Health and wellness

President Barack Obama’s declaration that 7.1 million health-plan enrollments serve as a rebuke to critics of his signature law won’t diminish the opposition nor stop the scrutiny of the overhaul’s effect.

Just over 7 million people enrolled for insurance coverage under Obamacare after a last-minute surge at the deadline to sign up, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday.

The first phase of Obamacare ended yesterday much the same way it began: The federal website drew millions of visitors and crashed at least twice.

Going uninsured is about to get very expensive. New estimates by NerdWallet show the minimum amount of lifetime penalties for someone who is uninsured is more than $36,000.

UnitedHealth Group Inc., which sells insurance on only a few Obamacare exchanges, stands to profit from the law nonetheless.

On the final day of open enrollment on the public exchanges, brokers are concerned that the public may think they have more time than they actually do, thanks to last week’s partial extension. EBA checked in with several storefront brokers to discuss concerns like this one as they enter the final 24 hours of enrollment.

The first yearly sign-up period for Obamacare closes today, with early returns suggesting the administration may reach a projection of 7 million enrollees made before the U.S. health exchange struggled at its startup.

President Barack Obama is “picking and choosing” how the 2010 health care law will be implemented and “doesn’t have the flexibility” legally to do so, U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers said.

Most Hispanics have a favorable view of the Affordable Care Act, but need more information about it to understand the law and how to enroll in the health insurance exchanges, HolaDoctor, a leading health website for Hispanics, says.

In California, a broker leader believes agents were responsible for as much at 75% of the applications on their exchange.

Republican Representative Mike Rogers of Michigan, who sponsored the MLR bill, is moving on from Congress.

Enrollment hits administration’s revised goal, while Obama calls to thank volunteers, navigators, assisters — but not brokers — for their help

As the majority of brokers working on the ACA’s exchanges rush to finish applications before the March 31 open enrollment deadline, Oregon brokers are in a different situation.

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) proposed two bills Thursday enhancing brokers’ work on the ACA’s public exchanges.

The agency tasked with ACA execution would not say Wednesday whether they had a process to verify when consumers began their insurance applications on the exchanges. This comes a day after the group said there may be more time for certain individuals to finish enrolling after a March 31 deadline.

Americans are becoming less divided about the Affordable Care Act, as the gap between favorable and unfavorable views of the law has narrowed among both the general public and the uninsured, a new survey finds.

Ronnell Nolan’s HAFA has taken off in Louisiana, and now she has her sights set on major federal legislation.

Whatever the Supreme Court’s decision in Hobby Lobby’s challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate, it won’t likely have broad implications for all employers, according to Howard Shapiro, partner and head of Proskauer’s ERISA litigation group in New Orleans.

Tobacco, food choices and portion size, physical inactivity and unmanaged stress are the four major lifestyle choices that account for the majority of chronic disease in the U.S., said Dr. Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, this week at the Institute for Health and Productivity Management annual conference

Americans will get more time to enroll in Obamacare insurance plans if they started the process but were unable to complete it before the March 31 deadline.