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Now that the health care bill is law, an array of groups -- representing doctors, insurers, small businesses and others -- have switched to their post-passage game plans. Among their top goals: Helping shape the all-important regulations being written by the Obama administration.
Some states have told the Department of Health and Human Services that they intend to establish their own high-risk health insurance pool while others have said they want the federal government to do it.
While doctors are worrying a lot about whether Congress will block the 21 percent scheduled cut in Medicare payments, a fix to another public health program is raising another question.
Health care coverage differs among Americans, and many details of the health care reform bill are still unclear. To help clear up the confusion, The Fiscal Times recruited six volunteers representing different incomes, geographic areas, ages and lifestyles to look at how the bill will affect a variety of people.
In a test of the Obama administration's ability to smoothly implement the sweeping health care overhaul law, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services have just 90 days to launch an insurance program for people who can't get private coverage because of health problems.
Mr. Stupak and his allies have threatened to deny health insurance expansion to millions of Americans all because the legislation does not go far enough in restricting abortion rights. Even without getting his amendment into the final bill, however, he has made large gains in achieving his agenda.
Six Medicare Advantage plans that have been in trouble in the past are still breaking marketing rules in ways that place beneficiaries at risk. Some of their earlier violations included tricking beneficiaries into signing up for the wrong plan and sometimes even enrolling them without their knowledge.
The bill signed by President Obama is long and technical, so it's no wonder that consumers are confused. KHN staff writers check out several key concerns.
Roughly a dozen members of Congress have insisted they won't vote for any measure that provides public subsidies for abortion beyond those allowed by the Hyde Amendment. This isn't surprising. For decades Midwestern Democrats in Congress have generally been economic liberals and social conservatives.
Lawmakers are under intense pressure in the health care debate. The president is hitting the road to reassure nervous House members and shore up support for his plan. Republicans are taking their opposition to the bill directly to the voters, too.
If the Democrats get their way, Blue Cross companies will have to change their business model, so that they act a bit more like the Blue Cross plans of old--the ones that helped schoolteachers, not stockholders.
Many patients seeking mental health treatments, such as Denise Camp of Baltimore, have been forced to pick up a bigger share of the cost than they do with other medical bills. But a law that went into effect Jan. 1 prohibits such double standards.
Nearly three years ago, Harry Rosenberg and his wife, Barbara Filner, met with nine of their neighbors about starting an aging-in-place "village" in Bethesda, Maryland. The idea: If neighbors could help one another with basic services such as transportation and simple home maintenance and with friendly visits, people could stay in their homes longer as they aged.
The White House released this transcript of remarks by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the signing of the health reform bill.
Florida's Republican attorney general opposes the individual mandate and a state insurance official says significant changes in state laws would be needed to meet federal requirements if overhaul passes.
Many African-American women don't fit the profile of the average American woman who gets breast cancer. For them, putting off the first mammogram until 50 - as recommended by a government task force - could put their life in danger.
Can a spinoff of the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program help some of the country's uninsured? Experts evaluate a proposal that the Office of Personnel Management, which manages the FEHBP, oversee national health plans.
KHN's Mary Agnes Carey and other experts discuss recent and upcoming activities on the Hill -- part of a weekly series of video reports.
At least 25 million Americans are underinsured - their health benefits don't adequately cover their health costs. The major proposals being debated in Congress would require insurers to provide a minimum set of benefits, which would take care of most patients' needs.
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