Healthcare

For the first time, the Obama administration is rejecting a state’s request to set up its own exchange under PPACA. At root is a disagreement between Mississippi’s Republican governor, who wants nothing to do with the law, and its insurance commissioner, who is also a Republican, but would rather the state run its own marketplace.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who is preparing to retire, extended benefits such as child care, commissary privileges and transportation to military bases to same-sex partners of service members.

Tenet Healthcare Corp., the third largest U.S. hospital chain, keeps an eye on Medicare patients after they’re released. This isn’t just about professional integrity. Tenet has a financial stake in their well-being.

CMS, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, plans to collect information from brokers and agents for inclusion in health insurance exchanges. Find out updated timing information here.

The number of Americans projected to gain insurance from the U.S. health care law is eroding, by at least 5 million people, as the Obama administration struggles to implement the $1.3 trillion overhaul amid Republican opposition.

Reaching out to younger Americans, the illiterate and those who don’t speak English (all of whom represent significant portions of the uninsured ) could be the biggest PPACA education task ahead for the Department of Health and Human Services — and employers.

As many as 8 million people will lose health care plans now offered through their employers, the Congressional Budget Office now estimates, up from a previous estimate of 5 million.

Lawmakers from Michigan and Wisconsin were among those who called PPACA a good “first step” toward health care coverage for all Americans at a Families USA conference in Washington.

The number of Americans projected to gain insurance from the U.S. health care law is eroding, by at least 5 million people, as the Obama administration struggles to implement the $1.3 trillion overhaul amid Republican opposition.

Almost 40% of boomers are obese, compared with 29% a generation ago. Fifty-two percent said they got no regular physical activity versus 17% of their parents, according to the study released this week.