First Edition: February 10, 2015

Kaiser Health News: Beyond ‘Repeal And Replace,’ Ideas Emerge To Improve, Simplify Health Law
"Repeal and replace” has been the rallying cry for Republicans since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010. But now that most of the law’s provisions have taken effect, some health experts are pitching ways to improve it, rather than eliminate it. An ideologically diverse panel at the National Health Policy Conference Monday presented somewhat different lists of ideas to make the law work better. But they all agreed on one thing: The Affordable Care Act is too complicated." (Rovner, 2/9)

Kaiser Health News: UnitedHealthcare’s Efforts To Join California Marketplace Meet Resistance
UnitedHealthcare can’t have its cake and eat it too. That’s the message from the California health insurance marketplace, which turned aside a request from the nation’s largest health insurer to sell statewide on the exchange because it opted not to join when the effort was getting off the ground in 2014. California is one of a handful of states that adopted policies to encourage insurers to participate in the marketplace by creating waiting periods of up to three years if insurers didn’t participate the first year. Among the others is New York, Oregon, Colorado and New Mexico, according to a study conducted by researchers at Georgetown University for the Commonwealth Fund. (Andrews, 2/10)

The Wall Street Journal: New Questions Swirl On An Affordable Care Act Challenger
One of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case against the Affordable Care Act listed a short-term-stay motel as her address when she joined the lawsuit, potentially calling into question her basis for suing. Rose Luck is among four plaintiffs suing the Obama administration to eliminate tax credits under the law that make health insurance cheaper for millions of Americans. They say the wording of the 2010 law allows consumers to tap the credits only in states that run their own insurance exchanges, and not their home state of Virginia, which is one of as many as 37 states that use the federal enrollment system. (Radnofsky and Kendall, 2/9)

USA Today: Tax Credits Cut Average ACA Premiums To $105
Less than a week before Obamacare enrollment closes Feb. 15, federal regulators said Monday that the average monthly premium after tax credits ranges from $47 in Mississippi to $172 in New Jersey. The new push for enrollment comes as wait times for the federal call centers increase despite 40 percent more workers taking calls for healthcare.gov, which has about 14,000 call center employees this week. Waits at the end of January averaged 2 1/2 minutes; midafternoon waits Monday were closer to 15 to 20 minutes. (O'Donnell, 2/10)

The Washington Post: Medicaid Expansion In Jeopardy In Two Red States
Efforts in two Western states to accept hundreds of millions in federal funds to expand Medicaid are running into roadblocks with conservative lawmakers, in spite of Republican governors who back the expansions. In Wyoming, the state Senate voted 19 to 11 against expanding health coverage to about 17,600 low-income, uninsured residents. Moments after the vote, a state House committee said it would no longer consider its own version of Medicaid expansion, effectively killing any hopes this year. (Wilson, 2/9)

Reuters: Pennsylvania Launches Medicaid Expansion: Governor
The state of Pennsylvania has launched an expansion of the Medicaid health insurance program, governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, said in a statement on Monday. "Today is the first step toward simplifying a complicated process and ensuring hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians have greater access to the health insurance they need," said Wolf, who ousted Republican Governor Tom Corbett in November's election. (2/9)

NPR: Insurers And Austin Mayor Promote Obamacare To Texas Latinos
More than 900,000 Texans have signed up for health insurance so far this year – about 200,000 more than last year. The deadline for signing up for a health plan on healthcare.gov is Saturday, and some groups in south Texas are making a big push to get Latinos to enroll. (Zaragovia, 2/10)

Los Angeles Times: New Obamacare Enrollment In L.A. County Tops 81,000 As Deadline Nears
More than 81,000 people in Los Angeles County have newly signed up for Obamacare coverage ahead of the Sunday deadline for open enrollment. The pace of enrollment in the L.A. area has slowed considerably from a year ago when 400,889 people signed up during the first six-month enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act. That high turnout surpassed enrollment in most other states last year. (Terhune, 2/9)

The Associated Press: Is Your Doctor's Office The Most Dangerous Place For Data?
Everyone worries about stolen credit cards or hacked bank accounts, but just visiting the doctor may put you at greater risk for identity fraud. Those medical forms you give the receptionist and send to your health insurer provide fertile ground for criminals looking to steal your identity, since health care businesses can lag far behind banks and credit card companies in protecting sensitive information. The names, birthdates and — most importantly — Social Security numbers detailed on those forms can help hackers open fake credit lines, file false tax returns and create fake medical records. (Murphy and Bailey, 2/9)

Reuters: New York Plans Cybersecurity Reviews Of Insurers After Breach
New York's Financial Services Department said on Monday it planned to do regular cybersecurity reviews of insurers in the wake of the massive breach at health insurer Anthem Inc. The state agency said in a statement that it will "integrate regular, targeted assessments of cyber security preparedness at insurance companies as part of the department's examination process." (2/9)

The Wall Street Journal's Moneybeat: New York Regulator Polls Insurers On Cyber-Threats
New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky released results Monday of a survey of 43 insurers operating in the state as his department ramps up training for its own employees that will allow them to better identify vulnerabilities in the insurers and banks they oversee. (Scism, 2/9)

Los Angeles Times: Spending On Cyberattack Insurance Soars As Hacks Become More Common
Hackers are wreaking havoc on big organizations, but they're also spurring a new market — cyberattack liability insurance. Once-complacent businesses, stung by debilitating cyberattacks at Target Corp., JPMorgan Chase Co. and other well-known companies, are on a cyberattack insurance shopping spree. "Everyone's swamped with new applications," said Nick Economidis, an underwriter at cyberattack insurance provider Beazley Group. The hack of health insurer Anthem Inc.'s computer system — a breach disclosed last week affecting up to 80 million customers — is bound to create more demand. (Panzar and Dave, 2/9)

Los Angeles Times: California Measles Outbreak: 123 Cases, Latest Is In Solano County
The California-centered measles outbreak has spread to Solano County, as the number of cases rose to at least 123 in 11 California counties, seven other states and Mexico. The California Department of Public Health reported Monday that there are now 107 cases in the state, with one case now confirmed in Solano County. (Xia, 2/9)

The Washington Post: Measles Outbreak Spreads To Three More States And Washington DC; 121 People Now Affected
The total is on pace to easily surpass the 644 cases in the United States in 2014, the greatest number since measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. Last week, the CDC reported 102 cases in 14 states. Authorities have said the resurgence is mostly caused by the growing number of people who are declining to vaccinate their children for personal reasons, or delaying the vaccinations. (Bernstein and Dennis, 2/9)

The Washington Post: California Officials Warn Against ‘Measles Parties’
In a warning issued yesterday, the California Department of Health seemed to state the obvious: “CDPH strongly recommends against the intentional exposure of children to measles,” the agency said. “It unnecessarily places the exposed children at potentially grave risk and could contribute to further spread.” (Kaplan, 2/10)