Health law supporters and opponents focus on moms

A surge of advertising and grassroots organizing targets mothers because women usually make the health-care decisions for families and use more health care than men, Bloomberg reports.

Bloomberg: Moms Center Of $500 Million Ad Blitz Over Obamacare Fate
Call them Doctor Moms. Women make about 80 percent of the health-care decisions for their families, and also utilize more health care than men.  That's why supporters and opponents of the Affordable Care Act have targeted mothers in a surge of advertising and grassroots organizing as a major piece of Obamacare readies to roll out Oct 1 (Armour, 7/31).

Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is taking the health care lobbying effort to red states.

Bloomberg: Sebelius Takes Pitch On Health Care Law To Republican States
The top two U.S. health officials are planning multiple trips in the coming months to states led by Republicans hostile to the Affordable Care Act, seeking success there for President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul despite opposition (Wayne, 7/30).

And in California, KQED reports on how the impending implementation is affecting stakeholders.

KQED's California Report: Oakland Hospital Prepares For Affordable Care Act 
Public hospitals like Oakland's Highland Hospital are the backbone of California's safety net system. They treat the complex and varied health needs of diverse populations, often while managing tight budgets. Guest host Mina Kim visits Highland Hospital's trauma room No. 9 to talk about some of the new challenges with Dr. Kathleen Clanon, associate chief medical officer for Alameda Health System that runs the hospital (Kim, 7/28).

KQED's California Report: Obamacare Already Paying Dividends for Some
As Matt Kragen prepares a dinner salad in his family's kitchen, he makes sure he chops all of the vegetables just so. The 23-year-old is learning how to be a cook at a Japanese restaurant. ... Kragen can't afford to buy his own health insurance. But thanks to Obamacare, he's covered under his mom's policy until he turns 26. ... Another group of people who've already benefited from Obamacare are adults with pre-existing conditions (Goldberg, 7/28).