Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Your Guide To What Happened At The Supreme Court, Day 1

KFF Health News Original

The first day’s arguments focused on the Anti-Injunction Act and whether the court can rule on the case before a penalty is imposed on those who do not have health insurance. KHN’s reporter inside the court, Stuart Taylor, tells Jackie Judd that all the justices, except one, seemed eager to ask questions.

The Health Law And The Supreme Court: A Primer For The Oral Arguments

KFF Health News Original

The fate of the health law is at the center of the most-anticipated arguments in more than than a generation. Here are key points to keep in mind while watching the action.

Free Health Clinics At A Crossroads

KFF Health News Original

Free health clinics have long been places people turn to when they don’t have health insurance or any money to pay for care. But the health law’s expansion of coverage puts free clinics in uncharted territory.

Scorecard: What The Health Law Has Delivered, Or Not

KFF Health News Original

Kaiser Health News compares data on the progress of the health law’s implementation to the original projections of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Obama administration.

Health Industries Weigh In On Supreme Court Case

KFF Health News Original

Insurers, hospitals and drug makers all cut deals to help shape the health law. Now, as the Supreme Court awaits arguments, the industry groups are deploying different strategies to defend their interests before the High Court.

How Obama Lost The Messaging War Over Health Care Law

KFF Health News Original

As the health law heads to the Supreme Court, public opinion about the policies remains almost as divided as it was when President Obama signed it into law two years ago.

The New Jersey Experience: Do Insurance Reforms Unravel Without An Individual Mandate?

KFF Health News Original

New Jersey attempted reforms without imposing a mandate. The outcome in that state offers reasons why supporters say the individual mandate is necessary if the federal health law is to achieve its goals.

Two (Very Different) Miami Hospitals Prepare For Health Law’s Medicaid Expansion

KFF Health News Original

Even as Florida leads the Supreme Court challenge against the health law, a private and a public hospital are anticipating an influx of new patients who will be covered by Medicaid if the law stands.

Some States Limit How Uninsured Pay For High-Risk Insurance

KFF Health News Original

The states are concerned that third-party funding may drive up the number of people seeking to join the pre-existing condition insurance plans and exhaust the budgets provided by the federal government.

AARP Arming For Medicare Battle

KFF Health News Original

Against a backdrop of proposals to overhaul the popular social insurance program and a presidential campaign likely to address entitlement spending, the seniors group is mobilizing.

Delayed Release Of Student Health Plan Rule Scrambles Financial Aid Calculations

KFF Health News Original

This long-awaited regulation — designed to boost benefits offered by student health insurance plans — could affect plan costs and, in some instances, the cost of attending college.

What You Can Expect This Year From The Health Law

KFF Health News Original

Even as the Supreme Court prepares to hear the historic lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act, consumers are already seeing some changes. Jackie Judd talks with KHN’s “Insuring Your Health” columnist Michelle Andrews about insurance rebates, flexible spending accounts, preventive care (including contraceptives) and easy-to-read insurance labels.

Mississippi Builds Insurance Exchange, Even As It Fights Health Law

KFF Health News Original

Mississippi, a deeply red Southern state that is part of the Supreme Court case against the health law, is moving full speed ahead with one of the key provisions of that law: an online health insurance exchange.

GOP Presidential Hopefuls: Where They Stand On Health Care

KFF Health News Original

An interactive chart shows where eight of the current and former candidates – Gingrich, Paul, Romney, Santorum, Bachmann, Cain, Huntsman and Perry – stand on major health care issues.