Morning Breakouts

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Business CEOs Raise Objections To EEOC’s Handling Of Health Law’s Wellness Provisions

Morning Briefing

The dispute could undermine large businesses’ support for the health law, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that legal immigrants are having difficulty signing up for coverage on the insurance marketplaces and several outlets examine the administration’s efforts to increase enrollment.

Insurer Competition In Many Counties Drives Down Premiums

Morning Briefing

In Minnesota, meanwhile, Republicans who won control of the state House are looking for ways to challenge the health law there but will face checks from the Democrat-controlled state Senate and executive. And in California, insurance agents who signed people up for coverage wait to be paid.

Slow Start, Scant Interest In Small Business Exchanges

Morning Briefing

Participation in the government insurance exchanges designed for small businesses has been minimal so far and at least in Missouri, one reason may be the scant offerings, reports The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Advocates Cheer New Rx Rules To Prevent Discrimination

Morning Briefing

Patient groups laud new HHS rules barring insurers from discriminating against those with expensive health problems, such as AIDS, but want enforcement. Advocates for the poor draw attention to the struggle in many states to re-enroll adults and children in Medicaid.

A Top Democrat Says Party ‘Blew Opportunity’ With Health Care Focus

Morning Briefing

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats hurt themselves in 2009 and 2010 by putting so much effort on reforming health care, rather than on policies that would have helped a broader swath of the middle class.

Obama Order On Immigrants Could Extend Medicare Benefits

Morning Briefing

Many of the millions of people here illegally who qualify for protection under the president’s executive order would likely be eligible to receive Social Security, Medicare and a wide array of other federal benefits because they pay payroll taxes, says a White House official.