Health Care Law

Analysts who fear health spending is accelerating got plenty of evidence in Wall Street’s second-quarter results to support their thesis. But so did folks who hope spending is still under control. Now everybody’s trying to sort out the mixed message. Continue reading →

“I cannot accept a plan [in which] potentially commercial-type reimbursement rates were now going to be reimbursed at Medicare rates,” Gerard says. “You have to maintain a certain mix in private practice between the low reimbursers and the high reimbursers to be able to keep the lights on.” Continue reading →

Nationally, regulators and insurance agents are inundated with complaints, while state lawmakers are considering rules to ensure consumers’ access to doctors. For 2015 plans which will be on sale beginning in November, the federal Department of Health and Human Services said it will more closely scrutinize whether networks are adequate. Continue reading →

All FDA-approved methods of birth control are considered preventive care, and the health law requires nearly all health plans sold on the individual and group markets to cover preventive care without any out-of-pocket cost to consumers. The Supreme Court decision didn’t change that. Continue reading →

For Republicans, the Senate race is all about tying Democrats to Obama — especially to a health care law that remains unpopular with many Americans. And for Democrats, the election is about just about anything else, especially if they can steer attention away from Washington and federal matters. Continue reading →

Recent data from the IMS Institute document a sharp change during 2013. The share of privately insured women who got their birth control pills without a copayment jumped to 56 percent, from 14 percent in 2012. The law’s requirement that most health plans cover birth control as prevention, at no additional cost to women, took full effect in 2013. Continue reading →

More than half the states have “contraceptive equity” laws on the books that require most employers whose health insurance covers prescription drugs to also cover FDA-approved contraceptives as part of that package. Unlike the ACA, those laws do not require that coverage to be available without deductibles or co-pays. Continue reading →

There is no question that Monday’s Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision is a blow to the Obama administration and the Affordable Care Act. But while conservatives celebrate the narrow 5-4 decision striking down the law’s contraception mandate for “closely held” companies with owners who have religious objections, the ruling could ironically help Democrats fire up a key part of their base. Continue reading →

“To think that health care is this ‘ginormous’ business that doesn’t understand costs is mind-blowing,” said Vivian Lee, senior vice president for health sciences at the University of Utah, an academic medical center with four hospitals and 1,330 physicians. In 2012, Lee was stunned when she challenged senior managers and physicians to find ways to reduce spending, and “they said, ‘We don’t know what it costs, so how can we manage it?’” Continue reading →

Health officials have spent much of the past year promoting the Affordable Care Act and enrolling people in coverage. Now they need to help consumers understand the basics of health insurance and how to use their policies, health care providers and researchers say. Continue reading →