Latest KFF Health News Stories
First Edition: September 27, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the latest updates on the congressional brinksmanship related to ongoing budget battles and efforts to defund the health law, as well as reports about President Barack Obama’s campaign-style speech about the law and details on another implementation delay.
Health Law’s Success Or Failure To Unfold In Individual Stories
How people judge the health law will depend on whether they get insurance that proves affordable and adequate through the new exchanges, The Washington Post reports. In the meantime, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey finds that three out of four California residents of modest income believe wrongly that they’re not eligible for government help to buy insurance.
D.C.’s Obamacare Insurance Exchange Hits Technology Snag
The District of Columbia’s online health exchange will not be able to immediately calculate a person’s subsidy to help them buy coverage or sign up for Medicaid when the health law exchange opens Oct. 1. Instead, such determinations will be done offline as officials try to fix the problems. D.C.’s online health exchange technology problems follow similar ones in Colorado and Oregon.
New Details Emerge On Health Law Spending, Effects On Business
News outlets examine how some businesses are dropping their cheapest health plans and steering employees to the new health insurance online exchanges. Others explore how insurers are responding to new rules and the cost of the Obamacare exchanges.
For Regional Audiences, The Key Question Is What Will A New Policy Cost Here?
News outlets examine state data released Wednesday by the Obama administration to find the average rates that local consumers will pay for insurance on the new health marketplaces.
GOP Considers Alternatives To Government Shutdown
Republicans are exploring a possible new strategy: shifting the fight over President Barack Obama’s health-care law to a separate bill that would raise the nation’s debt limit. Other media outlets report that the debt limit deadline is Oct. 17 — about two weeks earlier than had been anticipated.
House And Senate Negotiators Reaching Agreement On Compounding Pharmacy Legislation
The measure would apply uniform national standards to pharmacy compounding while enacting a track-and-trace system to ensure the safety of drugs throughout the supply chain.
The Texas senator’s efforts prompt a wide variety of commentaries.
Viewpoints: The Debate On Locking Up People With Mental Illness; Michael J. Fox’s New Role
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care from around the country.
A selection of health policy stories from Florida, Illinois, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Washington.
Cruz And His Crusade To Derail The Health Law
According to press reports, just as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was stirring up interest among the tea party and other grass roots conservatives, his anti-health law strategy was also causing differences among his GOP colleagues.
Longer Looks: Dangers Of Too Much Tylenol; Death Dinners
This week’s articles come from ProPublica, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg and The New York Times.
Low Health Insurance Premiums May Come With High Deductibles
News accounts look at the price data for the new insurance marketplaces released by the administration Wednesday and note that consumers need to consider costs beyond the premiums. That’s because some lower-cost policies may have stiffer copayments and deductibles layered on top of their monthly costs.
Obama Campaigns For Health Law In Advance Of Oct. 1 Launch
President Barack Obama is slated to speak about the health law again today, this time at a Maryland community college, in an effort to “cut through all the noise.” Meanwhile, the White House stressed that next week’s launch of new online insurance exchanges will include glitches – but that the exchanges will open whether the federal government is shut down or not.
First Edition: September 26, 2013
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including details regarding the ongoing congressional battle over the future of the health law in the context of avoiding a government shutdown, as well as the developments on the ground as the Oct. 1 launch of the health law’s insurance marketplace nears.
‘Average’ Exchange Premiums Come In Lower Than Projected
The Obama administration said Wednesday that average premiums in the health law’s online insurance marketplaces will be lower than projected by the Congressional Budget Office – 16 percent lower nationwide. But the rates will vary widely depending on where you live, from significantly higher than average in Wyoming and Alaska to lower than average in Tennessee and Texas.
Politics And Strategies Complicate GOP Efforts To Derail The Health Law
Democrats see the threat of shutting down the federal government over the health law as potentially bringing electoral gains in 2014. Meanwhile, House Republican leaders are mulling whether to attach new repeal amendments — including one that would delay the health law’s individual mandate — to the pending bill to fund the government.
Senator’s Marathon Stand Against Health Law May Do Little To Stop Senate Measure
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s winding, marathon speech on the Senate floor and aimed at bringing attention to efforts to block money for Obamacare’s implementation but may have little effect.
Businesses, Other Stakeholders Confront Health Law’s Nitty-Gritty Details
From renewing health policies early and pushing marketing efforts to creating new patient-care programs and seeking new workplace wellness rules, stakeholders are busying themselves wading through a deep pool of health law changes.
Federal Appeals Court Mulls Whether Businesses Can Be Exempt From Birth Control Mandate
The court is considering a case in which two brothers who own businesses in Ohio say the requirement to cover the cost of contraceptives to their employees would violate their Roman Catholic beliefs.
