Resources

• The Stages of Healthcare Reform

Legislative Alerts

• Legislative Alert: Understanding the Look-Back Period
  Assessing the Applicability of the Employer Mandate to your Organization Beginning on January 1, 2014, employers with...
• PPACA Update: Employer Mandates for Full- and Part-Time Employees
  Even though the employer shared responsibility provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)...
• Health Benefit Exchange Update: Notice of Coverage Options Requirement Delayed
  Under Section 1512 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), employers subject to the Fair Labor...
• 2013 Changes to Medicare & Medicaid
  On January 1, several important changes to Medicare and Medicaid mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care...
• U.S. high court will not review federal embryonic stem cell funds
• How to Report Health Care Costs on an Employee's W-2
  As of January 1, 2013, certain employers must report the cost of health care coverage provided under an employer-...
• House staves off fiscal cliff, but more money squabbles lie ahead
• Health insurance exchanges planned by 18 U.S. states-Sebelius
• PPACA's Key Medicaid and Medicare Changes
  In the first three segments of this series, we discussed several key tax, funding and coverage implications stemming...
• Assessing Additional PPACA Tax Provisions
  In the first two segments of this series, we discussed various important tax provisions contained in the Patient...
• Assessing Additional PPACA Tax Provisions
  In the first two segments of this series, we discussed various important tax provisions contained in the Patient...
• Assessing Additional PPACA Tax Provisions
  In the first two segments of this series, we discussed various important tax provisions contained in the Patient...
• Employer Requirements and Tax Implications
  In this second issue of our four part series examining the various tax provisions of the Patient Protection and...
• Upcoming Supreme Court Ruling on Health Care Reform
  As we anxiously await the ruling of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by the Supreme Court, BenefitMall...
• Understanding Supreme Court PPACA Ruling
  As a follow up to yesterday’s Legislative Alert, Details of Supreme Court Upholding PPACA, BenefitMall wants to provide...
• IRS Notice on Minimum Coverage Requirements
  Unless the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) later this year, the...
• Individual Mandate and Tax Implications
  This update represents the first in a series that BenefitMall is producing for employers on PPACA’s tax implications. ...
• Details of Supreme Court Upholding PPACA
  On June 28, 2012, the United States Supreme Court largely upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA...
• HHS Issues Interim Final Rules for State Health Benefits Exchanges
  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued a final rule that provides states with considerable...
• Waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court Decision
  Last month, the United States’ highest court heard oral arguments on what has become the most controversial piece of...
• Recent Developments on State Exchanges
  As states work to implement various portions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), establishing...
• Essential Benefits - Balancing Flexibility and Affordability
  On Tuesday, January 24, BenefitMall’s CEO Bernard DiFiore participated in a panel discussion during a general session...
• Federal Health Care Reform Overview: 2011 Wrap-Up and 2012 Outlook
  In terms of federal health care reform, many social, economic and political forces are shaping how the Patient...
• Essential Benefits More Flexible for States
  Today the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced through a press release that state exchanges...
• State Exchanges Remain Unclear: A Dozen States Move Forward to Set Up PPACA Exchange Infrastructure
  Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), each state has been given the option to either create a...
• HHS Issues MLR Rule Today
  With probably little to no surprise to any of us, Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the Medical Loss Ratio (...
• NAIC Approves Resolution Calling for MLR Changes
  The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has passed a resolution (26-20-5) to change health care...
• HHS Releases Final ACO Rules
  Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled the final rules to establish and govern...
• Bernard DiFiore Addresses Essential Benefits to HHS
  BenefitMall’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Bernard DiFiore, met with the Department of Health and Human...
• Capitol Hill Fall Highlights
  As the Presidential primaries continue to heat up, Congressional lawmakers face an extensive list of legislative...
• Health Coverage Affordability - IRS Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Rule
  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released a new proposed Rule, Notice 2011-73, which establishes a safe harbor...
• Future of Brokers’ Commissions
  On September 15, 2011, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health heard testimony regarding the treatment of...
• Making Exchanges Affordable
  On August 12, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Treasury Department (Treasury) jointly...
• Standardizing Health Insurance Data
  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released an interim final rule (Rule) for public...
• HHS Issues Interim Rules for State Health Insurance Exchanges
  On July 11, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published an interim rule designed to promote the...
• The Essential Health Benefits Package
  Significant changes can be expected for many Americans in terms of the “Essential Health Benefits” plans that will be...
• PPACA Small Business Tax Credits
  As a valued broker, you have a tremendous opportunity to enhance your relationship with small group employers by...
• New Federal External Review Requirements
  Today, health plans and insurers issuing new policies and offering “non-grandfathered” coverage must provide...
• US Senate Blocks Health Care Repeal
  On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate took the floor to debate the Republican sponsored bill to repeal the Patient Protection...
• PPACA’s One Year Anniversary - In Retrospect
  This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which was passed...
• PPACA’s Nondiscrimination Provisions
  Section 2716 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) contains a provision that applies the “non-...
• House Actions to Repeal PPACA
  The 112th session of the U.S. House of Representatives convened on January 5, 2011. On this first day of the session,...
• Florida Judge Ruled on PPACA Case
  BenefitMall would like to inform you that U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson of the Northern District of Florida ruled...
• BenefitMall’s Michael Gomes Testifies in Austin TX
  As BenefitMall continues to work closely at both the local and national Congressional level we wanted to inform you...
• HHS Softens PPACA's External Review Requirements
  On June 22, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a...
• HHS Proposes Expansion of HIPAA Privacy Rule
  On May 31, 2011, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office...
• NAIC's Task Force Releases Draft Bill
  The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Professional Health Insurance Advisors Task Force released...
• State Health Insurance Exchange
  Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), each and every state has been given the option to create...
• BenefitMall Meets with Policymakers at the Capitol
  March 18, 2011 - Last week, BenefitMall representatives met with regulators and policymakers from several key agencies...
• Grandfathering Questions & Answers
  December 29, 2010 - As a byproduct of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), one of the chief issues...
• Health Care Exchange Overview and Update
  December 10, 2010 - On November 18, the Office for Consumer Information and Insurance and Oversight (OCIIO) of the U.S...
• Understanding MLR Requirements - Question and Answer
  November 23, 2010- BenefitMall sent out an alert regarding the new “medical loss ratio” (MLR) requirements for health...
• HHS Issues MLR Regulations
  November 22, 2010 -The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued today an “interim final rule”...
• Update – Grandfathering Plans
  November 17, 2010- As an update to yesterday’s legislative alert regarding the amendment to Grandfathering Plans,...
• Amendment to Grandfathering Plans
  November 16, 2010 -The federal government published an amendment to the original “grandfather” regulations that were...
• Non-Discrimination Provision Expansion
  November 12, 2010 -The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) amended the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to...
• New 1099 and W2 Reporting Requirements
  October 29, 2010- The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) adopted last spring includes two new...
• Changes to OTC Drug Reimbursements
  September 16, 2010 -Effective January 1, 2011, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) establishes a...
• Clarification: Expected Changes Effective 2010
  September 10, 2010- Earlier this week, BenefitMall released a Legislative Alert highlighting legislative reform changes...
• Expected Changes Effective 2010
  September 8, 2010- As health insurance professionals, it is our job to ensure that our customers and employer groups...
• Wellness and Prevention Initiatives
  August 31, 2010- View a summary of wellness and prevention initiatives as a result of the Patient Protection and...
• NAIC Passes “Trusted Advisor” Resolution
  August 25, 2010 -The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has passed a resolution which defines and...
• Medical Loss Ratio
  July 30, 2010- The Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) guidelines contained in the Health Care Reform bill may be the most...
• Dependent Coverage Expansion
  July 14, 2010- BenefitMall would like to discuss the provision that dependent children can now be covered on their...
• Health Insurance Reform What Does It Mean for Dental and Vision Plans
  Vision and dental coverage is often an integral part of your client’s group health benefits package for employees and...
• Florida Federal Court Rules against Legality of PPACA
  A Florida district court ruling on Monday generated nationwide headlines by deeming the 2010 Patient Protection and...
• BenefitMall Meets with Policymakers at the Capitol
  Last week, BenefitMall representatives met with regulators and policymakers from several key agencies and associations...
• PPACA Small Business Tax Credits
  April 1, 2011 - Small employers who provide health insurance coverage to their employees may not realize they can claim...
• Health Reform Reporting Requirements
  June 30, 2010 -One of the major goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is to insure millions...
• Medical Loss Ratio
  June 15, 2010 -BenefitMall continues to actively participate and communicate with key health care groups and lobbyists...
• Fair Labor Standards Act Changes
  June 7, 2010 -BenefitMall would like to inform you of the changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as a result...
• Early Retiree Reinsurance Program
  May 25, 2010 -The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP), which takes effect June 1, 2010 was created in order to...
• Grandfathered Plans
  May 17, 2010 - This week, we bring to you information regarding the Grandfathered Plans of the Health Plan...
• Health Plan Requirements
  May 10, 2010 - In this week’s Legislative Alert, we will cover the requirements all health plans must comply with...
• Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
  May 5, 2010 - Under the health care bill passed in March, tax credits will be granted to some small employers for a...

Healthcare News

• Republicans Take Aim At Planned Parenthood's 'Record' Taxpayer Support
• Says Walmart employees represent the largest group of Medicaid and food stamp recipients in many states, costing the taxpayer $1,000 per worker.
• Link between health care spending, quality unclear
• Could therapists serve prison time for patients' crimes?
• Employer wins relief from U.S. contraceptives mandate
• Why can't America care for the mentally ill?
• Deadline day for states' health exchange decisions
• Tennessee Governor Says No To Healthcare Exchange For Afforbable Care Act
• Romney v. Obama: Women's Healthcare
• Romney Pivots, Embraces Romneycare Again
• Companies Nervous about Healthcare Costs
• States Rejecting Medicaid Expansion
• Gov. Patrick Signs Healthcare Bill
• 50% of Seniors Prefer Group vs. Medicare Supplemental Insurance
• We. the people, must save healthcare
• Obama says part-time firefighters can buy employee health insurance
• Healthcare Awaits Imminent Supreme Court Verdict
• Kaiser Permanente Highlighted in Healthcare 2012 Equality Index
• Three Likely Winners
• The Supreme Court, Health Care and You
• Obama Healthcare Law Could Sharply Worsen Deficits: Study
  President Barack Obama's healthcare law could sharply exceed its cost-savings targets and add up to $530 billion to the...
• Justices to Congress: It’s in Your Court after Health Care Ruling
  If the Supreme Court undercuts President Barack Obama’s health care law, Congress is prepared to do the following:...
• 10 Lesser Known Effects of Health Care Reform Law
  (CNN) -- On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court takes on a political, social, economic and medical hot potato: the health...
• Firms to Charge Smokers, Obese More for Healthcare
  (Reuters) - Like a lot of companies, Veridian Credit Union wants its employees to be healthier. In January, the...
• Support Waning for Obama Healthcare Law: Poll
  (Reuters) - Americans' opinion of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform in October reached its lowest point since...
• For Health Care Model, Look to Netherlands
  Behold the American health care system. It produces most of the world's prescription drugs, medical technologies and...
• Four Reasons Why Employers Won't Drop Health Insurance
  Researchers at the Urban Institute argue health reform was designed to build on, not replace, employer-sponsored health...
• In Bad Economy, More Docs and Nurses Trade Debt for Service
  Sarah Baker drives 130 miles round-trip every weekday from her home in Bismarck, N.D., to her job as the sole provider...
• Health Care on Life Support
  A liberal United States Senator, let's call him Edward M. Kennedy, dies. When he gets to heaven, he asks God, "Will...
• Are Some Hospitals Turning Away Patients to Save Money?
  The problems just keep piling up on hospitals – not just here in the United States, but worldwide.    
• Health Care, Other Hot Issues Promise a Landmark High Court Term
  Washington (CNN) -- One of the little-known prerogatives of the U.S. Supreme Court is the justices' discretion to...
• Employers Bear Brunt of Health Insurance Hikes
  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Thank you, boss?: While the annual cost for employee family health insurance jumped 9% this year...
• Justices Asked to Accept Key Health Care Reform Appeal
  Washington (CNN) -- A 26-state coalition has asked the Supreme Court to decide the constitutionality of the massive...
• Employer Health Care Costs Expected to Slow in 2012
  Healthcare expenses for U.S. employers are expected to slow next year to their lowest level in more than a decade, but...
• New Ad Targets GOP Candidates Over Health Care
  Washington (CNN) -- A television ad released Thursday by a progressive health care advocacy group slammed the tea party...
• Children Slipping through Health Care Safety Net
  The government released its annual report on income, poverty and insurance coverage last week. The median income in the...
• HHS Spending Bill Stalled By House Impasse
  The Senate Appropriations Committee's consideration of the spending measure will likely be largely symbolic and the...
• Obama’s Deficit Plan Focuses On Cutting Health Programs But Not Benefits; Experts Wonder How Patients Will Fare
  Though drug companies, hospitals, nursing homes and state health programs would take the biggest hit in the president's...
• New Report Shows "Significant" Drop in Uninsured Young People, Thanks to Affordable Care Act
  A new poll finds that there has been a significant drop in the number of uninsured young Americans, thanks to...
• Uninsured Patients in Massachusetts Still Predominantly the Working Poor, Despite State’s Health Reform
  WASHINGTON - September 20 - Despite the implementation of the Massachusetts health care reform designed to bolster...
• HHS Ups Funding for Insurance Rate Review
  WASHINGTON -- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Tuesday that it has released another round of...
• Drug Spending Targeted in Obama’s $320 Billion Health Cut
  Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s deficit- trimming proposal would cut $320 billion from U.S. health...
• Healthways CEO: Preventive Medicine Could Save the US Hundreds of Billions of Dollars
  We hear from the President he wants to save money for America and that paying our "fair share" and taxes are America,...
• Obama's Health Care Cuts Spread the Pain
  (WASHINGTON) — Health care savings in President Barack Obama's deficit-reduction plan would squeeze future Medicare...
• Young Adults' New Dilemma: Stay on Parents' Health Insurance Policy?
  Thanks to the new health-care reform, young adults now have more options when it comes to finding health insurance. 
• National Leaders Share Perspectives, Solutions to Health Care Challenges
  LONG BEACH, Calif., Sept. 16, 2011 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Health industry experts and corporate executives will lead a...
• Number of People without Health Insurance Climbs
  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The number of people who lacked health insurance last year climbed to 49.9 million, up from 49...
• Federal Judge Got It Wrong, Va. Lacks Standing to Challenge Health Care Reform, 4th Circuit Rules
  Developing: In a ruling today, the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to strike down a...
• Federal Court Upholds Individual Mandate
  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court in Virginia has dismissed two lawsuits that had claimed President Barack...
• Questions Plague State Health Exchange Program
  When Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced rules for the new state health insurance exchanges...
• S.C. Gov. Haley to Reject Federal Health Insurance Exchange Funds
  Gov. Nikki Haley said she will let federal deadlines slip by and not accept millions in federal funds to help South...
• Report: Health care Law has Limited Impact on Spending
  WASHINGTON — The 2010 federal health care law will have little effect on the nation's rising health spending in the...
• Health Care Measure Seeks Public Option, Rollbacks
  As Republicans try to make President Obama's landmark health care law a key issue in the 2012 election, a leading...
• Study: Health Care Overhaul Will Insure Many More
  The federal health care overhaul signed into law last year will drastically cut the number of uninsured Wisconsin...
• Documents Detail PR Campaign to Promote Health Care Overhaul
  Documents obtained by a government watchdog group show that the Obama administration has set aside millions since last...
• Healthcare's Individual Mandate -- (Lack of) Charity Care Adds More Fuel to This Fire
  Very recently, the pages of The Huffington Post -- as was true within every media outlet and what rolled off of the...
• Health Care Should Be on the Fast Track
  The constitutionality of President Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment — the Patient Protection and Affordable...
• How Obamacare is Destroying Accountable Care Organizations
  “Accountable care organizations” is the health wonk phrase du jour. Obamacare’s advocates point to its support for ACOs...
• Deficit Panel Has 'Extraordinary Power' But Will Face 'Bumpy' Start
  The LA Times reports on some of the challenges ahead for the "super committee" and explores the panel's chances for...
• States Grow Anxious For Federal Exchange Guidance
  Working groups continue planning efforts for the creation of state-run versions of these health insurance marketplaces.
• Fact Check: On Health Care Ruling, Obama Ignores Broader Power of the States
  In his first public comment on last week's federal court ruling that declared the centerpiece of the health care law...
• Health Care Industry: ‘Significant’ Cost Rises Coming Due to Reform
  A new survey of more than 200 U.S. health care professionals reveals costs will rise significantly with health care...
• Sebelius Highlights National Health Plans
  Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday highlighted the national healthcare plans that will...
• Some Health Care Reform Watchers Concerned Over Health Exchange Official's Exit
  Mixed reactions greeted the news that Joel Ario, director of the health insurance exchanges in the Obama administration...
• Health Insurance Premiums Vary Widely, Report Says
  How much does health insurance cost? It’s a deceptively simple question to ask, but a notoriously difficult one to...
• HHS to Loan $4B for Health Co-Ops
  The Obama administration on Monday rolled out nearly $4 billion in loans for a program established by the healthcare...
• Employers Unlikely to Drop Coverage Because of Health Law, Survey Finds
  Only 2 percent of employers are "very likely" to stop offering coverage in 2014 and drop their workers into the...
• U.S. Continues to Outspend Other Nations on Healthcare
  NEW YORK CITY – The United States continues to lead industrialized nations in healthcare spending, according to a new...
• Health Care by the Numbers
  As a small private practitioner in speech-language pathology, I find that most people are very confused about their...
• Healthcare Access Lagging in Rural U.S.: Report
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rural Americans are more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart...
• Is it Time for the Healthcare Industry to Make Cost Management a Priority?
  Most industries today are faced with a variety of obstacles in achieving or remaining profitable.
• Healthcare and the Community's Economic Wellbeing
  FORT MYERS – Being Lee County’s largest employer and a major property owner, Lee Memorial Health System is a key factor...
• CBO: Fixing "Glitch" in Healthcare Reform Law Can Save $13B Over 10 Years
  The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that fixing a small loophole in President Obama's healthcare reform law...
• Health Insurance Exchanges Give Purchasing Power to Consumers and Creates a Nearly $200 Billion Market for Insurers
  NEW YORK, July 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Millions of Americans will soon gain what they have long waited for in...
• Press Release: NAIC Launches Educational Health Video
  WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 15, 2011) — To enhance its ongoing effort to provide clarity on the Patient Protection and...
• Efforts Underway To Fix Health Law Glitch
  Two separate bills have been introduced to address this health law issue, which inadvertently would make 3 million...
• Health Care Waiver Program Being Ended By Obama Administration
  WASHINGTON -- Removing a potential political distraction ahead of next year's elections, the Obama administration...
• If Doctors Lead, Will Health Care Costs Follow?
  Can doctors and other health care providers be the driving force in achieving cost-effective health care? In their...
• Health On The Hill: Debt Limit Talks Intensify As Deadline Nears
  Jackie Judd and KHN's Mary Agnes Carey discuss the rising tension on Capitol Hill over increasing the debt limit, which...
• Private Exchanges Offer Alternative
  Next month, two insurance companies, Minneapolis-based Medica and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, will give some...
• HHS and States Move to Establish Affordable Insurance Exchanges, Give Americans the Same Insurance Choices as Congress
  Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a framework to assist states in building...
• HHS Releases Exchange Rules, Touts Flexibility
  The Obama administration on Monday released rules giving states flexibility on how they create their insurance...
• IRS Gives Nonprofit Plans, Hospitals More Time to Comply with PPACA
  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is pushing back the compliance deadlines for Patient Protection and Affordable Care...
• Small-Business Health Care Tax Credits Are Having A Minuscule Impact
  The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council recently surveyed 304 small business owners about how satisfied they...
• GAO: IRS Behind on PPACA
  WASHINGTON BUREAU -- The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says Internal Revenue Service (IRS) top managers...
• HHS Scales Back Rules On Health Insurance Appeals
  The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it is scaling back some of its earlier rules under the 2010 health...
• Obama Lawyers in Court Fighting Health Challenge
  ATLANTA — Lawyers for President Barack Obama on Wednesday sought to stave off the biggest legal challenge yet to his...
• Kids with Government Insurance Wait Longer for Some Care
  BOSTON (Reuters Health) - Sick children covered by Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) must wait...
• MDs Gather at AMA Meeting Amid Reform Uncertainty
  CHICAGO — Medicare crises, looming doctor shortages, more patients without health insurance. And that doesn't even...
• Study: 30% of Employers Likely to Drop Health Insurance
  The new federal healthcare law may significantly reduce the number of Americans who get their health insurance through...
• Healthcare Reform Leaves Some Kids Behind
  PRINCETON, N.J., June 1 (UPI) -- Twenty million U.S. children who live in complex family arrangements may fall through...
• No Veto Threat on Medical Education Bill
  The Obama administration is not threatening to veto a Republican bill that would replace spending in the healthcare...
• Most Health Leaders Support Federal Involvement in Reform
  When asked their opinion about the authority of states and the federal government over healthcare reform, roughly eight...
• 4 Strategies to Optimize Leadership in Integrated Care
  Healthcare leaders currently face a host of challenges as they integrate care, implement electronic medical records and...
• HHS Announces $750 Million Investment in Prevention
  Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced a $750 million investment in...
• Another Week, Another Vote to Defund Health Reform Bill
  The news of Osama bin Laden’s death may have consumed Capitol Hill Monday, but it didn’t alter House Republicans’ plans...
• GOP Bill Could Boost Federal Role in Health Care
  A GOP bill to cut off funding for part of the healthcare reform law could ultimately shift decision-making power from...
• House Bill Would Cut Funding for Exchanges
  The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation to cut off federal funds for state-based health insurance...
• New Health-Care Model
  Front-End Medicine: New Health-Care Model Focuses On Prevention, Communication
• Lawmakers Push Plan To Control Health Insurance Costs
  April 10--For the fourth time in as many years, California Democratic lawmakers are pushing a plan to control health...
• Researchers: Angry Brokers Slow Exchange Growth
  Massachusetts may have hurt efforts to sell small group health coverage through its exchange system by infuriating...
• Obama Sizes Up Options For Health Care Cuts
  WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's plan to curb health care costs that drive the deficit will mean less taxpayer...
• Senate Sends Repeal of Tax Provision to Obama
  (CNN) -- The Senate voted Tuesday to repeal a part of the health care reform law that would require businesses to file...
• Health care Reform Can't Work without More Doctors
  FORTUNE -- Late last month, the Patient Protection and Affordability Act, better known as "health care reform," quietly...
• Healthcare Reform At One Year
  This week last year the monumental Affordable Care Act was signed into law, and even as the legislation's more moderate...
• Healthcare Reform May Not Improve Medical Bills
  A healthcare reform study in Massachusetts reported more people covered under insurance did not improve medical debts...
• Senate Republicans Push to Oust Medicare Chief
  Unable to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law, Republicans are trying to oust the official who is...
• Obama Offers States Flexibility on Healthcare Law
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama extended an olive branch on Monday to states struggling to implement his...
• GOP: Obama Health-Law Waiver Not Enough
  WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama has endorsed giving states more flexibility under healthcare-...
• Budget Battles Stretch Across U.S.
  (CNN) -- Legislatures from New Jersey to California are struggling to tackle yawning deficits, longstanding pension...
• Judge Tosses Out Lawsuit Against Obama Health Care Law
  WASHINGTON -- A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit claiming that President Barack Obama's requirement that...
• Health Companies Staying the Course on New Law
  Health-care companies said they were pressing forward with plans to implement the federal health-overhaul law, despite...
• Democrat Sees Health Law Surviving Repeal Move
  WASHINGTON — A leading U.S. Senate Democrat said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul will...
• FACT CHECK: Did Gov't Stretch Health Care Stat?
  WASHINGTON — It's a striking statistic. Without President Barack Obama's health care law, as many as 129 million...
• Obama Defends Health Care Bill at Families USA Conference
  Washington (CNN) -- U.S. President Barack Obama defended Friday his administration's signature health care law that...
• New Spirit in Washington, Same Old Divisions
  On a night when the new, and still tenuous, mood of bipartisanship in Washington was on full display, President Barack...
• Promises Obama Kept, Promises He Broke
  From NBC's Norah O'Donnell, Adam Verdugo, and Ariel Edwards-Levy We decided to go back and check what President Obama...
• Poll: Unpopularity of Reform Jumps 9 Points
  Public opposition to the health care reform law spiked to a record high in a new poll out today — but Americans don’t...
• Health Care Repeal Brings Focus Back to Uninsured
  Congressional Republicans are attempting to live up to one of their key 2010 campaign promises with the introduction of...
• Some States have Options to Help Consumers Find Health Coverage
  A reader asks: Are there other health insurance options besides high-risk pools for people who can't get coverage in...
• Ohio Becomes 25th State to Contest Healthcare Plan
  (Reuters) - Ohio is joining a multistate lawsuit over the federal healthcare reform plan passed less than a year ago...
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Says Healthcare Law Must Go
  The head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce struck an optimistic tone Tuesday about the direction of the economy and the...
• Health Care in the Hot Seat Again
  (CNN) -- Republicans on Sunday demonstrated a united front against health care reform passed by the Obama...
• Speak Plain English, Health Insurers Told
  Choosing a health insurance policy should be easier if consumers use the simple chart and other information that state...
• Health Care Law Ruling Ignores Settled Law
  This week, U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson struck down a key provision of the national health care reform bill,...
• 1.5 Million to be Notified their Insurance is Below Standard
  At least 1.5 million people will soon receive notices from employers or insurers that their health plans fall short of...
• Report: Senate Leaders Tentatively Agree On Yearlong ‘Doc Fix’
  It looks like we’re one step closer to sidestepping — for a year, that is — the Medicare payment cuts due to kick in...
• Survey: Reform Law Requires More Trust Between Docs and Hospitals
  The successful implementation of the new healthcare reform law will hinge on physicians and hospitals working out trust...
• Like Congress, Americans Split Over Health-Care Reform
  Americans are still deeply divided over the nation's new health-care reform package, with 28 percent of adults wanting...
• Health Care Debate to Intensify, but Big Change is Unlikely for Now
  Americans should be prepared for two more years of verbal combat over health care reform when the new Congress is...
• Health Care 2010
• The Hill
• U.S Global Health Policy
  An online gateway from The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation for the latest data and information on the U.S. role in...
• Health Affairs
  Health Affairs is the leading journal of health policy thought and research. The peer-reviewed journal was founded in...
• California Healthline
• Stateline
  Stateline.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan online news site that practices journalism in the public interest by...
• Kaiser Health News
  Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit private operating...
• Healthcare Finance News
  Healthcare Finance News is published by MedTech Publishing Company, a fully integrated media company located in New...
• Report: Government Wasting 'Tens of Billions' of Dollars Annually on Duplication, Overlap
  As lawmakers across the Capitol hear appeals Tuesday from Obama administration secretaries pleading for their budgets,...
• Why Health Care Costs Vary in One Chart
  There’s no shortage of evidence that health care prices vary dramatically across the country - and no shortage of...
• IRS Issues Guidance on Reporting Health Cover Costs on Employees' W-2s
  WASHINGTON—Newly released Internal Revenue Service guidance resolves additional questions employers have raised about a...
• Obama Lawyers Argue Bulk of Health Law can Survive
  WASHINGTON | Fri Jan 27, 2012 4:59pm EST (Reuters) - The Obama administration told the Supreme Court on Friday that...
• 5% of Americans Made Up 50% of U.S. Healthcare Spending
  When it comes to America's spiraling health care costs, the country's problems begin with the 5%. In 2008 and 2009, 5%...
• Health Insurance Exchanges Alive in 20 States
  As of December, 13 states have functioning health insurance exchanges, two more have pending legislation to establish...
• IRS Could Face Glut of Health Law Tax Appeals
  A watchdog is urging the IRS to make sure it is prepared for an anticipated blitz of taxpayer appeals involving dozens...
• Health Care Reform Tops Bloomberg BNA List of Most Important Health Law Issues for 2012
• New Fee Coming for Medical Effectiveness Research
  Starting in 2012, the government will charge a new fee to your health insurance plan for research to find out which...
• Americans Hit the Brakes on Health Care Spending
  WASHINGTON — U.S. healthcare spending barely rose in 2010 from record-low recession levels, as high unemployment...
• Preventive Care: It's Free, Except When It's Not
  Screenings, such as colonoscopies, can get labeled with a diagnostic code .
• Three Companies That Could Be Impacted by Health Care Reform
  According to a recent CNN article, approximately 2.5 million more young adults in the United States are now receiving...
• MLR Debate Heats Up
  As the NAIC pushes forward on a vote to exempt agents from the federal medical loss ratio standard, a greater question...
• States Receive Federal Health Exchange Implementation Grants
  The Obama administration announced on Tuesday that nearly $220 million in new grants would be awarded to 13 states...
• Taking Healthcare to Students
  As soon as the school day ended, the rush at the health clinic began.
• More Americans Than Not Want Health Law Repeal: Poll
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to review President Barack Obama's healthcare reform, more...
• HHS Makes Available $1 Billion for Innovative Healthcare Hiring
  The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday made available $1 billion for innovative healthcare projects that...
• US Healthcare Reform to the Supreme Court: What You Need to Know
  Arguments in March. A decision by June. Those are the first two things you need to know about the decision Monday by...
• Appeals Court Upholds Obama Health Care Law
  WASHINGTON — A conservative-leaning appeals court panel on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of President Barack...
• Additional Guidance Now Available on Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
  WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today released final guidance for small employers eligible to claim the new...
• Employee Benefit News
• On health care: The time is now
  Responses to Re: "Cornyn won't back public-option plan -- Senator says GOP will offer proposal with state-based...
• Fierce Health Finance
  FierceHealthFinance is a weekly healthcare finance update for health executives and financial managers.
• The Health Care Blog
  The Health Care Blog (THCB) has acquired a reputation as one of the most respected independent voices in the healthcare...
• The Medical News

Healthcare Products

• Push to Expand Medicare to Nursing Home Stays
• FDA Proposes Unique ID System for Medical Devices
• Drug Reimbursement and the New "Medicaid"
• Horizon Joins Multistate Medicare Network
• Imaging Healthcare Specialists Among the First in the Nation to Offer Imaging Diagnosis for Alzheimer's Disease
• Senate Panel Turns to Insurers for Medicare Pay Reform Advice
• On Health Care Hearing’s Last Day, Supreme Court Weighs Medicaid Expansion
  The Supreme Court closed an extraordinary three-day review of President Obama’s health-care law Wednesday, with its...
• CLASS Aside, Long-Term Care is a Key to Entitlement Reform
  After one of my articles this summer on the festering problems with CLASS—Obamacare’s unsustainable new entitlement for...
• Solving the New Medicare Puzzle
  (MONEY Magazine) -- Thanks to Medicare, there's at least one thing you don't have to worry about in retirement: whether...
• Time to Shop: Some Medicare Plan Prices Drop
  NEW YORK — If you're a senior on Medicare - or if you help out aging parents with their money matters - it's time to...
• Medicare Prescription Drug Abuse a Problem: GAO
  WASHINGTON — Prescription drug abuse by elderly and disabled beneficiaries of Medicare cost the U.S. program nearly $...
• Health Care Law’s LTC Plan Appears Endangered by CLASS Act’s Potential Demise
  A report that the office administering the CLASS Act, the long-term care insurance component of the health care reform...
• Survey: More than Half of Seniors Confused by Medicare, Healthcare Reform
  Only 46% of seniors and baby boomers have a solid understanding of how Medicare works, and half of people over the age...
• Medicare Advantage Premiums Shrink, Enrollment Projected to Rise
  Medicare Advantage premiums will be 4 percent lower in 2012, and enrollment is expected to rise 10 percent, according...
• PPACA: HHS Asks States to Help Think about Section 1331 Plans
  Some states could hire health insurers to offer a new type of health plan – the Section 1331 Basic Health Program plan...
• Democrats' Plan B For Medicare: Medicare For All
  Last month, ObamaCare was dealt another huge blow. On August 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in...
• Experts Offer Advice for Those Seeking Health Coverage
  For those of you waiting for another COBRA subsidy to come along, the chances don’t look great. A bill introduced by U....
• Competing To Save The Health Care System Money
  American seniors recently received some good news — they won’t be seeing higher premiums in 2012 for their Medicare...
• Employers Look to Consumer-Driven Plans to Lower Health Costs
  The rising cost of health care will soon be reflected even more substantially in employee cost-sharing.
• The Two Approaches to Medicare Reform: Rationing vs. Individual Choice
  What gets lost in the debate about Medicare is that both Democrats and Republicans know that Medicare is broke, and...
• Medicare Cost Growth Slows
  Medicare costs grew at their slowest pace in six years, according to Standard & Poor's Healthcare Economic Indices.
• Health-Plan Buyers Get a Look Under the Hood
  Consumers shopping for health insurance will soon get a peek at a new standard form—akin to the nutrition label on food...
• Medicaid Patients Added Under Health Care Reform More Expensive: Study
  Patients who will be added to Medicaid as part of health care reform are less healthy and therefor more expensive than...
• Press Release: New Private Nonprofit Health Plans will Increase Competition
  Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) took steps to encourage the creation of Consumer Operated...
• Medicare, Medicaid Tab Keeps Growing
  The costs of the government's big health care programs are soaring again, expenses not tackled in the agreement...
• Benefits of Self-Funded Health Plans
  Due to the economic recession and the potential for increased health insurance costs brought about by health care...
• Study Shows Medicare Part D Has Helped Reduce Health Care Costs
  July 26, 2011 -- Non-drug-related health care costs have been reduced for elderly patients who gained better...
• The Family and Retirement Health Investment Act of 2011
    This bill simplifies and enhances Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Health Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) by...
• Preserving Health Coverage for the Poor
  The poor and disabled people who rely on Medicaid to pay their medical bills could be in grave jeopardy in this sour I’...
• Improve Medicare, Don't End It
  Years ago when I worked at the Nebraska Department of Insurance and we had a choice about whether to try to make a new...
• Mini-Med Plans Must File For Waivers By Sept. 22
  LOS ANGELES, June 17 (Reuters) - Providers of bare-bones health insurance plans have until September to seek exemption...
• Medicaid for the Middle Class?
  WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's health care law would let several million middle-class people get nearly free...
• Rates Cut for Hard-to-Insure Patients
  WASHINGTON — The government is cutting premiums by up to 40 percent in nearly two dozen states and implementing other...
• Medicaid Kids Denied Medical Care, Says Study
  CHICAGO — Children on public insurance are being denied treatment by doctors at much higher rates than those with...
• Medicaid to Quit Paying for Hospital Mistakes
  Medicaid will stop paying for about two dozen "never events" in hospitals, such as operations on the wrong body part...
• MetLife Study of Employee Benefit Trends
• Highmark Study Shows Worksite Wellness Programs Slowed Health Care Cost Growth
  A Highmark Inc. study published in the March/April edition of the American Journal of Health Promotion found that...
• House Republicans Back Away On Medicare
  (Reuters) - Republicans in Congress on Thursday appeared to back away from a contentious plan to overhaul Medicare,...
• Health Plans Embrace Business Analytics To Thrive With Reform
  CARY, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Health care plans are recreating themselves, anticipating a consumer-driven world once...
• The Push to Enact Medicare Reform
  “A Real Choice on Medicare” (editorial, April 24) states that the Republican plan to privatize Medicare is premised “...
• Big Health Cost Shift to Elderly in GOP Plan
  WASHINGTON –  Partisan divisions hardened Wednesday around the new House GOP budget, hailed by backers as a sobering...
• Medicaid Reduced by $1 Trillion in GOP Plan
  WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- House Republicans propose to trim more than $1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade...
• Medicare Chief Refuses to Answer Congressional Inquiries About the Health Care Laws’ Impact on Seniors
  Washington, DC – Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) today convened the Committee on Ways and Means for a hearing to examine the...
• Affordable Care Act: Q&A on OTC Medicines and Drugs
  The list of non-qualified withdrawals now includes over-the-counter (OTC), non-prescription drugs such as cold...
• Proposed Cuts Threaten O.C. Senior Health Care Services
  Roughly 37,000 seniors would be left without someone to provide physical therapy for them after a stroke, administer...
• Reducing Drug Co-Pays Might Lower Health Care Costs
  If companies want to reduce their health-care costs, they should reduce the co-pays employees are charged for drugs,...
• Federal Money Kept States from Cutting Medicaid: Survey
  (Reuters) - Public healthcare programs for those with low incomes and for children stayed steady or expanded in almost...
• Congress Votes to Avert Medicare Doctor Pay Cut
  Legislation to avert a 25 percent pay cut for doctors treating patients covered by the federal Medicare health...
• New Rules Spell Out Protections For Consumers With 'Limited Benefit' Insurance Policies
  At least 1.5 million people will soon receive notices from employers or insurers that their health plans fall short of...
• AARP Raises Insurance Costs for Employees
  The AARP’s health insurance costs are going up next year due to rapidly rising medical costs that are partly fueled by...
• A Step-by-Step Guide to Comparing Your Medicare Options
  How do I get additional information about Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage plan choices for 2011? You have...
• 5 Things You Must Do During Open Enrollment
  Major changes to health-insurance coverage and costs, new rules for flexible spending accounts, and some interesting...
• Health-Insurance Changes for 2011
  What differences can I expect to see in my health insurance for 2011 during my employer’s open-enrollment season this...
• New Rules for Flexible Spending Accounts
  Does the new health-reform law affect any of my flexible spending account decisions during this year’s open-enrollment...
• Studies: More Drugs Do Not Always Mean Better Care
  Spending more on drugs does not always translate into healthier patients, U.S. researchers reported.
• OTC Medicines Cut From 2011 Flexible Spending Accounts
  The health-care overhaul has taken some of the flex out of flexible spending accounts, which let workers pay medical...
• AMA Chief Says Medicare Cuts will Be Catastrophic
  The president of the nation's largest doctors' group says upcoming cuts in Medicare physician payments will be...
• Now is the Time to Switch Medicare Part D Plans
  If you're on Medicare Part D, this month marks the beginning of the annual enrollment time when beneficiaries can try...
• Big Changes Coming for Flexible Spending Accounts
  Health care reform means major changes to flexible spending accounts. Those changes start soon. You'll no longer be...
• First Wave of Health Care Reform Requirements Take Effect
• Health Care Reform: Upcoming Coverage Changes For Employer-Sponsored Plans
• Employers Looking at Health Insurance Options
  The new health care law wasn't supposed to undercut employer plans that have provided most people in the U.S. with...
• Grandfathered Health Plans Under PPACA
  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148, PPACA, as amended by the Health Care and Education Act, P...
• Health Care Reform and Its Effect on Individual Health Plans
  Remember the old phrase 'be careful what you ask for, you just might get it?'  Well, Anthem Blue Cross put out an email...
• How Dental Care Will Be Changed by Healthcare Reform
  Health reform will offer major changes in the arena of dental care; the bill that has been offered by the United States...
• White House Unveils New Rules on No-Cost Preventive Services
  The Obama administration unveiled new rules requiring health insurers to provide several kinds of preventive services...
• Private Insurers Increasingly Reliant on Government Business
  Despite the sluggish economy, the nation’s major health insurers have prospered in large part by expanding their role...
• New Proposal for Medicare
  Washington (CNN) – They know better than to propose legislation in the current political atmosphere, but two political...
• Countdown Begins for Congress on 'Doc Fix'
  WASHINGTON –  Doctors who serve Medicare patients are facing a 27.4 percent cut in payments beginning Jan. 1 unless...
• Five Questions about GOP's Plan to Privatize Medicare
  (Reuters) - The Congressional Super Committee negotiations are coming down to the wire, and Republicans are demanding...
• AHIP
  America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) is the national association representing nearly 1,300 member companies...
• Will CIGNA Remake The Health Plan Marketplace?
  America’s health plans are floundering. If their job has been to provide the nation’s mainstream families with access...
• Health Plans Reach Out to Touch the Consumer
  Some insurance companies are ratcheting their “consumerism” campaigns a notch higher by launching retail insurance...
• Political Wisdom: The Health Care Plan We’ve Ignored
  Why isn’t anyone actually considering the health care plan that Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and Republican Senator...
• Single-Payer Health Care Would Stimulate Economy
  There is an unhealthy tendency on the part of politicians and journalists to see discussions about economic recovery...
• The Mounting Price of Health Care’s Status Quo
  No sooner had the provisions concerning health care in the House’s economic stimulus bill seen the light of day than...
• Health plans make nice to doctors: change for the good or just good PR?
  In what many are calling the second stage of managed care, health plans are trying to prove that their interests extend...
• Consumer Driven Health Care: The Changing Role of the Patient
  The latest trend in health care? Patients are managing their own care. New technologies make it possible. Legislative...

Healthcare Reform

• Health-care reform aims to reduce cost growth
• Insurers in California, Elsewhere, Propose Steep Rate Hikes
• The Fix that Failed
• Gallup poll: 3 in 10 Americans skip medical care due to cost
• An Entrepreneur's Guide to the Fiscal Cliff
• Consumer Assistance Program
• What Can the US Healthcare System Learn from the Czech Republic?
• Will Obamcare raise the cost of pizza?
• Health Care Reform Law
• Healing America's Health Care System
• U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez claims health care reform will mean $250 million in savings over the first 10 years, $1.2 trillion over the second decade
• Conservative Health Care Experts Blame Massachusetts Dems For ‘Romneycare,’ ‘Obamacare’
• TX Governor Rejects Two Provisions of Health Care Law
• Medicaid's Future Tied to Reform
• What's at Stake?
• Healthcare Reform Opponents Ready to Celebrate
• Anything but Health Reform
  By Denis Storey - You’re going to hear a lot about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act this week. It’s the...
• Highlights of Day One in Washington, D.C.
  By Jenny Ivy - The Supreme Court's three-day debate on health reform is an unprecedented platform for social media...
• Obama’s Health Reform Popularity Bind
  After hovering around split support since its passage, Obama’s health care overhaul has taken a sizable popularity hit...
• Enough Is Enough
  While we fight over health care reform, more blameless Americans grow sick and die.
• What Could Health Care Reform Mean for You?
  Last week, I discussed what various tax proposals could mean for you. But tax reform isn’t the only big policy area...
• I Like my Health Care Plan and I’m Not Afraid to Admit It
  By Kathryn Mayer - Here’s some breaking news for you:  Employees still really care about health benefits—apparently now...
• A Look at the Health Care Horizon
  By Mark Roberts - This year, the HHS has issued a truckload full of directives, at the “discretion of the Secretary,”...
• Truth Squad: Is Health Care Reform the Top Reason Employers Aren't Hiring?
  (CNN) -- For the second straight Republican presidential debate, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann on Tuesday said that the...
• Private Health Exchanges on the Rise
  As far as building blocks of the health reform law go, the insurance exchanges are pretty crucial. They’re the health...
• Will Congress Balance Budget on Backs of Future Retirees?
  By Chris Carosa - Reports out of Washington point to a disturbing fascination with altering the nation’s successful...
• Supreme Court Term: Health Care Looms
  (WASHINGTON) — The nine justices of the Supreme Court, who serve without seeking election, soon will have to decide...
• Social Media: Health Care Needs It
  By Mark Roberts - Over the last few years, the social media epidemic has created a plethora of websites devoted to...
• Obama Asks Supreme Court to Rule on Health Care
  President Barack Obama's administration asked the US Supreme Court to uphold his historic health care law, likely...
• NFIB Taking Fight Against Health-Care Reform to Supreme Court
  The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is taking its case against the Affordable Care Act to the...
• Health Care Tax Credits: Many Left Wanting
  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The health reform passed last year included tax credits to help ease the burden of surging...
• Critics: State Should Wait on Health Reform
  Federal officials have praised Maryland for leading national efforts to implement health care reform, but critics...
• Gosh, Is Obamacare Working?
  About the only good news in last week’s poverty report from the Census Bureau was the news that the proportion of young...
• Medical (Data) Breakthrough
  By Denis Storey - For years, we’ve been begging, pleading and practically screaming for employees to stop acting like...
• Why Is HHS Letting Health Insurance Companies Keeping Patients in the Dark?
  The signing of 2010's health care reform law by President Obama represented a huge step forward in the fight for racial...
• Small Businesses Already Grapple with Provisions of Health Care Reform
  For the nation’s smallest businesses, parts of the health care law already are in effect, and more provisions will kick...
• PPACA: HHS Offers A La Carte Exchange Services
  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says it wants to let states perform the health insurance...
• What to Expect from the Affordable Care Act: Six Videos
  Big changes are coming in the way Americans get and pay for their health care. By 2014, the federal Affordable Care Act...
• California Could Pose Problem for Obama's Healthcare Reform
  Reporting from Washington -- For more than a year, as conservative states have battled President Obama's sweeping...
• Tax Haggling and Retirement Security
  By Jenny Ivy - Another retirement rescue ensues in Washington this week. This time, Congress hopes not only to help the...
• Health Care Reform Endangered As States Resist Insurance Exchanges
  Relatively few states have made progress in establishing the health insurance exchanges that represent a central piece...
• Q & A on the Legislative Outlook for FSAs
  By Jody Dietel - There’s been a lot of attention in the media recently related to legislative action to address the...
• The Latest Health Care Court Case
  There has been no shortage of court cases regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Before today,...
• The Health Care Reform Revolution–Where Are We Now?
   little more than a year ago, the 2,700-page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) became law, changing...
• Health Reform’s New Ally: Indifference
  Here’s your counterintuitive thought for the day: Perhaps slow implementation might actually save the Affordable Care...
• Increasing Commissions in a Tough Market
  By Mark Roberts - As a broker or agent, you are constantly aware that commissions are being cut by insurance companies...
• Health Care Overhaul: Shift in Benefits Expected
  Almost 1 of every 10 midsized or big employers expects to stop offering health coverage to workers after insurance...
• Majority of Mid-Sized to Large Companies to Keep Health Plans in ’12
  Nearly three-quarters (71%) of mid-sized to large companies intend to keep their health insurance plans in place for...
• White House Faces Political Dilemma on Health Law Challenge
  The Obama administration now faces a key legal and political dilemma -- what to do about the recent decision from a...
• 13 States Get Federal Insurance Exchange Grants
  Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have received funds from the Health and Human Services Department totaling...
• Health Reform’s ‘Churning’ Challenge
  The Affordable Care Act relies on two main programs to expand health insurance coverage.
• Health Reform’s $50 Billion Question: What’s 'Affordable’?
  The definition of “affordable” in the Affordable Care Act has become a sort of regulatory saga as of late.
• Is the DOL Supposed to Protect Brokers or Investors?
  By Chris Carosa - Several years ago, after I had just finished giving my talk to 401(k) fiduciaries at a national...
• What Health Care Reform Is (and Isn't) Doing Now
  Money Magazine -- It's been more than a year since President Obama signed health care reform into law. The act's...
• Remember the People Outside of the Exchanges
  There has been a substantial amount of focus on the recently released draft regulations governing state-based health...
• Answers to Clients' Questions about Medicare
  By Rich White - Medicare has been a hot topic since April 15, the day that the U.S. House of Representatives voted 235-...
• Texas Strategy Group
  In our lifetime, arguably no trend is as clear or important as the growth of government.  In good times government...
• Press Release: Health Insurance Exchanges Focus of Governors Session
  WASHINGTON—Governors discussed options for the implementation and establishment of health insurance exchanges today...
• U.S. Health Insurance Exchanges Chief to Step Down
  WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The official charged with overseeing the creation of U.S. state-based health insurance exchanges...
• Help Clients Look Before Leaping into LTCI Hybrids
  By Rich White - The long-term care insurance (LTCI) market is in disarray as large carriers keep raising premiums and...
• U.S. Hopes States Move Soon on Insurance Exchanges
  WASHINGTON Wed Jul 27 21:41:06 UTC 2011 (Reuters) — A U.S. health official overseeing the new insurance exchanges...
• FSA Bill: A Little Common Sense in Washington
  By Jody Dietel - For Americans with high medical expenses, flexible spending accounts (FSAs) have consistently proven...
• When Will Obama Start Fighting for Real Health Care Reform?
  DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- Like many Americans, I had hopes that President Barack Obama would live up to the high rhetoric of...
• Lack of State Exchange Laws Squeezes Planning Effort, Officials Say
  States that didn't create an insurance exchange this year say they're now facing a time crunch that requires them to...
• Leading Expert On U.S. Health Reform Gives His Two Cents
  Paul Keckley noted that things may get worse before they get better in the healthcare and lifescience industry in the...
• 12% of Small Businesses Cut Health Insurance Plans Since Passage of Healthcare Reform
  Twelve percent of small businesses have had or expect to have their health insurance plans cut since the passage of...
• Small Businesses Don't Trust Health Reform Will Lower Insurance Costs: Survey
  Small businesses don’t trust the health care law’s power to control costs, but most who offer health benefits to their...
• Still Scared of Health Reform?
  By Denis Storey  — It feels a little surreal to be writing about benefits from the capital of one of the most fiscally...
• Health Care Reform FAQ
  Looking for a Quick Straightforward Explanation of What Health Care Reform Is All About?
• Health Reform Reinforces Broker Role, Survey Finds
  The role of health insurance agents and brokers over the next few years will be even more important as middle-market...
• NFIB Healthcare Vouchers
  Sens. Ron Wyden and Susan Collins have proposed a new voluntary mechanism to give small employers and their employees...
• 6th District Appellate Court Upholds Constitutionality of PPACA
  On June 29, a three judge panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals located in Cincinnati, Ohio published an...
• Another Provision of Health Care Reform Law Comes Under Bipartisan Assault
  Lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday to remove restrictions on tax-exempt...
• Changes to the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan in Your State
  The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) was created under the Affordable Care Act to ensure more Americans...
• Legal Challenges to Health Reform
  As of the publication of this policy brief, cases challenging the law were pending in about half of the country’s 13...
• Instructions for the 2011 Form W-2
• Interim Guidance on Informational Reporting to Employees of the Cost of Their Group Health Insurance Coverage
  This notice provides interim guidance on informational reporting to employees of the cost of their employer-sponsored...
• How US Health Care Reform Will Affect Employee Benefits
  US health care reform sets in motion the largest change in employer-provided health benefits in the post–World War II...
• Universal Health Care: Can We Afford Anything Less?
  America’s broken health-care system suffers from what appear to be two separate problems.
• Health Care Is Pivotal Issue In D.C. Budget Battle
  The Republicans in Congress recently released their ten-year budget proposal. The federal budget debate is essentially...
• Built To Fail: Health Insurance Exchanges Under The Affordable Care Act (Guest Opinion)
  The House of Representatives voted last month to repeal funding for the state health-insurance exchanges, which are...
• Healthcare Reform: What's at Stake
  A U.S. appeals court in Atlanta will hear a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of the healthcare...
• Who Needs Health Care Reform?
  It is no secret that health care has become increasingly unaffordable as the cost of medical treatments and insurance...
• Healthcare Reform: Treat Disease, Not Symptoms
  If physicians treated symptoms, they would never cure. Prescribing a cough suppressant to a patient with an intractable...
• Complying with Healthcare Reform
  Some sectors, such as retail, could face a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't dilemma when coming to terms with...
• NAIC White Paper Draft
  The purpose of this document is to assist state policymakers with the implementation of health insurance exchanges and...
• Selected Medical Benefits Report
  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 states that "the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] shall...
• Implementing Health Insurance Exchanges
  This brief highlights key issues to consider in the creation of a successful, consumer-friendly exchange governance...
• The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as Passed
  Section-by-section analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as passed.
• National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care
  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in...
• Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) Draft Rules Released
  The draft rules for the establishment and operation of ACOs, authorized under Section 3022 of the Patient Protection...
• Health Care Reform Takes Toll on Jobs
  In recent testimony before the House Budget Committee, Medicare's chief actuary, Richard Foster, was asked whether...
• NAHU Supports Legislation to Protect Consumers and Jobs
    (Arlington, VA) – The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) applauds Representatives Mike Rogers (R-MI)...
• NAIC Letter to HHS Supporting Modifications of the MLR
  On behalf of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), we are pleased to transmit the attached...
• US Senate Committee on Health Care
• BenefitMall's Issued Brief on Health Care Exchanges
  Why public and private health exchanges must co-exist. BenefitMall's issued brief regarding health care exchanges.
• Judge Kessler: Health Care Reform is Constitutional
  Plaintiffs Margaret Peggy Lee Mead, Charles Edward Lee, SusanSeven-Sky, Kenneth Ruffo, and Gina Rodriguez bring this...
• Number of Healthcare Reform Law Waivers Climbs Above 1,000
  The number of temporary healthcare reform waivers granted by the Obama administration to organizations climbed to more...
• Obama Agenda: Opting Out
  "President Obama sought to defuse criticism of the new health-care overhaul Monday by saying he is willing to give...
• The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on the Medicare Program and Medicare Beneficiaries
  February 10, 2011 - U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means Hearing on the Impact of the Affordable Care Act on the...
• Federal Judge Tosses Out Sweeping Health Care Reform Act
  Washington (CNN) -- A federal judge in Florida has tossed out the sweeping health care reform law championed by...
• Health Reform Headlines: Administration Lays Groundwork for Health Care Fight
  President Obama said he's open to efforts to "tweak" the new health care law, but said he was "not willing to just...
• Obama's State of the Union Address: Is He as Good as His Word?
  Washington (CNN) -- President Obama makes his second State of the Union address Tuesday night, which will be his fourth...
• HHS Report: 129 Million Americans with Pre-Existing Condition Could be Denied Coverage
  Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released a new analysis showing that, without the...
• Bernard DiFiore NAIFA Interview
  NAIFA-Florida Sits Down with Two Industry Leaders to Discuss Insurance Exchanges
• GOP-Led House Votes to Repeal Health Care Law
  WASHINGTON — Swiftly honoring a campaign pledge, newly empowered Republicans pushed legislation to repeal the nation's...
• GA Joins Health Care Reform Lawsuit
  In a motion filed today in the lawsuit pending in the Northern District of Florida, Attorney General Samuel S. Olens...
• House to Resume Health Care Repeal Effort Next Week
  Baltimore (CNN) -- After a weeklong pause in legislative business to honor the victims of the Arizona massacre, House...
• Chamber Backs Repeal Vote on Healthcare Reform
  (Reuters) - Corporate America's biggest lobbying group on Tuesday praised a more business-friendly tone from the White...
• IRS Notice 2011-1 Affordable Care Act Nondiscrimination Provisions
  This notice addresses the timing of the application of the Affordable Care Act provisions prohibiting insured group...
• Obama Exhorts Republicans to Put Politics Aside
  HONOLULU — Ending a two-week vacation, President Barack Obama is appealing to newly-empowered Republicans to resist...
• Democrats Dismiss GOP Health Care Repeal Push
  Washington (CNN) -- Top Democrats are dismissing Republicans' plans to ram a repeal of President Barack Obama's health...
• The Real Threat to Health Care Reform
  Princeton, New Jersey (CNN) -- When U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson ruled that the mandate to purchase health...
• Will The Supreme Court Overturn Health-Care Reform?
  Conservatives have been quick to declare that "ObamaCare is on life support" in the wake of Monday’s decision by...
• 54 - Page Memorandum Opinion of Judge Norman K. Moon
  Prior to this ruling, federal district courts in Michigan and another district in Virginia held that the law was...
• 42 - Page Memorandum Opinion of Judge Henry Hudson
  On Monday, the headlines and airways were filled with the news that a key provision in the sweeping healthcare overhaul...
• IRS Releases Forms and Guidance on Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
  The IRS released final guidance Dec. 2 for small employers eligible to claim the new small business health care tax...
• PPACA Interactive Timeline
  Click on the events in the timeline to view additional information.
• Summary of New Health Reform Law
  On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed comprehensive health reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act...
• States Challenge Health Care Reform
  Legislators in 38 states have introduced legislation opposing the new health care reform law signed by President Obama...
• State Actions to Implement Federal Health Reform
  On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law. One week...
• Proposed Changes in the Final Health Care Bill
  To avoid the threat of a filibuster by Senate Republicans, Democratic leaders are planning to pass health care overhaul...
• A History of Overhauling Health Care
  For almost a century, presidents and members of Congress have tried and failed to provide universal health benefits to...
• Government Departments and Agencies
• Fact Sheet: COBRA Premium Reduction
• BenefitMall Legislative Guide - When Reform Will Affect You
• H.R. 3590 And H.R. 4872: A National Underwriter Guide To A New Health Reform World
  Confused about PPACA and HCERA? See H.R.3590 And H.R.4872: A National Underwriter Guide To A New Health Reform World.
• Federal Register from the Department of the Treasury, Department of Labor, and Department of Health and Human Services
  Information on grandfathered health plans.
• Fact Sheet: The Affordable Care Act’s New Patient’s Bill of Rights
  A major goal of the Affordable Care Act – the health insurance reform legislation President Obama signed into law on...
• House has voted 32 times to repeal all or part of health-care reform law. Here’s the full list.
• What if Reform is Struck Down?
• How 2012 Will Impact CDHPs
  By Marty Trussell - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Obama on March 23,...
• Where Have All the Doctors Gone?
  By Kathryn Mayer - I’m sure you’ve heard about the doctor shortage. And you're probably familiar with the old "...
• What Will Happen to Limited Medical Plans in 2014?
  By John Conkling - With a potential U.S. Supreme Court ruling expected at the earliest in the summer of 2012 and the...
• The Future is Now
  By Denis Storey - I’m hardly a conspiracy theorist. As anyone can tell you, I try to keep my paranoia on a personal...
• Obama Doubles Down on Health Care Reform
  Only 360,000 small businesses benefited last year from a tax credit designed to make health insurance more affordable.
• Health Insurance 'Mandate' Deemed Best Value for Money
  Thursday, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Doing away with the U.S. health care reform act's requirement that all Americans...
• The Sad State of Health Reform
  By Kathryn Mayer - Though it’s defined his presidency, Barack Obama made little mention of his massive health...
• The Affordable Care Act - Implementation Timeline
  In March 2010, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Affordable Care Act, which puts in place...
• Transparency in 2012 Health Care
  Part of the issues relative to controlling costs in medical expenses is the lack of transparency in health care...
• Five Health Reform Dates to Watch in 2012
  Health reform had a big year in 2010, when it passed Congress and a slew of consumer-friendly provisions came online....
• The Affordable Care Act, Helping Americans Curb Health Care Costs
  The rising cost of health insurance coverage has imposed a heavy burden on our nation. Over the past decade,insurance...
• Lawyers, Courts See Weaknesses in Defense of Obama’s Healthcare Law
  The Obama administration is headed into a Supreme Court case over healthcare reform without a clear answer to...
• Affordable Insurance Exchanges
  The Affordable Care Act helps create a competitive private health insurance market through the creation of Affordable...
• CDC: Health Reform Extends Coverage to Young Americans
  Atlanta (CNN) -- About 2.5 million young people have received health insurance coverage as a result of health care...
• The Affordable Care Act’s ‘Affordability’ Paradox
  On the surface, it looks like a simple and straightforward health reform requirement: Employers must offer their...
• Well, We Voted for Change...
  By Denis Storey - Say what you want about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – and we all have – but the...
• New Amerinet Executive Briefing Updates the Latest on Healthcare Reform and Accountable Care
  Industry experts and executives share, discuss and help each other navigate through healthcare changes
• Should Three Key Supreme Court Justices Bow Out of Health Care Ruling?
  Washington (CNN) -- The dinner was billed as a "Celebration of Service." The honorees: Justices Antonin Scalia and...
• Don't Repeal Americans' Health Care Lifeline
  (CNN) -- I had been wrestling with eye redness for weeks. After trying nearly every brand of over-the-counter eyedrops...
• Poll: Support for Healthcare Mandate Rises
  (CNN) - The public is divided over the idea of requiring all Americans to have health insurance, according to a new...
• Supreme Court Takes On Obamacare Challenge
  The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether President Obama’s far-reaching healthcare reform law is constitutional...
• Obama Spending $1 Billion to Cut Health Care Costs
  The Obama administration, in the latest in a string of executive moves to sidestep a divided Congress, on Monday...
• Why Health Insurance is About to Get 'Weird'
  By Marty Trussell - Seth Godin, the American entrepreneur, author and, public speaker who coined the term “permission...
• NAIC Letter to HHS Expressing Concerns about Medical Loss Ratio (MLR)
• FAQs On The COBRA Premium Reduction Extension Provisions
• Providing Relief for Young Adults: Fact Sheet
• Young Adults and the Affordable Care Act
• Healthcare Reform Summary
  BenefitMall recently hosted a round table discussion to address the newly signed healthcare reform bill and it's...
• Estimated Financial Effects of the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" as Amended
• Senate Passed Health Reform Bill Summary
• Healthcare Reform Bill Timeline
• Summary of “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”
• Healthcare Reform: Online Guide
• Potential Impact of Health Reform on the Price of Private Insurance
  By PricewaterhouseCoopers, October 2009                
• Institute for Policy Innovation
  The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy "think tank" based in Lewisville...
• Horizon BCBSNJ Health Reform
• Aetna Citizens Action Network
  Aetna Citizen's Action Network:Learn about Aetna's grassroots network (ACAN) and how you can help Aetna "Transform...
• Healthcare Reform Bill
• Letter to Congress (Employers)
• Letter to Congress (Broker)
• U.S. House Information
• U.S. Senate Information
• Health Action Network
  The WellPoint Health Action Network includes patients, health care providers, health plan employees, and other health...
• States Moving Towards Comprehensive Health Care Reform
  A leader in health policy and communications, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating...
• Healthcare Reform Basics
  A leader in health policy and communications, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating...
• Public's Willingness To Pay
  A leader in health policy and communications, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating...
• Kaiser Health Reform Gateway
  A leader in health policy and communications, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating...
• From the White House
  The White House website provides information about the President's office, policies, reform,  the many state rooms, and...
• What You Need to Know
  Articles from CNN
• Alliance for Healthcare Reform
  America's health care system is always a work in progress. Every year brings new challenges and new proposed solutions...
• HealthReform.gov
  President Obama is committed to working with Congress to pass comprehensive health reform this year in order to control...
• WSJ Healthcare Reform News
  WSJ online coverage of breaking news and current headlines from the US and around the world.

Healthcare Media

• Resolving the Health Care Crisis: T. Colin Campbel at TEDxEast
• 2012: The year in health
• NPR's Don Gonyea; PA decision on health insurance exchange
• Healthcare Explained
• PPACA and the Future of Medicine: A young physician speaks out.
• First Signs of Healthcare Shortage in America?
• On the Horizon: Healthcare Reform
• Seniors Talk about Healthcare
• Campaign Muddles Mandate Message
• "I'm not sorry I voted to confirm Roberts"
• Price Talks Healthcare, Economy
• John Roberts Health Care Switch Sparks 'Deep' Supreme Court 'Discord'
• On Point: Analyzing the Health Care Law
• Supreme Court Ruling on Reform Imminent
• Supreme Court Considers Whether to Let Parts of Health Care Law Stand
  Washington (CNN) -- The Supreme Court concluded a marathon public debate on health care Wednesday with justices...
• Supreme Court Begins Debating Heart of Health Care Law
  Washington (CNN) -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday began considering the most controversial provision of the 2010 federal...
• Health Reform Explained Video: "Health Reform Hits Main Street"
  Health care reform explained in "Health Reform Hits Main Street."Confused about how the new health care reform law...
• NAIC Addresses Questions about Health Care Reform
  Although the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a Affordable Care Act) has been a hot topic in the news,...
• GOP Case Against 'Obamacare' Proven?
  Sen. Lindsey Graham sounds off on Health and Human Services pulling long-term insurance program from health care reform...
• New Movie Exposes Health Care Danger
  Nurses, physicians and health care workers suffer an estimated 800,000 accidental needle stick injuries each year in U....
• Partnership for Patients: Better Care, Lower Costs
  Doctors, nurses and other health care providers in America work incredibly hard to deliver the best care possible to...
• Analyzing The GOP Presidential Field’s Promise To Repeal The Health Law
  Jackie Judd talks with PBS NewsHour's David Chalian about the GOP presidential candidates' health law repeal rhetoric,...
• What to Expect from the Affordable Care Act: Health Insurance Exchange
• What to Expect from the Affordable Care Act: New Individual Responsibilities
• What to Expect from the Affordable Care Act: New Employer Responsibilities
• What to Expect from the Affordable Care Act: Medicaid Expansion
• What to Expect from the Affordable Care Act: Insurance Market Reforms
• What to Expect from the Affordable Care Act: Overview
• Limiting Employer Health Care Expenses
  A new health care plan for public employees could soon be passed by the state legislature.
• Obamacare, Gov't Insurance Exchanges, & The Coming Price Explosion
  One of the features of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health-care reform bill colloquially known...
• More Court Fights Ahead for Health Care?
  CNN contributor Paul Callan discusses the legal challenges ahead for health care reform.
• Court Strikes Down Portion of Health Care Law
  A federal appeals court has struck down the "individual mandate" portion of President Obama's health care package, the...
• Health Care Reform: A Summary of Key Employer Decisions (Towers Watson)
  Towers Watson Health and Group Benefits Senior Consultant Jeanne Wyand discusses some of the strategic considerations...
• NAIC Addresses Questions about Health Care Reform
  Although the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a Affordable Care Act) has been a hot topic in the news,...
• Sen. Bill Frist's Recommended Changes to U.S. Health Care
  Former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), the Senate Majority Leader from 2003-2007, reflects on some changes needed in...
• Better Care vs. Cutting Care
  Dr. Atul Gawande talks about the role of Medicare and Medicaid in budget talks.
• Appeals Court Upholds Health Care Law
  Ruling marks the first time a Republican-appointed judge has found the most controversial part of the law...
• Senate Votes Down Ryan Budget
  Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius talks about the fight over Medicare and the initiatives she's...
• Romney: Govt. Shouldn't Impose its Will on Health Care
  Mitt Romney describes why his alternative plan to President Obama's health care system would be a long-term benefit for...
• Health Care: One Year Later
  President Obama's health care bill was signed into law one year ago today. NBC's Domenico Montanaro explains what...
• Health Care Law Can Temporarily Be Enforced
  A federal judge in Florida has ruled a stay on his decision that the health care law is unconstitutional, but a hold on...
• Poll Reveals Puzzling Reading of Health Saga
  A new CBS poll reveals a majority of Americans, 51 percent, disapprove of the health care claw. Encouraging news for...
• Health Care Backlash
  Jonathan Turley, professor of constitutional law at George Washington University, discusses the new legal implications...
• Is Affordable Care Act Threatened?
  Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., and Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., share their thoughts on the latest health care ruling and...
• Obama Emphasizes Cooperation, Innovation
  In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama reassured Americans that "our destiny remains our choice" and...
• Great Time to be in the Health Insurance Business
  Dec. 30: It's been a rough year for many Americans, but not for health insurance companies. Former Cigna health care...
• Obama Presses for Health Insurance Reform
  Aug. 14: President Obama brings his case for "common sense and consumer protection" in health insurance to Belgrade,...
• Health Care Fight Reignites
  Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., explains why the Republicans plan to revisit health care reform with the new Congress.
• Crossing the Line on Health Care Reform
  Democrats are lashing out at the Republican attempt to repeal the health care reform law, calling it “political...
• Sebelius on Impact of Failed Omnibus Spending Bill
  Senate Republicans are making sure that any short term fix to keep the government open will not include money for...
• White House on Health Care Vote
  Stephanie Cutter, Special Assistant to the President for Special Projects, explains why advocates of the health care...
• What to Know about New Health Care Rules
  CNBC's Bertha Coombs explains the first set of changes, going into effect today, under President Obama's Affordable...
• Broken System? Fixing Health Care Reform
  Democratic Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen joins the Morning Joe gang to share his take on rebuilding the U.S. health care...
• Improving Health through Technology
  Dr. Carol Diamond, of the nonprofit Markle Foundation, discusses how veterans and Medicare patients can now access...
• Managing Health Care Plan Costs
  TODAY financial editor Jean Chatzky offers advice for making sound money decisions surrounding your medical benefits at...
• Health Benefit Tips from 'Dummies' Author
  Healthcare reform means new choices when considering annual benefits enrollment. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.
• Saving Health Care Reform
  Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., talks about how the Democrats can derail the Tea Party’s agenda of repealing the new health...
• 12 in 2012: Health Care Law Cuts Romney on Both Sides of Sword
• The Rising Cost of Health Insurance
• GOP House Leader Vows to Roll Back the Health Care Law
  The presumptive next speaker of the House tells reporters that Republican gains on Capitol Hill are proof that "the...
• Are Americans Misinformed About Health-Care Law?
  Dr. Sreedhar Potarazu and Dr. Oliver Fein on the health-care law and growing support for it to be revised or repealed.
• It is Time to Pass Health Care Reform
  President Obama addresses the House Democratic Caucus and says that the time is now to vote for health care reform for...
• Debating Health Care Reform
  Dr. Jon LaPook and two industry experts weigh the pros and cons of health care reform.
• Obama's Health Plan In 4 Minutes
  The White House released an edited version of President Obama's health care speech to Congress that outlines his health...
• In Full: Obama Health Care Address
  During a special full-length primetime broadcast, President Barack Obama addressed the U.S. Congress in order to tackle...
• Healthcare Reform - Immediate Impacts
• Healthcare Exchanges
• NAHU CEO interviewed on Fox News
• President Obama's Three Principles for Real Health Care Reform
• US Coupon Craze Turns to Medical Care
  Patients may be paying with their health as they search for online doctor discounts, making some health experts ask if...
• Obama On Health Insurance Reform: 'I Won't Go Back' (State Of The Union Excerpts)
  In his State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama made just one explicit mention of the 2010 health law. Here is...
• President Obama's Health Care Law is Working
  New data shows that President Obama's health care law is saving seniors money. Plus, tens of millions of them are...
• What’s Been the Impact of Healthcare Reform?
  Oct. 2: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell discusses why the federal government cannot mandate a “one size fits all”...
• Analysis Of Obama's Reform
  Katie Couric speaks with "Face The Nation" host Bob Schieffer and CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes about Pres. Obama...
• Improving Our Veterans' Health Care
• Obama's Health Plan Hits Headwinds
• Doctors Heal Thyselves - Obama On Health Care Costs
• Obama Proposes Sweeping Changes In Health Care To AMA

Healthcare References

• IRS: PPACA Tax Provisions
• NAHU: Individual Market
• Medical Loss Ratio
• A Guide to the Supreme Court's Affordable Care Act Decision
• Potential MLR Rebates Saved by HHS Determinations
  2011 Issuer MLR Rebate Estimates in States that Applied for an MLR Adjustment
• Medical Loss Ratio Overview
• U.S. Government Regulations
  Regulations.gov is your online source for U.S. government regulations from nearly 300 Federal agencies.
• Health IT.gov
• Kaiser's Health Reform Quiz
  The health reform law promises to deliver big changes in the U.S. health care system. But, as with other sweeping...
• Status of State Action Towards Creating a Health Insurance Exchange
• Medicare Hospital Compare
  Where do you want to find a hospital?
• GOP Presidential Hopefuls: Where They Stand On Health Care
  At first glance, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former Utah Gov. John Huntsman, Rep. Ron Paul and Gov. Rick Perry...
• treasury.gov
• Insurance Oversight: Policy Implications for U.S. Consumers, Businesses and Jobs
• State Action Towards Creating a Health Insurance Exchange, as of August 2, 2011
• National Association of Governors 2011 Annual Meeting Audio and Video Files
  NGA hosted a panel session on July 16 entitled, “Health Insurance Exchange Implementation.”
• Health Insurance Basics
  Unless you're a millionaire and can pay for your health care out of pocket, health insurance is a crucial purchase.
• PPACA One Year Later: Small Business Owners Expect Costs to Rise
  A year after the passage of sweeping health-insurance reform legislation, the lasting impact of the Patient Protection...
• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Section-by-Section Analysis
  NAIC's health care implementation chart.
• House Appropriations Committee
  On March 2, 1865, the House of Representatives separated the appropriating and banking and currency duties from the...
• All Legislation in Congress
• GovTrack.us
• The Hill's Healthwatch
  The Hill's healthcare blog.
• The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as Passed
  A section-by-section analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as it passed.
• HHS.gov
  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States government’s principal agency for protecting the...
• The Hill - Health Care
• IRS Releases Draft W-2 Form for 2011
  WASHINGTON — The IRS today issued a draft Form W-2 for 2011, which employers use to report wages and employee tax...
• Employer Provided Health Coverage Informational Reporting Requirements: Q & A
  Starting in tax year 2011, the Affordable Care Act requires employers to report the cost of coverage under an employer-...
• How Will Health Care Reform Affect Costs and Coverage?
  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains substantial new requirements aimed at increasing rates of...
• Department of Health & Human Services Technical Release 2011-02
  Guidance on external review for group health plans and  health insurance  issuers offering group and  individual health...
• PPACA's External Review Amendment
  The Technical Amendment makes several changes to PPACA and the states’ external review requirements.
• Press Briefings
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Report Center
  Implementing the Affordable Care Act generates a variety of reports to stakeholders. View these reports here.
• Health Care Costs Vary Widely Across U.S.
  Medicare spending per beneficiary by region.
• Congressional Directory for the 112th Congress
  Contacting the Congress is a very up-to-date citizen's congressional directory for the 112th Congress. As of April 07,...
• www.house.gov
• Majority Leader Solutions
• List of Bills Introduced in the 112th Congress
• The Democratic Agenda
• House Budget Committee Road to Recovery Plan
• U.S. Federal Budget
• Health Reform In Action
  Health reform makes health care more affordable, holds insurers more accountable, expands coverage to all Americans and...
• Budget Committee Hearing Highlights
  WASHINGTON – The House Budget Committee held a hearing today on the fiscal impact of the Democrats’ new health care law...
• Who's Who in the Health Care Debate
  Here's a look at the key players shaping the national debate over health care.
• Regulations & Guidelines to Reform Legislation
  The Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight will work with the Department of Health and Human Services...
• Individual Market Guaranteed Issue by State
• Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans by State
  The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan may vary depending on what state you live in. The U.S. Department of Health...
• Stand Up for Health Care
  Stand Up for Health Care cuts through the dense statistics, the spin, and the confusion to explain the issues clearly,...
• Health Care: A Brief Glossary
• Medicare.gov
• kaiserEDU.org
• Whitehouse.gov
• HealthCare.gov
• NAHU
  NAHU represents licensed health insurance agents, brokers, consultants and benefit professionals who serve the health...
• Commonwealth Fund
  The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that aims to promote a high performing health care system that achieves...
• Kaiser Family Fund
  A leader in health policy and communications, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating...
• Learn About the NPA
  An Inclusive health and social system that treats people equitably and creates conditions in which all people can...
• What’s Changing and When
  View items by selecting blocks on the timeline, or click the arrows.
• The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
  The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent organization created to help people make...
• ACO Overview
  Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, who come...
• Pioneer Accountable Care Organization Model: General Fact Sheet
    The Pioneer ACO Model is a CMS Innovation Center initiative designed to support organizations with experience...
• Supreme Court of the United States
• State Actions to Implement Health Insurance Exchanges
  Health Insurance Exchanges are, for most states, new entities that will function as a marketplace for...
• Mercer Study
  Mercer’s 2011 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans involved responses from 2,844 employers in both the...
• Towers Watson Study
  The 2011 Towers Watson Health Care Trend Survey found “over two-thirds (71%) of the respondent companies indicated that...
• GfK Study
  502 private-sector companies were surveyed that currently over health insurance.  52% of employers surveyed indicate...
• Kaiser Study
  Finally, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Employer Health Benefits 2011 Annual Survey, which included 3,184 randomly...
• NAIC Membership Contact List
• List of Insurance Commissioners and Their Vote
• Complete MLR Rule Document
• HHS Fact Sheet
  Under the Affordable Care Act, consumers will receive more value for their premium dollar because insurance companies...
• CMS Fact Sheet
  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its request for applications for the Comprehensive...
• Health Affairs
  Health Affairs is the leading journal of health policy thought and research. Health Affairs explores health policy...
• IRS Small Business Health Care Tax Credit for Small Employers
  The small business health care tax credit helps small businesses and small tax-exempt organizations afford the cost of...
• Kaiser State Health Facts
  Statehealthfacts.org is a project of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and is designed to provide free, up-to-date...
• HIPAA News
• Study of Employee Benefits Trends
  For the seventh consecutive year, MetLife has surveyed employers and employees on pressing issues facing the U.S....
• The Benefits Edge
  The Benefits Edge provides tangible insight, in-depth analysis and practical advice focused on real bottom-line...
• Broker's Making a Difference
  Every day, National Association of Heath Underwriters (NAHU) members work to obtain insurance for clients who are...
• NAIC
  The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is the organization of insurance regulators from the 50...
• CMS
  Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
• Insurance Terminology
  Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial...

Healthcare Technology

• 2012 Digital Health Investment Activity: The View From the Valley
• Health Law Seen Boosting Xerox, HP
• ‘Doc Fix’ In ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Plan Cuts Medicare Hospital Payments
• Health-care sector vulnerable to hackers, researchers say
• Paralyzed woman controls robotic arm with her mind
• The Future of Medical Innovation and Commercialization
• 5 Healthcare IT Resolutions For 2013
• In the Hospital, but Not Really a Patient
• How Safe is Your Hospital? New Website Lets You Check
  Medicare has begun publishing patient safety ratings for thousands of hospitals as the first step toward paying less to...
• Skip the Waitlist: Website Lets You Find Physicians, Book Appointments
  A  New York-based Internet service is looking to reduce the time commitment and research required when trying to find a...
• Health Insurance Exchanges Change Game
  With new rules requiring that large-group health insurers limit spending on administrative functions to no more than 15...
• When Computers Come Between Doctors and Patients
  Despite being considered by some as a hospital of last resort, the sprawling city hospital where I’ve spent 20 years is...
• HHS Unveils Consumer Website Detailing Health Premium Rate Increases
  The federal government moved today to significantly tighten oversight of health insurance premiums by helping states...
• Federal Investment In Electronic Health Records Likely To Reap Returns In Quality Of Care
  Research published today in the New England Journal of Medicine gives cause for optimism that federal investments in...
• Resurrection Health Care Activates Electronic Health Record (EHR)
  CHICAGO, Aug. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Resurrection Health Care (RHC), a six-hospital not-for-profit health...
• GOP Lawmaker Wants Health IT Study To Focus On Errors
  Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., wrote a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius requesting that the...
• Health Care Prognosis Improves with Digital Law
  Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Even with the all-too- depressing illustrations of political paralysis we’ve seen recently,...
• AMA Working to Improve E-Prescribing Incentives and Help Physicians Adopt Health IT
  Health IT holds the promise of improving the efficiency of a physician’s practice, but physicians can easily become...
• Life as a Healthcare CIO
  Every day I experience life in the world of healthcare IT, supporting 3000 doctors, 18000 faculty, and 3 million...
• Healthcare, Technology & Government 2.0
  Sprint has recently sponsored a Frost & Sullivan a whitepaper, Mobile Devices and Healthcare: What’s New, What Fits...
• CMS Database to Aid Consumers, Track Payer Compliance with Reform Law
  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services intends to build a Health Insurance Assistance Database to better serve...
• New Surveys Show Hospital IT Success on the Rise
  Two major hospital rankings were released this month and for the most part show an upward trend toward healthcare IT...
• Patients Worried About Security of Medical Data on EHRs, Survey Finds
  More than 80% of U.S. adults have concerns about the security of their electronic health records, according to a new...
• Number of Health Data Exchanges Doubled Since 2010
  Since last year, the number of operational health information exchanges has more than doubled to 228, with private...
• Business Now: Technology of Health Care
  Technology will play a huge role in the future of health care according to Jesus Garza, Chief Administrator of the...
• Health App Downloads Soar, But Do They Work?
• Database Tracks State Healthcare Reform Initiatives
  The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has launched a first-of-its-kind online database to track the...
• Going Digital May Not Improve U.S. Patient Care
  CHICAGO — Electronic health records — touted by the White House as a key way to improve healthcare in the United States...
• Electronic Health Records No Cure-All
  Electronic medical records,  also known as EHRs, often touted as a powerful antidote for uncoordinated and ineffective...
• Digital Medical Records Continue to Trigger Difficult Issues
  News outlets report on challenges associated with the push to go digital in the next five years.
• Major Players Collaborate to Encourage New Medical Technologies
  The Cleveland Clinic, one of the country's most prominent medical research centers, and MedStar Health, the largest...
• Digital Divide Threatens Health Care
  Two years ago, the Ethio American Health Center opened its doors in the nation's capital, promising the country's...
• The Top Ten Health Technology Threats to Patient Safety
  For the fourth year running, the nonprofit ECRI Institute has put together a list of what it judges to be the top ten...
• Conservatives Support Websites where Consumers Can Shop for Health Insurance
  Websites where consumers will be able to shop for health insurance are a lynchpin of the nation's new health care law...
• AT&T’s Bet on Health Technology
  The new Republican majority in the House has vowed to undo vast swaths of the Obama administration’s agenda for health...
• Technology and Reform, Driving Up Health Care Costs
  U.S. health care costs have grown about three times as fast as gross domestic product over the past five decades,...
• Technology Improvements Key to Healthcare Reform
  Real health care reform won’t be possible without dramatic improvements in how information is accessed, stored and...
• Healthcare Technology and Healthcare Reform
  The healthcare reform legislation that is being debated in Washington will impact the way that healthcare institutions...
• New Legislation could Increase High Tech Spending
  Last night the U.S. House of Representatives passed historic health care legislation...
• Technology to Improve Medical Services
  The health care reform bill President Obama signed on Tuesday calls for technology to reduce costs, improve medical...
• 3 Ways Health-Care Reform Will Impact Government IT
  States are just beginning to confront the technology implications of federal health-care reform...
• Will Consumer Genomics Raise Health-Care Costs?
  Even as the Obama administration scrambles to find new ways to rein in health-care costs, a new trend in consumer...
• Taking Another Look at Health Information Technology
  As part of the federal government's economic stimulus package, Congress has authorized spending about $20 billion on...
• Stimulating the Adoption of Health Information Technology
  The recently enacted stimulus bill — the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) — touches almost every...
• U.S. Hospitals Prepare for ICD-10 Implementation with 3M 360 Encompass System
  Healthcare reform, new compliance regulations, and the move to outcomes-based payment are putting pressure on clinical...
• Serving Producers is Top Reason for Mobile Tech Initiatives
  Almost one third of life insurers have implemented a mobile technology initiative and another 30% plan to launch one...
• States Ease Barriers To Medicaid, CHIP Enrollment, Survey Says
  Half the states last year made it easier for children and their parents to enroll in Medicaid by streamlining...
• Uninsured Use Groupon, Other Daily Deal Sites, for Health Care
  NEW YORK — The last time Mark Stella went to the dentist he didn't need an insurance card. Instead, he pulled out a...
• An Unfolding Success Story: Electronic Medical Records Transition Moves Ahead
  Stateline: Transition To Electronic Medical Records Gradually Taking Hold. It's hard to think of any major portion of...
• Health Technology: The Top Ten Hazards
• Health Plans Unite Against WebMD
• $1.2 Billion Granted for e-Health Records
• Intel Launches 'Health Guide' System
  The Ad Council is currently running a campaign encouraging patients to take a more active role in their healthcare. The...
• Health 2.0 Technology Brings New Risks to Health Care Facilities
  In the last couple of years, Web 2.0 technology -- including blogs, wikis, social networking Web sites, chat rooms and...

Reform Activities

• Rep. Pete Olson, TX
• Rep. Joe Barton, TX
• Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.
• Rep. John Carney, DE
• Rep. Frank R. Wolf, VA
• Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, NY
• Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, NY
• Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, OH
• Rep. Patrick J. Tiberi, OH
• Rep. Kathy Castor, FL
• Rep. Ander Crenshaw, FL
• Rep. Connie Mack, FL
• Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, FL
• Rep. Lloyd Doggett, TX
• Rep. Charles A. Gonzalez, TX
• Rep. Michael C. Burgess, TX
• Rep. Susan Davis, CA
• Rep. Ed Royce, CA
• Rep. Jim Costa, CA
• Rep. Trent Franks, AZ
• Rep. Tim V. Johnson, IL
• Rep. Mike Coffman, CO
• Rep. Dan Lungren, CA
• Rep. Leonard Lance, NJ
• Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, PA
• Rep. David Scott, GA
• Rep. Don Manzullo, IL