Healthcare reform

Patients could obtain a list of everyone who has accessed their electronic medical record under a rule proposed Tuesday by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Premiums for new federal health insurance plans that cover high-risk people with pre-existing conditions will drop by as much as 40%, federal health regulators said Tuesday.

Employers nationwide - both big and small - are watching and waiting to see whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's state exchanges will succeed when they open for business in 2014. Small employers and those with low-paid or part-time employees are especially interested in finding out whether funneling their employees into an exchange or finding coverage for them through one would be beneficial.

Health insurance exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act may pose a threat to COBRA.

The recently released white paper from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners on the role of producers in state exchanges, while helpful, leaves many crucial questions unanswered.

Chief financial officers at some of the nation's largest banks and financial services firms are downright bullish on the U.S. economy's overall outlook but nagging concerns about health care reform and the uncertainty of those costs are tempering their optimism.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday defeated a Republican plan to scale back health benefits for future retirees and forced their opponents to take a stand on the unpopular proposal.

In order for states to self-fund their exchanges, beginning in 2015, they may tack a surcharge fee onto the income stream of agents and brokers, says Charles “Chip” Kerby III, owner and attorney of Washington-based Liberte Group, LLC.

A white paper from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners affirms the need for a key role for producers in the coming state health insurance exchanges and the appropriateness of compensating them in several ways for their services.

Regulations on PPACA’s state exchanges are expected in June, according to Mark C. Nielsen, an attorney with Washington-based Groom Law Group.

Most states likely will run their own medical insurance marketplaces or partner with neighbors to help expand coverage under the federal health overhaul, U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Wednesday.

Kansas lawmakers early on Friday passed a bill prohibiting women from receiving general medical insurance coverage for abortions, except when the mother's life is at risk.

As if the health care reform law in the United States wasn’t enough for HR/benefits pros to worry about, now new analysis from Mercer concludes that multinational employers will need to keep close watch over international benefits due to health care reform in foreign countries.

An appeals court on Tuesday sharply questioned whether the state of Virginia could challenge President Barack Obama's signature health care law, which requires Americans to buy insurance in a bid to slow health care costs.

Lawyers for President Barack Obama go to court on Tuesday to try to save the cornerstone of his health care overhaul, arguing that the requirement for Americans to buy insurance is constitutional.

The Vermont House passed the final version of a health care reform bill last week that creates a path for a universal, publicly financed health care system in the state.

In a renewed attack against President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul program, House Republicans voted on Tuesday to deny funding for a central element of the law that sets up marketplaces for people to shop for health insurance coverage.

Republicans in the U.S. Congress are launching a fresh attack on the healthcare law by targeting grants to states for creating insurance exchanges, just as congressional budget analysts said on Thursday setting up the marketplaces may be delayed.

Some aspects of the health care reform law, including the wellness and prevention provisions, have gained traction and will continue as scheduled in part because employers are taking up the cause by recognizing the importance of implementing prevention and wellness programs to enhance the health of their employees as well as the bottom line.

Two Republican congressional leaders have written to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman demanding information on how the IRS is spending $1 billion in funds the agency received under the health care reform law.