Healthcare reform

There's one small-government idea that Republican presidential candidates are reluctant to discuss in this retiree-heavy state: their plans to rein in health care costs for the elderly.

The Obama administration told the Supreme Court on Friday that nearly all of the health care overhaul can survive if the court declares unconstitutional the law's centerpiece provision requiring health coverage.

U.S. Catholic bishops and priests across the country read out letters at Mass on Sunday protesting plans by President Barack Obama's administration to force religiously-affiliated nonprofit groups to offer birth-control coverage to women employees.

On the last day of the National Association of Health Underwriters’ 2012 Capitol Conference hundreds of attendees received exciting industry news that made the ballroom erupt with a roar of applause and cheers.

Policy Studies Inc. has a new business process outsourcing service to help address the requirements — and deadlines — for implementing health insurance exchanges and marketplaces, the company reports.

Insurance agents play a “big role” in making sure Congressional legislation comes out the way it does, two members of the House told the National Association of Health Underwriters Capitol Conference Tuesday.

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.

Thursday morning, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius addressed a ballroom in Washington, D.C. of more than 200 people invested in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

If the health care law is implemented without the individual mandate insurance premiums would rise by as much as 25%, according to a new report by the Urban Institute Health Policy.

A majority of human resource executives at U.S. hospitals and health care systems expect health care reform to hasten the transformation of the industry’s traditional business model, according to a new survey by Towers Watson. The survey also found that workforce issues, including shortages of primary care physicians, the need for a wider array of staff skills and new leadership models, will rise in importance as the industry grapples with this transformation.

The majority (56%) of employers say they are likely to continue to offer employer-sponsored health insurance after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act largely goes into effect in 2014, according to a new survey conducted by GfK Custom Research North America.

When it comes to health care, small business owners aren't making any fast moves. Faced with higher premiums again in the year ahead, many business owners have found themselves in a holding pattern. They're concerned about the rising costs and the possible impact of health reform, but unsure about making any changes until they have more clarity or options.

U.S. health care spending experienced historically low rates of growth in 2009 and 2010, according to the annual report of national health expenditures published Monday.

The Obama administration defended its health care overhaul law before the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, rejecting arguments by critics who warned that if the government can require people to have health insurance, it might next make them eat broccoli.

Chief Justice John Roberts expressed confidence on Saturday in the decisions by his Supreme Court colleagues on when to recuse themselves, an issue that has emerged in the legal battle over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law.

Arranging and financing long-term care is an issue everyone will face yet no one wants to talk about. However, following the Health Department's move to table the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, planning for long-term care is becoming part of the national conversation - and that presents opportunities and challenges for employers.

In the current broker/client business model local relationships are clearly preferred. However, that does not take into account the new health care landscape.

Oral arguments on President Barack Obama's sweeping U.S. health care overhaul will last 5-1/2 hours spread over three days from March 26-28, the Supreme Court said on Monday.

A mounting U.S. deficit could pose a much greater threat to the survival of President Barack Obama's health care reforms than either the Supreme Court or 2012 elections.

U.S. health officials will allow states to select the basic set of medical benefits that must be offered by insurance plans participating in new exchanges mandated by the federal health care overhaul, the government said on Friday.