States still mired in the fight over the Obamacare Medicaid expansion are starting to give up on their first year of full funding — and it's unclear whether they would be able to tap into the money before 2015. Expansion remains an open question in about a dozen states after months of legislative fights. As more states continue to wrap up their budgets, some are already looking to next year's legislative sessions as their next shot at the expansion, even amid calls for state legislatures to return for special sessions.
WASHINGTON -- Differences over whether immigrants should be deported for failing to have health insurance or pay their healthcare bills have stalled a bipartisan group of House lawmakers, who blew past a self-imposed Thursday deadline as they pressed forward on a sweeping immigration overhaul. Negotiators emerged upbeat from a closed-door meeting in the Capitol and said they remained on track to produce a bill by June. That, in itself, was significant, after the group of eight was on the verge of breakup. "We were all positive that we can move forward," said Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho, a top Republican leading the bipartisan effort.
WASHINGTON -- When President Barack Obama pushed his health care overhaul plan through Congress, he counted labor unions among his strongest supporters. But some unions leaders have grown frustrated and angry about what they say are unexpected consequences of the new law - problems that they say could jeopardize the health benefits offered to millions of their members. The issue could create a political headache next year for Democrats facing re-election if disgruntled union members believe the Obama administration and Congress aren't working to fix the problem.
After weeks of negotiations, California said it has selected 13 health plans for a new state-run insurance marketplace where as many as 5 million people will shop for coverage next year. Officials at Covered California, the state agency implementing the federal Affordable Care Act, said Thursday that the winning bidders reflected a mix of large commercial insurers and smaller regional plans. The state also released some sample rates, illustrating how premiums will vary across health plans in this new market.
Whether health insurance rates under the Affordable Care Act will rise or fall is still a big unknown, as a recent congressional report made clear. Two large New Jersey insurers submitted widely divergent estimates for the future cost of insurance premiums -- one saying they could rise as much as 19 percent, another saying they could fall by up to 25 percent. In addition, one insurer said premiums for small businesses would rise by 16 percent. The costs were provided to Congress with the proviso that the estimates would remain anonymous.
WASHINGTON -- More than half of doctors' offices and 80% of hospitals that provide Medicare or Medicaid will have electronic health records by the end of the year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday. "We have reached a tipping point in adoption of electronic health records," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and they "are critical to modernizing our health care system." The announcement comes as a key part of the 2010 health care law: Doctors with have can better track errors and prevent future problems.