David Morgan

U.S. budget experts raised their forecast on Wednesday of how many Americans will probably have to pay a penalty in 2016 for not buying health insurance to 6 million from 4 million.

The Obama administration this week will try to encourage reluctant U.S. states to move forward with health insurance exchanges amid fears that time is running out for states to act on a reform provision meant to extend coverage to millions of low-to-moderate income uninsured Americans.

Walmart Stores Inc, the largest private employer, endorsed a new Democratic proposal for controlling health care spending that would seek to keep the rising cost of medical services in line with wage growth.

The Obama administration on Friday said it is on track to set up federal health insurance exchanges by 2014 in U.S. states that fail to establish their own regulated insurance markets as required by the U.S. health care reform law.

Eric Cantor pulls no punches about what Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives will do to "Obamacare" if the Supreme Court leaves any of President Barack Obama's health care reform law intact.

Republican Mitt Romney last week laid out his vision for a "consumer market" health care approach to replace President Barack Obama's sweeping reform law, whether or not the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the legislation this month.

The annual growth rate for U.S. health care spending will hover near historic lows in 2013 and rise at a modest pace for much of the next decade, even if the Supreme Court allows the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to proceed, according to a government report released this week.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Thursday the administration will be ready to respond if the Supreme Court strikes down all or part of the health care reform law in a landmark ruling expected this month.

The cost of U.S. health care services is expected to rise 7.5% in 2013, more than three times the projected rates for U.S. inflation and economic growth, according to an industry research report from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The Obama administration forged ahead with health care reforms on Wednesday, announcing a November 16 deadline for state governments to submit proposals showing how they intend to operate health insurance exchanges in 2014.

Congressional Republicans last week issued a politically charged report that quoted President Barack Obama's corporate advisers as predicting his 2010 health care overhaul would raise — not lower — the cost of care.

Republicans on Thursday issued a politically charged report that quoted President Barack Obama's corporate advisers as predicting his 2010 health care overhaul would raise — not lower — the cost of care.

Republicans in Congress are getting ready to answer an election-year question that has dogged the party's campaign for months: How would it replace President Barack Obama's health care law if the measure is overturned or repealed?

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — specifically the health care reform law’s individual mandate — starting on Monday and is not expected to rule until as late as June 30. The justices could throw out the entire law or uphold it. They may also issue only a partial ruling, striking down the mandate, for example, or overturning the planned expansion of the Medicaid health program for the poor. Or they could put off a decision until after the law comes into full force in 2014.

The Obama administration on Monday released broad new operating rules for state-run health insurance exchanges, which form a key part of the 2010 federal health care reform law that will face landmark Supreme Court hearings in just two weeks.

The Obama administration on Monday released broad new operating rules for state-run health insurance exchanges, which form a key part of the 2010 federal health care reform law that will face landmark Supreme Court hearings in just two weeks.

The Obama administration on Monday released broad new operating rules for state-run health insurance exchanges, which form a key part of the 2010 federal health care reform law that will face landmark Supreme Court hearings in just two weeks.

The U.S. Senate narrowly backed a key plank of President Barack Obama's health care law last Thursday by rejecting a sweeping Republican measure that would have allowed employers to opt out of birth control coverage and other services on moral grounds.

The Obama administration said last week that 28 states have taken steps to establish insurance exchanges under the 2010 health care law, despite the legal and political uncertainties threatening the overhaul.

U.S. health care spending barely rose in 2010 from record-low recession levels, as high unemployment and the loss of employer-sponsored health benefits forced many Americans to delay or forego medical treatment, government officials said.