Survey finds employers expanding coverage under reform

A new survey finds that employers are providing benefits to a growing number of people, particularly as employee benefits are extended to cover workers' adult children — a provision of the health law. In related news, Senate Republicans are calling for standardized rules on child-only health plans to encourage more activity in the area because many companies left this market as a result of the health overhaul's requirements.

Los Angeles Times: U.S. Employers Expand Health Benefits Coverage Under Reform
Nearly 18 months after passage of the national health care overhaul, American employers say they are providing health benefits for growing numbers of people as they extend coverage to their workers' adult children, a new survey finds. The federal health care law allows young adults up to age 26 to stay on their parents' health plans (Helfand, 8/2).

The Hill: GOP Calls For New Rules On Child-Only Plans
Senate Republicans say the Health and Human Services Department should set standardized rules in an effort to coax insurance companies back to selling plans specifically for children. Insurers in many states left the child-only market because the health care reform law requires them to cover children with pre-existing conditions. Although insurers can't deny sick children access to the policies they sell, they're not legally required to sell child-only plans (Baker, 8/2). 

Meanwhile, legal action related to health law challenges continues to take shape —

ABC News: Health Care Law: Two Eagerly Anticipated Rulings Expected This Summer
Although challenges to the Obama administration's health care law are being heard across the country, two important appellate court rulings are expected this summer that could determine whether the issue eventually lands in front of the Supreme Court. The heart of the issue is whether the individual mandate — a key provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires most individuals to buy health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty — is constitutional. Critics of the ACA say Congress exceeded its authority when it passed the law (deVogue, 8/3).