthma. Powerful medications and frequent use of her inhaler could not prevent repeated trips to the emergency room. ... Two years ago, Ms. DiGiusto's doctor told her about a new procedure called bronchial thermoplasty, the first non-drug therapy approved by the Food and Drug Administration for patients with severe asthma.

7 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: Clinton's rousing support for Medicare, health law; Thalidomide and the struggle for an abortion; Arkansas health innovations

Clinton, once known for the strategy of "triangulation" between the parties, was among the speakers who answered Patrick's call. He assailed Romney and Paul Ryan for falsehoods on welfare and Medicare, dismantling one Tampa argument after another. Offering a vision of "shared responsibilities, shared prosperity [and] a shared sense of community," he stoutly defended Obama's health care law, student loan reforms, rescue of the auto industry, commitments to community colleges and job training, and budget proposals.

7 Sep 2012