Latest KFF Health News Stories
First Edition: October 31, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the Obama administration’s efforts to recover from health law implementation hiccups and challenges.
Rep. Ryan And CMS Chief Tavenner’s Exchange Muddles Subsidies For Young Adults
In a contentious hearing Tuesday, Rep. Paul Ryan and Marilyn Tavenner managed to agree about one thing: Young adults who have access to their parents’ health insurance can’t get subsidies on the health insurance marketplaces. Unfortunately, they’re both wrong, say health policy experts.
Sebelius Says She Is Accountable For Health Website Problems
In testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the HHS secretary said problems are not acceptable, so her department is working hard to fix the insurance marketplace. She also rejected complaints that the law is responsible for recent cancellations by insurers. KHN samples the afternoon news coverage from the hearing.
Cancellation Letters Put White House On The Defensive
Even as the Obama administration struggles to recover from the troubled launch of healthcare.gov, a new issue has cropped up that is calling into question one of President Barack Obama’s often-repeated health law promises — that if a person has health insurance they like, they’ll be able to keep it.
Sebelius Faces Withering Criticism On And Off Capitol Hill
The Health and Human Services secretary is testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee today, as critics question her leadership of the department.
Courts In Texas, Okla. Wrestle With State Abortion Laws
Meanwhile, in California, autism advocates take exception with positive reviews of the transition to Medi-Cal.
New Round Of Ads About Health Law Fight Targets Senate Incumbents Of Both Parties
Americans for Prosperity is targeting Democrats like Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, while a conservative PAC is hitting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for not holding a hard enough line against the overhaul.
IRS Will Face Difficulties In Collecting Health Law Penalties
When Congress passed the health law in 2010, it also banned the Internal Revenue Service from using its regular enforcement techniques.
Healthcare.gov Contractor Says It Flagged Problems
A House committee on oversight released a letter from CGI, one of the main developers of the government’s health insurance website.
Lawmakers Face Deadline To Decide Which Staffers Will Use Health Exchanges
By Thursday, lawmakers must make decisions about who among their aides will be obtaining health insurance via the health law’s online marketplaces. Many GOP senators have plans to place their staffers on the exchanges.
State Marketplaces Have Some Different Issues Than The Federal Health Website
California officials worry that highly publicized problems of the federal website will scare customers away from the state marketplace, which is open for business. Meanwhile, news outlets look at issues in New York, Connecticut, Texas and Minnesota.
House Panel Grills CMS Chief Tavenner On Health Law Website, Cancellations
Marilyn Tavenner, who oversees the agency responsible for developing the online insurance marketplace, apologizes for the many problems consumers are encountering as Republicans expand their concerns about the rollout of the health law.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
President To Invoke ‘Romneycare’ To Defend Health Law
Today, President Barack Obama heads to the same room in Boston where the Massachusetts health law was signed to call for bipartisanship to help the Affordable Care Act succeed.
First Edition: October 30, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about how health law complications are quickly moving beyond problems with the healthcare.gov website to include other issues.
Top Official Faces Tough Questions On Health Law Website’s Bumpy Rollout
Tesitfying before the House Ways and Means Committee, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner apologized for the website’s difficulties and faced tough questioning from members of the panel. Here’s a sampling of the afternoon news coverage of the hearing.
Health Plan Cancellations: White House’s Next Set Of Challenges
News coverage is focusing on the notion that a large percentage of people who currently have individual health coverage are receiving cancellation notices because their plans don’t meet the standards created by the health law. Many of these people, according to reports, will face “sticker shock” with their new insurance. A critical emerging question is whether the Obama administration expected this scenario.
Healthcare.gov’s Technical Problems Persist Even As Some Hiccups Are Fixed
For instance, the troubled healthcare.gov was recovering Monday from an outage caused by one of the companies supporting the site.
States Struggle With Enrollment Data, Outreach To Minority Populations
News outlets report on state health exchange developments in Colorado, Maryland, California and Minnesota.
CMS Head Tavenner Set To Testify Tuesday About Healthcare.gov On Capitol Hill
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday will question Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner over healthcare.gov’s troubled rollout, taking the stage in a debate that could bolster their political fortunes on the health law.
