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Lawmakers spar on Medicare Advantage plans

In a Capitol Hill hearing Friday, Republicans challenged the Obama administration's so-called Medicare Advantage "bonuses."

24 Sep 2012

First Edition: September 24, 2012

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz reports: "GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan was booed and heckled on Friday when he told an AARP convention in New Orleans that he would repeal President Barack Obama's health law. In contrast, Obama's remarks about Medicare --delivered by live satellite an hour earlier -- were warmly received."

24 Sep 2012

Medicare, health reform, women's issues hot topics on campaign trail

With the election a little more than six weeks away, news coverage included the role of health care in the outcome.

24 Sep 2012

Jindal, campaigning for Romney, laments that health law will penalize 6 million people

The Louisiana governor denies ties between Romney's health law in Massachusetts and the national overhaul championed by President Barack Obama.

21 Sep 2012

CBO: More people than expected will face health law's penalty

The Congressional Budget Office now estimates that nearly six million people will face penalties for not getting health insurance as a result of the 2010 health law's individual mandate.

21 Sep 2012

Administration touts thriving Medicare Advantage under health law

Enrollment in the private plans is projected to increase 11 percent next year, while premiums hold steady, officials say, disproving predictions made by critics of the health care law.

21 Sep 2012

House panel to consider health law change that would help brokers

A House committee is preparing a bill that would change the health law's medical loss ratio provision to exclude brokers' fees from counting as administrative costs.

20 Sep 2012

Some states consider partial Medicaid expansion under health law

Also in the news, a report about how a ruling barring health coverage for illegal immigrants, allowed to stay in the United States because they were brought here as young children, is angering Hispanic groups.

19 Sep 2012

States watch Calif. as it builds exchange; Red state officials wrestle with opposition to law and need to implement it

News outlets report on both the progress and difficulties states are facing as they attempt to establish health exchanges and meet other health law requirements. Meanwhile, Vermont is hoping to move beyond the federal law as it tries to set up a single payer system.

18 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: Dragging the 'C word' -- cost -- out of hiding; Elton John on discrimination against state prisoners with HIV

We need death panels. Well, maybe not death panels, exactly, but unless we start allocating health care resources more prudently -- rationing, by its proper name -- the exploding cost of Medicare will swamp the federal budget.

18 Sep 2012

Mo. college files its own lawsuit over contraception mandate

A Missouri Christian college is joining the fight against the health law's mandate that insurance plans cover contraception by filing its own lawsuit.

17 Sep 2012

Research roundup: Patients' experiences at safety-net hospitals

Each week KHN reporter Ankita Rao compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.

15 Sep 2012

Report: Risk pools extend insurance coverage now, but are 'unsustainable' as alternative to health law

The health reform law's high-risk insurance pools, one of the first pieces of the law to be enacted, are operating at a loss and prohibitively expensive - but they also provide needed coverage to a small group of people, according to a new report out Thursday.

14 Sep 2012

Mo. lawmakers override veto of bill that would allow employers to refuse to cover abortion, contraceptive services

Missouri lawmakers voted Wednesday to override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto and allow employers to refuse to provide health insurance coverage for birth control if doing so violates their religious convictions. But almost immediately after the vote, a Kansas City firefighter and the Greater Kansas City Coalition of Labor Union Women filed a lawsuit asking a judge to throw the new law out.

14 Sep 2012

First Edition: Sept. 13, 2012

Today's headlines include news from the Census Bureau that, although record numbers of poor people persist, the number of uninsured Americans dropped by 1.3 million.

13 Sep 2012

HHS details consumer savings from lower premiums, rebates

A Health and Human Services Department analysis estimated that consumers have saved an estimated $2.1 billion from the health law's consumer protections, resulting in lower premiums and rebates.

13 Sep 2012

House subcommittee votes to separate insurance agents' payments from health law's MLR rules

On a largely party-line vote, the subcommittee voted to modify the provision of the 2010 health law. A vote by the full Energy and Commerce Committee is expected next week.

13 Sep 2012

Romney's shifting stance on health law makes policy, political waves

The GOP presidential nominee's comments Sunday that he would keep parts of the health law triggered questions about how he would cover those with pre-existing conditions, and reinforced doubts within his own party about his commitment to repealing the overhaul. Campaign aides attempted to clarify the comments.

12 Sep 2012

Leading U.S. nun calls on Republican governors to accept Medicaid expansion

A leading U.S. nun is joining other religious leaders in using a moral argument to try to convince Republican governors that they should implement the health law's Medicaid expansion for the poor.

12 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

Health Reform News and Research

Lawmakers spar on Medicare Advantage plans

First Edition: September 24, 2012

Medicare, health reform, women's issues hot topics on campaign trail

Jindal, campaigning for Romney, laments that health law will penalize 6 million people

CBO: More people than expected will face health law's penalty

Administration touts thriving Medicare Advantage under health law

House panel to consider health law change that would help brokers

Some states consider partial Medicaid expansion under health law

States watch Calif. as it builds exchange; Red state officials wrestle with opposition to law and need to implement it

Viewpoints: Dragging the 'C word' -- cost -- out of hiding; Elton John on discrimination against state prisoners with HIV

Mo. college files its own lawsuit over contraception mandate

Research roundup: Patients' experiences at safety-net hospitals

Report: Risk pools extend insurance coverage now, but are 'unsustainable' as alternative to health law

Mo. lawmakers override veto of bill that would allow employers to refuse to cover abortion, contraceptive services

First Edition: Sept. 13, 2012

HHS details consumer savings from lower premiums, rebates

House subcommittee votes to separate insurance agents' payments from health law's MLR rules

Romney's shifting stance on health law makes policy, political waves

Leading U.S. nun calls on Republican governors to accept Medicaid expansion

Mont. ballot initiative banning individual mandate could be powerful message

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