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First Edition: July 19, 2012

Today's headlines include a variety of stories exploring public opinions about the health law, the upcoming election and the Supreme Court.

19 Jul 2012

State officials stake out positions on implementing health law

Virginia's Republican attorney general, the first to file suit against the health law, takes a hardline position against expanding Medicaid, while Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, a Republican, signals his state will pass on setting up a state-based health exchange. In Kentucky, Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, issues an executive order to authorize such an exchange.

19 Jul 2012

Opponents see possible avenues to send health law back to court

But in related news, a federal judge in Nebraska rejected a suit filed by seven states to block the measure's contraception coverage mandate, saying the states did not have standing to file it because they failed to prove they would suffer "immediate harm."

19 Jul 2012

States opting-out of health law's Medicaid expansion likely to see downside

After several state officials announced their intention to reject the expansion -- and the federal funds that come with it -- news outlets report on possible implications, including costs to county taxpayers, businesses and people who would go without health benefits.

19 Jul 2012

Seasonal firefighters now eligible for federal health coverage after Obama directive

Seasonal firefighters -- many working on containing wildfires in the West -- became eligible for federal health insurance coverage Tuesday after President Obama issued an executive order last week.

19 Jul 2012

Roundup: Ore. issues new long-term care insurance claims rules; Fla. pushing ahead with prison care privatization

The Oregon Insurance Division receives about 100 complaints about long-term-care policies each year, mostly about delays or denials. But now the state's role is increasing, thanks to a law that went into effect this month. The Oregon law requires insurers to process long-term care claims within 30 days when they're not in dispute. It also allows outside review when an insurer decides a person isn't sufficiently disabled for long-term care.

19 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Texas' indifference to health needs for the poor; Sen. Grassley says IRS is too busy to deal with health law

The state with the country's worst health care record just happens to have a governor who has been the loudest voice against national efforts to improve it. A quarter of the residents of Texas, 6.3 million people, are uninsured, by far the highest percentage in the country. ... Yet Gov. Rick Perry - strangely puffed up as he was so often in his presidential bid - recently told the Obama administration that he would proudly refuse a huge infusion of Medicaid money that would significantly reduce those shameful statistics and cover 1.7 million more people.

18 Jul 2012

Medicaid expansion unsettles governors' meeting

Governors express sharp disagreements about whether to expand Medicaid, as mandated by the health law. Meanwhile, a pediatric expert warns congressional staff that state efforts to roll back Medicaid eligibility could cut coverage to millions of poor children.

18 Jul 2012

Health law opponents sharpen fight focus on insurance tax credit

According to news reports, critics have pinpointed this part of the health law in their effort to undo the sweeping overhaul. Meanwhile, USA Today reports that very few middle-income taxpayers will pay more as a result of the measure's taxes, fees and penalties.

18 Jul 2012

State roundup: Mass. to allow coupons for some branded drugs

Johns Hopkins Hospital lost its coveted spot as the nation's top-ranked hospital for the first time in 22 years, edged out by Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital in the latest analysis by U.S. News & World Report to be released Tuesday. Hopkins still ranked No. 2, and marketing experts said falling one spot will hurt the hospital's ego more than its reputation.

18 Jul 2012

U.S. News & World Report names UCLA Medical Center among 2012 America's Best Hospitals

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center ranks among the top five American hospitals, according to a U.S. News & World Report survey that reviewed patient-outcomes data, reputation among physicians and other care-related factors.

18 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 18, 2012

Today's headlines include coverage of a new report that offers a gloomy fiscal forecast for states as they confront rising health care costs, underfunded pensions and a range of other economic challenges.

18 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Calif. could take a lesson from Wis. reforms; Republican advocates a 'Nixon to China' embrace of Medicare for all

The state's teachers union, Wisconsinites learned, had used its power to collectively bargain for healthcare benefits to demand that local school districts provide coverage through a nonprofit insurer affiliated with the union. Once the state ended bargaining on healthcare, school boards began competitively bidding out their health insurance. By the opening of the new school year in September, just two months after the budget bill went into effect, 23 districts had rebid their contracts, saving $16 million, or an average of $211 per student.

17 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 17, 2012

Today's headlines include a report that concludes that few Americans will pay more as a result of the health law.

17 Jul 2012

Health law continues to be challenge for Romney campaign

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney continues to confront issues about the similarities between the health reform he signed while Massachusetts governor and the 2010 federal health law. Meanwhile, The Associated Press reports about some of Romney's potential running mates and key issues in the campaign.

17 Jul 2012

Governors stake out political and policy positions on Medicaid expansion

During the National Governors Association meeting this past weekend in Williamsburg, Va., the nation's state executives continued to wrestle with what to do in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision.

17 Jul 2012

Health benefits: Different circumstances for public- and private-sector workers

The Wall Street Journal examines the benefits gap between state and local government employees and their counterparts in the private sector. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that Consolidated Edison has reinstated health insurance for New York workers locked out during contract negotiations.

17 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: 'Tug of War' over Medicaid expansion; Bill Keller debunks 5 'Obamacare' myths

The new health care law's individual mandate - the provision pushing people to buy insurance, and upheld last month by the Supreme Court - has garnered huge attention. But about half the planned expansion of insurance coverage under the new law comes from another source entirely: growth of the Medicaid program. Yet Medicaid has never been especially popular, and when its expanded role becomes more widely understood, it is likely to become less popular still.

17 Jul 2012

Health law implementation decisions draw state officials' attention, set scene for state-level policy action

Virginia's attorney general outlines his take on the fiscal dangers that the health law's Medicaid expansion will cause. Meanwhile, Michigan lawmakers will consider the creation of a state-based health exchange. Also, in Georgia, a year-long effort to revamp the state's Medicaid program is on hold as one leader says it would be "imprudent" to move forward while so many uncertainties are in play.

17 Jul 2012