Latest Morning Briefing Stories
FAQ: Children’s Health Insurance Program’s Future Is Unclear Under The Health Law
The federal-state program, called CHIP, is funded only for another year under the law, and advocates worry that without it, some kids may suffer.
Health Law Tempers New State Coverage Mandates
Provisions in the Affordable Care Act seek to curb individual states from setting new mandates requiring insurers to cover specific care but many local legislators are trying to work around that.
Flaw In Federal Software Lets Employers Offer Plans Without Hospital Benefits, Consultants Say
Problems with a government calculator that companies use to prove that their insurance meets health law standards could allow substandard policies, consumer advocates say.
Health Law Shows Little Effect In Lowering Children’s Uninsured Rate, Study Finds
Yet many uninsured kids would be eligible for coverage under Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Census Bureau: Health Costs Inch Up As Obamacare Kicks In
Health and social spending as measured by the Census Bureau grew by only 3.7 percent from the second quarter of 2013 to the same quarter of 2014.
HHS Official: Healthcare.gov Updates Will Be ‘Improvement But Not Perfection’
Testifying before a House subcommittee, a key Obama administration official lays out the updates that HHS is making to the online marketplaces before enrollment begins in November. Mary Agnes Carey and Politico Pro’s Jennifer Haberkorn discuss.
Rural Enrollment Presents Continuing Health Law Challenges
State Obamacare decisions are key factors in how outreach strategies are taking shape for the next open enrollment period.
Osteopathic Medicine Meshes With New Health Care Needs
The number of osteopathic doctors is increasing sharply, helping to meet the demand for primary care.
Rural Doctor Shortage Worsens As Newly Insured Washington Residents Seek Care
In one Olympic Peninsula community, a clinic turns away 250 callers a week.
Maine Rolls Back Health Coverage Even As Many States Expand It
Gov. LePage’s decision to shrink, rather than expand, Medicaid has put strains on health providers as well as the poor.
Five States To Get Early Access To Small Business Health Insurance Marketplace
This copyrighted story comes from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch , produced in partnership with KHN. All rights reserved. Businesses in five states will get an early look at the federal health insurance marketplace for small businesses, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid announced Wednesday. The states are Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey and Delaware. Businesses […]
Health Care Spending Forecast To Increase Modestly In Next Decade
Federal actuaries say the economic rebound and increasing number of people with insurance will push up spending.
North Carolina’s $10B Medicaid Challenge: Pay For Other States Or Take Federal Money?
State taxpayers could spend more than $10 billion by 2022 to provide medical coverage for low-income residents of other states while getting nothing in return.
Enrolling People In Obamacare Who Have No ‘Concept Of Insurance’
An agency that ministers to immigrant and Arab-American community in Dearborn, Michigan, faces challenges enrolling some people in health coverage.
Putting Teeth In Health Reform
Many North Carolina dentists refuse to treat Medicaid patients because of the low reimbursements, while the federal health law defines children’s dental insurance as an essential benefit” but doesn’t require parents to buy it.
States To Help Pay Obamacare Tax On Insurers
Some say the government is taxing itself as states, federal government cover fees for Medicaid health plans.
Consumers Will Owe Uncle Sam If They Got Health Insurance Subsidies Mistakenly
The Treasury Department has clarified its rules as a deadline looms for people asked to confirm their citizenship or immigration status.
Health Law May Benefit More Small Businesses In The Fall
Special online markets weren’t widely available in Obamacare’s first year.
Health Law Spurs Focus On Faster Drug Development
The Cures Acceleration Network’s mission is to fund research that can be speedily transformed into treatments and to streamline the drug-approval process.
One-Third Of Georgia’s Medicaid Applicants Still In Limbo
The state has one of the largest numbers of children who are Medicaid-eligible but still uninsured.