Nov 3 2011
Politico examines this critical issue and offers various scenarios of what might happen if the mandate is struck down. Meanwhile, in other health law implementation news, media outlets offer a range of stories, including reports on health exchanges and association health plans.
Politico: Health Law Ruling Could Be Political Earthquake
If the Supreme Court next year gets rid of the health reform law's requirement to buy insurance, Republicans could gain momentum to get rid of the rest of the law - and President Barack Obama would suffer a huge embarrassment at the height of an election year. But Democrats and supporters of the law also see a silver lining: If the least popular part of the law goes away, they think what's left could become stronger and more popular with the public (Haberkorn, 11/1).
California Healthline: Exchange Board Has Little Interest in Health Care Co-Ops
The federal government is ready to hand out $3.8 billion in loans to start up not-for-profit, member-governed health plans called consumer-operated and -oriented plans, or co-ops. ... At the August meeting of the [California] Health Benefit Exchange board, concern was raised over what a co-op's market share would be, and that a co-op might undermine what the exchange wants to do by dividing up its pool of participants (Gorn, 11/2).
CQ HealthBeat: Rate Review Starts For Policies Sold Through Associations
Starting Tuesday some rate increases for health coverage provided through associations must be reviewed by government regulators to determine whether the hikes are reasonable in the government's view. The Nov. 1 effective date of the requirement brings association coverage under the same type of scrutiny that applies to other types of insurance plans in the individual and small-group markets. The rate review procedure, established under the health care law, requires insurers to give a detailed explanation of their reasons for raising premiums if they propose an increase of 10 percent or more (Reichard, 11/1).
 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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