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Say What? Jargon Busters Tackle Health Insurance

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Getting and using health insurance shouldn't be so hard, say doctors and health literacy specialists who volunteered to come up with a consumer guide that even a seventh grader can understand. It's available just as many people are sizing up new options. Reported by NPR 16 hours ago.

Affordable Care Act Marketplace Enrollment Solutions, A Nation-wide Web-based Health Insurance Exchange Broker, Emerges In Response To Obamacare’s Government Mandated Insurance Coverage

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ACAenroll.com created to assist millions of US consumers who will be eligible for government subsidies to help them afford major medical health insurance.

Bedford Park, Illinois (PRWEB) August 22, 2013

Effective October 1st, Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace Enrollment Solutions via its website ACAenroll.com will be able to assist the millions of potential insureds determine eligibility for government subsidies that will help them afford major medical insurance regardless of their medical condition. Some applicants applying through ACAenroll.com will pay as little as $15 per month for health insurance plans with major carriers such as Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Humana, Anthem, Kaiser as well as many other established health insurance carriers.

ACAenroll.com and ACA Marketplace Enrollment Solutions’ large Illinois based call center is staffed with licensed and certified professionals that will help consumers across the country calculate subsidies, quote insurance plan options and enroll for their health plan coverage. Available to assist customers in a variety of languages, such as English, Spanish, Polish and more, the call center’s number is 1-800-342-0631.

ACAenroll.com also offers a desperately needed solution to thousands of insurance agents and agencies across in the U.S. giving them access to an infrastructure with the ability to handle a large-scale enrollment.

About Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace Enrollment Solutions
Headquartered in Bedford Park, Illinois, ACAMarketplace Enrollment Solutions is a nation-wide health insurance provider created to assist subsidy eligible individuals and part time employees to obtain health insurance at a low cost in many scenarios. Effective October 1, 2013, ACAenroll.com or the company’s call center, will be to assist customers when the health insurance marketplace opens for enrollment. ACAenroll.com or 1-800-342-0631. Reported by PRWeb 14 hours ago.

Many young adults likely to pay penalty instead of buying health insurance

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If young Americans want to save $500 to $1,000 in 2014, there’s an easy way to do it: don’t buy health insurance as required under the Affordable Care Act. Instead, people aged 18 to 34 can pay a $95 penalty and save the difference between that and what it would cost them to buy insurance through the state-based health insurance exchanges. That’s the conclusion of a study by the National Center for Public Policy Research, which found that 6.7 million young adults will come out ahead by not… Reported by bizjournals 12 hours ago.

UPS to end health coverage for some spouses

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DALLAS -- United Parcel Service Inc. is ending health-insurance benefits for U.S. nonunion employees' spouses who can get coverage elsewhere. It blames the change on the new health-care law. UPS estimates that 15,000 of the 33,000 spouses it covers can get insurance from their own employer and will be dropped from the UPS plan. Reported by azcentral.com 2 hours ago.

Want A Corn Dog With Your Obamacare?

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A middle-aged man in a red golf shirt shuffles up to a small folding table with gold trim, in a booth adorned with a flotilla of helium balloons, where government workers at the Kentucky State Fair are hawking the virtues of Kynect, the state’s health benefit exchange established by Obamacare.

The man is impressed. "This beats Obamacare I hope," he mutters to one of the workers.

“Do I burst his bubble?” wonders Reina Diaz-Dempsey, overseeing the operation. She doesn't. If he signs up, it's a win-win, whether he knows he's been ensnared by Obamacare or not.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- Obamacare -- totals 974 pages, and in the popular imagination is several times longer. How the complex law unfolds could very well determine the winner of Kentucky's high-stakes 2014 Senate race pitting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) against Democratic upstart Alison Lundergan Grimes -- and along with it control of the upper chamber.

But Diaz-Dempsey has managed to distill it all down to three sentences.

We are Kynect -- part of the new health care law.

Do you know anyone who doesn’t have health insurance?

You may qualify for Medicaid or a tax credit based on your income.

Reina Diaz-Dempsey

Diaz-Dempsey brought her pitch on Tuesday morning to the Kentucky State Fair. At 44, she is direct, even pleading, as she leans her slight frame against the table, inching closer to fair-goers driving rented scooters and wearing church T-shirts. She isn't just competing against the sizzle of deep-fried Kool-Aid (funnel cake dough flavored with the powdered drink mix) and Krispy Kreme donut burgers ("Fresh -- Never Frozen" the sign beckons) from just outside Freedom Hall. She is up against the state's history of poor health and limited choices, Appalachian poverty and conservative orthodox. Diaz-Dempsey, a public health worker for 19 years, has waited a long time for this moment, even if she has to jockey with the chocolate corn dog guy for attention.

At first, Diaz-Dempsey says, she was overwhelmed by the hoards. All of her study on the issues got her tongue-tied. The policy analyst had to become a carnival barker. "All right," she thought to herself. "Okay, what are we telling them?"

In 40 days, Obamacare heatedly, controversially, launches in Kentucky. Diaz-Dempsey must move beyond the debates over the legislation and start selling it. I explain Diaz-Dempsey’s mission to a spokesman for a massive Kentucky hospital chain at a booth nearby “Good luck with that," he smirks.

But Diaz-Dempsey has a secret weapon: tote bags, designed with a tableau of Kentucky residents under a bright sun and the Kynect logo. The state had spent millions establishing the exchange, staffing up outreach, and conducting market research that included holding a dozen focus groups in Louisville, Paducah and London, according to Gwenda Bond, assistant communications director with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The respondents, according to the final focus-group report, felt the logo designs were “comforting,” “hopeful” and “reassuring.” The bags stuck to that theme. They showed only one obese character.

Diaz-Dempsey and company cannot hold onto the bags. At a recent Louisville Bats minor league game, Kynect staff say they handed out 600 bags in 20 minutes (“It was Bobblehead Night too.”). In less than seven days at the fair, they've given out roughly 15,000 bags. Kentucky voters may hate the idea of government handouts for the uninsured, but they had their hands out for these tote bags. With each bag, Diaz-Dempsey and her staff drop packets of information on signing up for Obamacare into outstretched hands.

On Oct. 1, the health exchanges, a central component of Obamacare, will open up for business across the country. For the exchanges to provide affordable, dependable coverage, millions of the uninsured need to sign up. As the deadline approaches, Republicans led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are threatening a government shutdown in a quixotic attempt to stop implementation. House leaders are eyeing using the debt ceiling to hobble Obamacare.

In Kentucky, the stakes are high. The long political career of McConnell, a strident Obamacare opponent, may hinge on the success or failure of the rollout. "It could backfire on him," says Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) of McConnell's leading opposition to the health care reforms. "I could see next July, August, September people waking up, saying, 'You know he lied to us about this.' I think that's going to be the case."

By late morning, the crowd grew into a line 18-deep. They lurched up wearing XXL fanny packs, ball caps that let you know what war they fought in, and faded XXL shirts that sermonized across the chest “Dixie Heritage Be Proud of Your Past" looking for the bags. But Diaz-Dempsey had a rule: Listen to her three-sentence pitch and only then will she hand over the swag.

The coveted Kynect tote bags.

When an elderly man cut in line and pulled at her stack of bags, she gripped the tote bags even tighter. She wasn't letting go. Finally the man, wearing a trucker hat, red shorts, and white tube socks, slunk away, headed toward the dull, corporate swag being handed out by the health care company Humana.

The crush of people don't greet Diaz-Dempsey with tea party dogma or amateur constitutional scholarship. No one is there to complain about the individual mandate or heckle about death panels. They have questions.

They wonder if they could get coverage despite having a pre-existing medical condition, how much it will cost them. They ask if Indiana has a similar program, or if this was only for Kentucky. Could they just enroll their child? They talk about their sons and daughters, neighbors going without health care, and ask about the subsidies.

The vast majority are relieved to learn about the health exchange. Linda Parrish, 47, showed up at the table and gushed to Diaz-Dempsey: "This is what I've been waiting on." Parrish has health insurance, but her best friend doesn't.

Regina Rice, 47, on a school field trip with her son and his classmates with special needs, had sought out Diaz-Dempsey not so much for the tote bag, but for the information tucked inside it. “I’m praying that it helps us,” Rice says, adding that she has prayed for Obamacare. "I prayed to God to get our people in the right direction to help poor people. I think they are going in the right direction."

Rice says she hasn’t had insurance for close to 10 years. Rice, a Democrat, left her state job to care for her children, including her son with cerebral palsy. Her husband, a self-employed house painter, can’t afford coverage. Now, she says, the phone rings off the hook from bill collectors demanding payments on their $20,000 in medical debt from her husband's chronic back pain and a knee surgery, and her migraines. “We can’t even file for bankruptcy,” she says. The cost to file is out of reach.

At the end of June, Rice says she blacked out in a store. The ambulance ride and emergency room totaled another $2,000 she doesn’t have. Diabetes runs in her family; she worries that she has it, too. It’s been years since her last pap smear and mammogram. If she had cancer, she wouldn’t know it. “I worry about that every day,” she says. “What do you do? I cry a lot.”

Rice begins to tear up. Her daughter wants to move on to other attractions. Rice gathers herself and walks away, clutching her new tote bag. That night when she came home, she went over the Kynect materials with her husband. She's worried that she can't afford it. Her husband told her, "All we can do is apply. If God wants us to get it, we'll get it."

*THE NONBELIEVERS*

During the two days that I attended the fair, Secretary of State Grimes was the one Kentuckian immune to the gravitational pull of Kynect totes.

Alison Lundergan Grimes at the state fair.

Grimes made a late-morning appearance on Monday for an informal grip-and-grin with veterans at her secretary of state booth. She hugged old ladies and high-fived kids, offering facts. She encouraged veterans to sign a board that would then be displayed at schools across the state. The goal, she told one supporter, was “to show the importance of civic health.”

Grimes put off my questions about health care, saying she was on “state time.”

At a "Grannies for Grimes" event the following day, Grimes provided her most complete defense of Obamacare to a Louisville television station, arguing that it would spur job growth and provide relief to the 640,000 Kentucky residents without access to health insurance.

"As I've said before, I'm troubled with certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act," Grimes said. "But we're here at the state fair and if there's three reasons why Kentuckians -- especially our seniors -- need access to affordable health care coverage, you just have to look over to the right where you see the donut burger, the chili cheesesteak and the covered french fries that are here."


Still, Grimes left without stopping by the health exchange booth.

Grimes’ own anxiousness seems reflected across Kentucky and across party lines. Health care is always a fraught subject, where trust is rare, and where even the luckiest contend with aloof doctors and indifferent, complicated insurance. One Obama supporter, Sallie Dailey, explained to me that although she believes in Obamacare, she is frightened that so much still depends on private insurance -- the same companies that charge her daughter who has diabetes $677 per month.

Dailey admits that McConnell and company's hammering is having an effect on her daughter. “She reads all the crap," Dailey says. "She begins to doubt. Can it ever be better?”

The new Obamacare rates in Kentucky have yet to be made public. The specifics of the plans are still a mystery. Who knows how many young adults will sign up or how the Medicaid expansion might impact access to doctors. “It’s almost like painting a blank canvas,” says Democratic state Rep. Jimmie Lee, a statehouse guru on Medicaid.

Although McConnell, facing a primary challenger, has made his opposition plain and the tea party has vigorously opposed the law in court filings in the state, there has been little conservative uprising. John Kemper III, a co-founder of the United Kentucky Tea Party and a 2011 Republican nominee for state auditor, says he wants to wait and see what happens when the law is implemented.

“Most people don’t really understand it yet,” said Gov. Steve Beshear (D) in an interview with The Huffington Post. “I do not find that most people have any kind of negative feeling about it. It’s just that most people don’t quite understand the act or what they’re supposed to do yet.”

The good news for the state –- if the state is open to accepting it –- is that federal officials are impressed with Kynect. “I know that the administration believes that Kentucky and Vermont are the two best exchanges that were created, that are models for the country,” Yarmuth, the Democratic congressman, says. “They’ve said that numerous times to the Democratic caucus.”

This may be the first and last time Kentucky is in the same sentence as Vermont. Obamacare, without Diaz-Dempsey and her tote bags, is still a tough sell.

Erin Hoben, an outreach worker with Kentucky Voices for Health, a coalition pressing for affordable and effective health care, has crisscrossed the state breaking down Obamacare to residents and health care workers. “There’s a lot of mistrust,” she says.

Erin Hoben

Hoben, a Louisville native, studied law and worked in New York City before moving back home. “I don’t tell people I lived in New York for a while," she says. "That would not be acceptable. Me coming in -- they don’t know me. It's hard to gain trust. And I’ve been telling them the opposite of what they’ve heard for the last year. It’s really hard.”

A woman Hoben had been working with in Hazard called her recently to tell her that the tea party had urged her not to enroll because the exchange wasn’t happening. She went door to door with a free lunch program in Laurel County. She met a mother in a trailer, she recalls, who believed she was going to jail if she didn't sign up for insurance. What startled Hoben was that the mother seemed to just erroneously accept the potential jail time as a fact of life. "I quickly explained to her that was not going to happen," Hoben says.

On Monday afternoon, I leave the fair and head east to Appalachia to meet Hoben at the public library in Laurel County. People without insurance make up 20 percent of the county's population. Half of those residents earn so little that they would qualify for Medicaid under the expansion when it starts in January. Only 11 residents -- including a handful from the county health department -- show up for Hoben’s 6 p.m. presentation.

Hoben tries her cheery best to explain the benefits of Obamacare with its expansion of zero-cost prevention services and protections for those with pre-existing conditions. At the end of her half-hour lecture, she posts a section called “Debunking Myths,” where she has to explain that the feds would not force anyone to drop their insurance and that the law has withstood legal challenges.

The county’s health department workers worry about doctor shortages that could be caused by the Medicaid expansion. “We actually had a lady in the clinic this afternoon," one worker explains. “She said the pediatrician in this area couldn’t see her child until November. That concerns me that there’s not enough providers in this area.”

“It’s a legitimate concern,” Hoben replies.

A resident chimes in about the qualifications of the Kynect workers who will be assisting residents navigate the system, and declares that the doctor shortage will get worse. “There are doctors in this area that are going to be dropping out because they don’t want anything to do with this,” she says.

Lana Carnes, a specialist with a local insurance company, jumps in convinced that employers are going to drop coverage on their workers. Employee benefits will get worse.

Hoben counters that the exchange's plans will be robust and competitive.

“I think to assume things ...” Hoben says. Carnes cuts her off. “But that’s all that this is, is a bunch, a lot of assumption. I mean we’re assuming that this is going to work.”

After the meeting, the naysayers -- admitted fans of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) -- argue that the real problem is all their neighbors running to the emergency room for any little ailment. A few miles down the road, I find Saint Joseph Hospital in London just off the interstate. In the emergency room, I find only deeper mistrust in the system.

Deborah Brown, 56, had brought her husband in. He recently had a stroke and now there were blood pressure worries and complications. Although they had an appointment with their physician for the next day, he had told them to go to the ER. Brown says she had to borrow her sister-in-law’s GMC Envoy to make the 26-mile drive.

Brown is convinced Obamacare will just help the rich. “He’s going against his word,” she explains. "He made all those promises about how he was going to help the poor, the elderly."

Danielle Smith, 26, sits in the back of the waiting room with her blond 19-month-old son. Something, she is convinced, has burrowed inside a crevice in her son's ear. Maybe it's a tick. She drove 20 miles to Saint Joseph, skipping another hospital near her home. She says she doesn't trust that place.

A half-hour later, Smith marches out of an exam room clutching her boy and looking even more determined. “They said it was a freckle,” she explains, rushing to her car in the darkened, quiet lot. “So we’re going to get a second opinion.” The night was still young. It was 9 p.m.

Pretty soon, Christopher McClure hobbles through the doors, his inner thigh hurting from what he suspects are a pair of spider bites. He is not employed and does not have health insurance. His wife Michelle, 29, works as an assistant manager at a pizza chain making $12,000 a year. She also has no insurance and would qualify for the Medicaid expansion. But she's against Obamacare, convinced that it will wipe out her meager earnings. “Next enrollment season," she says, "they’re going to sock it to me.”

*LAST PITCH*

On Tuesday afternoon, Diaz-Dempsey works an extra 10 minutes past her shift at the fair. She had started to gather her things, but then saw the crowds continue to gather at her table and jumped back in, making her three-sentence pitch. "Reina, you're still here," admonishes a co-worker.

Finally, during a quiet moment, Diaz-Dempsey leaves her booth and heads into the fair’s parking lot. A large crowd has gathered at the mini-race track for the Doberman races. Acrobats stretch and twirl in the adjacent space. Seniors cradle funnel cake in their arthritic hands.

The night before, Diaz-Dempsey's husband, Greg, started asking questions about the new law and Kynect, she tells me. He wanted to know how it could work for him and his small, tree landscaping business. He was tired of the high turnover rate of his employees. He knew not being able to provide them benefits had been a factor. He understood why they quit.

Diaz-Dempsey gave her husband a detailed account of how it might work, how he could get tax credits.

“I think he’ll do the right thing,” Diaz-Dempsey says.

But she’s not 100 percent sure. Times are tough. “I don’t know if he’ll be able to or not,” she says. Reported by Huffington Post 2 hours ago.

New Over 50s Energy Comparison Service Launched by Over50choices

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Personal finance comparison site Over50choices launches new energy comparison service helping guide Over 50s through the process of switching energy suppliers with a view to cutting gas and electricity costs.

(PRWEB UK) 23 August 2013

There are three ways people can save money on energy bills:

1.    Reduce the amount of energy used. A BBC article on the 16th August, 'Households cut energy use by a quarter', commented that households had cut energy use by a quarter over a six year period

2.    Make home and lifestyle energy saving adjustments.

3.    Shop around for energy suppliers and compare prices

For years, people believed that switching energy supplier was difficult, time consuming and problematic resulting in only the most savvy and hardened savers making the change, but now, with the help of personal finance comparison site Over50choices, consumers are switching on to the fact that changing supplier is straightforward and a good way of saving money; important given rising energy costs.

The comparison site provides clear and straightforward guides on understanding tariffs, how to switch and what to look out for, as well as a comparison service that compares prices of all the residential energy suppliers in the UK.

Their 10 step guide to switching energy suppliers walks visitors through the process, explaining what should happen and what should be expected of both the old and new energy supplier.

Over50choices MD Ashley Shepherd believes it’s important to get the message across that switching is easy and could save millions of people a substantial amount of money. “It amazes me how many people are still not comparing energy suppliers let alone switching to a different company. If you have never switched or spoken to your energy supplier about trying to get a better deal, then there’s a good chance you are paying over the odds for your supply. Reviewing energy costs and making sure you are getting the best from your chosen company is critical, so comparing energy prices should be included in everyone’s yearly financial reviews, along with things like car and home insurance.”

In a similar way to car insurance companies, energy suppliers frequently save the best deals for new customers, leaving loyal existing customers out of pocket; so consumers need to take more of an active role, shopping around for gas and electricity suppliers and comparing prices on a regular basis. It’s also important to understand the tariffs available and any limitations such as exit fees and higher rates, so the work that the consumer champion 'Which?' is doing to improve transparency is key.

In addition to offering information on energy, price comparisons and the chance to switch providers, Over50choices also compares car insurance, travel, pet and home insurance, income protection cover, funeral planning options and health insurance. Reported by PRWeb 2 hours ago.

Boehner Seeks To Calm Republican Clamor

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* In call with Republicans, speaker recalls backlash from 1990s shutdown
* Republicans deeply divided on strategy to stop or weaken health law
* House Republican aide emphasizes no final decision made on strategy
By Caren Bohan and Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner warned rank-and-file Republicans in a conference call on Thursday against using the threat of a government shutdown to stop the implementation of Obamacare, according to people on the call.
On the call, Boehner reminded Republicans of the political backlash their party suffered when the government shut down in 1995-1996, according to one person on the call.
Another participant in the call, Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole, said the speaker's main message was that he and other leaders were still committed to killing President Barack Obama's signature health care law but that they did not want a government shutdown.
A House Republican aide, however, emphasized that no final decision has been made on whether to pursue a strategy advocated by some in the party of denying funds for Obamacare.
Republicans agree strongly on their opposition to Obamacare, viewing the law as a burden to businesses that will cost jobs.
But the party has been roiled by heated debate over the strategy for trying to stop the law.
Hours before Boehner's conference call, about a third of the Republican caucus sent a letter to Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor urging them to oppose any annual spending bills that include funding for Obamacare.
Without an agreement between Congress and Obama on fresh legislation to fund federal agencies, the government could shut down on Oct. 1. Even many Republicans believe Obama would never agree to sign a spending bill that removed funding for his signature domestic policy achievement.
Cole disagrees with the idea of using a government shutdown threat to try to take aim at Obamacare but added, "the frustration is how do you keep fighting it without taking an action that is counterproductive."
On the call, Boehner sketched out a plan in which Republicans would pass a short-term measure to fund the government until around December while insisting on keeping in place steep cuts in spending known as the "sequester."
When Congress reconvenes on Sept. 9 after its summer break, Boehner said, "Our intent is to move quickly on a short-term continuing resolution that keeps the government running and maintains current sequester spending levels."
Earlier on Thursday, about a third of the Republican caucus sent a letter to Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor urging them to oppose any annual spending bills that include funding for Obamacare.
The letter was spearheaded by Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina and got the signatures of 80 House Republicans.
During the call, one member asked Boehner, "Can you at least announce that you want to defund Obamacare?" Another asked Boehner how he would get a short-term spending measure passed, according to one person on the call.
Congressional Republicans have sought repeatedly to repeal the law.
While Republicans say the law will hurt job creation, supporters view it as a landmark initiative that will extend health insurance coverage to millions of Americans.
In addition to the House lawmakers who signed the letter to Republican leaders, there is support for denying funds to Obamacare from prominent Republican senators including Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida.
During the five-week summer recess, Obamacare has been riling up constituents at town hall-style meeting in lawmakers' home districts, with both critics and supporters airing their views.
Republican Representative Tim Huelskamp of Kansas told Reuters there was a "large divide between Republican leaders in (Washington) D.C. and Republicans in the rest of the country."
Huelskamp, who participated in the call and agrees with using the government shutdown strategy on Obamacare, said Republican leaders were ignoring that divide "at their own peril."
Republican leaders have been working to find alternative ways to weaken the health law.
One idea under consideration is tying approval of an increase in the country's borrowing limit to agreement by the Obama administration to delay implementation of the measure.
An aide to Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, told Reuters on Wednesday that the debt limit was a good "leverage point" to try to force action on Obamacare. Reported by Huffington Post 2 hours ago.

Key Group Doesn't Know About Obamacare

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Young adults, especially those with low incomes who will qualify for financial assistance, have poor awareness of health insurance options that will be available under President Barack Obama's health care reform law, according to survey findings published Wednesday that underscore the challenges facing Obamacare.

Just 27 percent of people ages 19 to 29 had heard of the health insurance exchange marketplaces, where people who don't get coverage at work will be able to shop for insurance plans and learn whether they qualify for subsidized benefits, the Commonwealth Fund poll of almost 1,900 people between November 2011 and March 2013 reveals. Awareness was even lower among people who were uninsured during part of the prior year and whose incomes will make them eligible for help, at 19 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

Understanding of the health insurance exchanges and the rest of the law may have improved in the months since the survey as the focus on young adults and health care reform has intensified, said Sara Collins, vice president of affordable health insurance at the Commonwealth Fund and author of the report.

"If you were to ask the question now, you might get a higher share of young adults saying that they're aware of the marketplaces," Collins said. Not only has Obama and his administration emphasized the importance of young adults to the law's success, but states such as Oregon have launched outreach and advertising campaigns targeted toward younger people, she said.

The White House, allied outside groups, states implementing the law and health insurance companies are beginning an aggressive push to target younger people. The Obama administration aims to enroll 7 million people into health insurance via the exchanges for 2014 and calculates 2.7 million of them should be young and healthy to ensure a stable pool of people covered in these plans so that medical costs for sicker people don't overwhelm the system.

The Obama administration needs a substantial number of young adults to sign up for health insurance plans through the state-based exchanges that will begin a six-month enrollment period on Oct. 1 for coverage that takes effect as soon as Jan. 1, according to the Commonwealth Fund report.

"Young adults' participation in the nation’s new insurance marketplaces is essential: as a healthier-than-average population, it allows for comprehensive health plans to be offered at affordable prices to all enrollees over time. However, concern is widespread that young adults will continue to go uninsured, despite the new options available to them under the law," the Commonwealth Fund report says.

The premiums collected from people with lower health care costs will serve to offset the higher medical expenses of older, sicker people. Further complicating the task of persuading young adults to participate is that some will face higher prices than are available on today's health insurance market, which doesn't guarantee benefits on par with Obamacare's and permits insurers to exclude older, sicker people and charge younger healthier people less.

Although some portion of the population of young adults who buy health insurance on their own -- rather than obtain it at work or via a government program like Medicaid -- may face "sticker shock" when they review their options on the health insurance exchanges, many will receive helping paying for their coverage.

Under the law, people who aren't offered affordable health insurance by their employers may choose plans via the exchanges in their states. Anyone earning between the federal poverty level, which is $11,490 for a single person this year, and four times that amount is eligible for tax credits to defray the cost of coverage. In addition, people with incomes up to 133 percent of poverty, or $15,282 for an individual this year, can enroll in Medicaid if they live in the District of Columbia or one of the 23 states expanding the program under Obamacare. The law's individual mandate also requires most people to obtain some form of health coverage.

Furthermore, the Commonwealth Fund reports that 82 percent of the estimated 15.7 million uninsured young adults earn less than four times the poverty level, qualifying them for subsidized coverage.

"With aggressive state and federal efforts to educate young adults about their new insurance options, experience suggests that awareness of, and enrollment in, these new options will climb over time. Affordability will also be critical," the report says. Similar to other recent findings, the survey shows that young adults turn down job-based health benefits more often because of cost than because they believe health insurance isn't necessary.

As evidence that Obamacare can attract enough young people, the Commonwealth Fund cites high levels of enrollment among young adults when Massachusetts implemented a similar program in 2007 and rising numbers of young adults covered by their parents' health plans after 2010, when the health care reform law began requiring insurers to accept adult children until they turn 26. Reported by Huffington Post 3 days ago.

Many Health Insurers to Limit Choices of Doctors, Hospitals

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Many of the new health-insurance marketplaces will include relatively few choices of doctors and hospitals. The big reason behind these limited plans: Cost. Reported by Wall Street Journal 6 hours ago.

Zane Benefits Publishes New Information on Maryland Health Insurance Exchange Rates

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Maryland Health Insurance Exchange releases proposed premium rates, among lowest in the country.

Park City, Utah (PRWEB) August 23, 2013

Today, Zane Benefits, the number one online small business health benefits solution, published new information on Maryland Health Insurance Exchange rates.

According to Zane Benefits’ website, the Maryland Health Connection recently released approved insurance premium rates, which they claim are among the lowest rates that have been released so far. The plans for which these premium rates represent will be offered via their state marketplace starting October 1, 2013 as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The Maryland Insurance Administration provided example 2014 monthly rates of nine proposed carriers for residents living in the Baltimore area. Premiums will vary depending on location.

For a 25 year old non-smoker enrolled in a bronze level plan: $124 per month.

For a 50 year old non-smoker on a silver level plan: $267

A report by the Maryland Health Connection compares its proposed premium rates to rates of 12 other states with available rate data:

A 50 year old resident enrolled in a silver plan in New York has an approved rate of $319 per month, while the same resident in Maryland has an approved rate of $260 -$269 per month. This is18% less in premium cost.

The smallest premium on a bronze plan for a 25 year old in Maryland is $114, compared to $134 in Virginia, $146 in Colorado, $163 in Ohio, $167 in Washington State, and $174 in California.

In addition, the Hilltop Institute estimates that three out of four residents purchasing health insurance through the marketplace will be eligible to receive a premium tax subsidy on their plan, further lowering their cost. There will also be opportunities for low-income Marylanders to reduce deductibles, cost sharing, and out-of-pocket caps.

Maryland attributes the insurance commissioner’s aggressive negotiation of rates as reason for their relatively low costs. According to their report, the insurance commissioner was able to reduce most premium rates by more than 50%.

They also attribute the way in which Maryland is planning to handle risky consumers next year. The state is keeping their high-risk pool open for people with pre-existing conditions who don’t want to change coverage. This way the sick population will stay out of the health insurance marketplace, and insurers take this into account when proposing their premium rates.

Along with lower premiums Maryland provides the following key features of their plans:

Comprehensive care, including coverage of essential health benefits;

Recommended preventive services, available free of charge;

A cap on out-of-pocket expenses;

No lifetime or yearly dollar limits on coverage;

For the first time in the individual market, no Marylander can be rejected for coverage on the basis of his or her health status.

Click here to read the full article.
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About Zane Benefits
Zane Benefits was founded in 2006 to provide a revolutionized SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) administration platform ("ZaneHRA") for Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) and defined contribution health care. The flagship software provides a 100% paperless administration experience to small businesses and insurance professionals that want to offer better health benefits without a traditional group health insurance plan at lower costs. For more information about ZaneHRA, visit http://www.zanebenefits.com. Reported by PRWeb 17 hours ago.

Getting the word out  on health care reform

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The State of Illinois’ initial goal is to convince nearly 490,000 consumers to buy insurance through the new Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace. With public awareness low and the clock ticking on a Jan. 1 start date for coverage, FleishmanHillard’s $35 million federally-funded contract to market the marketplace is kicking into gear. Reported by Chicago S-T 4 hours ago.

Employers try to get ahead of health law

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Even though the Obama administration has granted large companies a one-year reprieve under the Affordable Care Act, some employers are scrambling this year to prepare for the nation's health-care overhaul. United Parcel Service cited the law as one reason it's dropping health insurance for about 15,000 spouses who have coverage options elsewhere. Maricopa Community Colleges started classes this week with strict annual-hour limits for about 1,300 temporary workers, to comply with the law's data-collection requirements. Reported by azcentral.com 2 hours ago.

States Experimenting With Obamacare Options

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SALEM, Ore. -- Oregon health officials are concentrating on coordinating services and preventing hospital stays. New Jersey medical centers are rewarding doctors who can save money without jeopardizing patient care. And Massachusetts is expanding the role of physician assistants and nurse practitioners.

As states work on implementing the complex federal health care reforms, some have begun tackling an issue that has vexed employers, individuals and governments at all levels for years – the rapidly rising costs of health care. The success of models that are beginning to emerge across the country ultimately will determine whether President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act can make good on its name.

It's too early to tell what will work and what won't, but states, insurers and medical groups are experimenting with a variety of programs to contain costs without undermining care. These test runs come as millions of new patients will gain eligibility for health insurance under the federal law, putting additional pressure on the system.

"Look at any of the long-term projections for the federal budget or for state budgets," said Alan Weil, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy. "If we don't bring down health care costs, we're either going to be paying a whole lot more in taxes or we're going to stop spending money on other things we care about."

The Affordable Care Act is expected to extend coverage to many of the roughly 50 million Americans who lack insurance by expanding Medicaid, the state-federal health care program for low-income people, and requiring most others to purchase insurance or pay a fine.

Often overlooked are the law's efforts to stabilize constantly rising costs.

U.S. health care spending reached $2.7 trillion in 2011, or $8,700 per person, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The agency says those numbers are climbing and predicts spending will reach $14,000 per person by 2021.

The higher costs mean higher premiums for businesses, which are passing on more of those expenses to their employees, and for individuals, who are seeing a rise in out-of-pocket costs.

In the Portland area, spiking costs have forced Steve Ferree to reduce the benefits he offers his 32 employees at the Mr. Rooter Plumbing franchise he owns.

"We feel bad about it," he said. "We do provide good insurance, and we want to make sure we take care of folks, so that's a tough decision to make."

Premiums for employee-only coverage have spiked 65 percent since 2006, Ferree said, and employee and spouse plans rose 90 percent. Workers cover a quarter of the premium.

The struggles of business owners such as Ferree illustrate the difficulty of finding solutions, even in a state that has been held out as a potential national model for savings.

The recession provided what is expected to be a temporary reprieve, with health care costs slowing to 3.9 percent annually between 2009 and 2011, the slowest growth rate since the government began keeping track in 1960, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Over the preceding 18 years, per capita health care costs grew an average of 6.5 percent a year.

Yet despite the recent slowdown, health care costs continue growing faster than both wages and the economy as a whole, accounting for an ever-larger share of spending for employers and workers alike. It now accounts for nearly 18 percent of U.S. economic activity, up from 5 percent in 1960.

Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family coverage jumped nearly 4 percent this year, and single coverage rose almost 5 percent, according to a report released last week by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. The foundation expects prices will begin rising faster as the economy improves.

Economists say soaring health care costs are driven primarily by industry consolidation and expensive new medical technologies and prescription drugs.

The Affordable Care Act's cost-containment section reduces Medicare reimbursements to providers and requires commercial insurance companies to issue refunds if more than 20 percent of their revenue goes to profits, salaries and overhead. Hospitals will face penalties when patients develop conditions while in their care.

The federal law also promotes "accountable care organizations" within Medicare, which are charged with improving coordination to reduce wasteful spending.

But much of the experimentation on reducing costs is driven by state governments and private businesses.

Oregon has tried to tackle rising costs by focusing on Medicaid, which serves 550,000 people in the state and is expected to grow by 200,000 under the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion that starts next year.

Gov. John Kitzhaber last year spearheaded a new model of delivering services under Medicaid. His initiative led to a state law that created "coordinated care organizations," which attempt to integrate mental, physical and dental care as they improve the way chronic conditions are managed. These organizations are required to manage their costs within a fixed rate of growth.

Some coordinated care groups are hiring staff to work intensely with Medicaid patients who frequently visit the emergency room.

"We try to deal with the medical part. But everything they go through, we have to take into account, because if you don't have money to pay your bills, you're going to have stress" that complicates medical problems, said Ruby Ibarra, a community health specialist for Multnomah County, which is part of a coordinated care organization in the Portland area.

Elsewhere in the state, Trillium Community Health Plan in Eugene has a program starting this month that gives up to $200 in prepaid debit cards to pregnant mothers who quit smoking.

Oregon's law also has led to the rapid expansion of "health homes," supporting a system of primary care that calls for clinics to stay open longer and offer same-day appointments.

The health home model has been successful at improving preventive care in Enterprise, Ore., a town of 2,000 in the remote northeastern corner of the state.

"You don't feel like you're just pushing papers around here. You really feel like you have an important part to play in improving people's health," said Dr. Elizabeth Powers, one of four physicians at Winding Waters Clinic in Enterprise, an early adopter of the health home model.

The clinic serves all patients, including those with Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance. The federal Affordable Care Act also encourages wider adoption of the health home model.

In New Jersey, hospitals have reported success with a Medicare program that paid doctors who saved money for hospitals. Officials said it contributed to lower costs and shorter hospital stays without increasing mortality or readmission rates because doctors began considering the costs of their orders.

The experiment, known as "gainsharing," is expanding this year to more hospitals, including some outside New Jersey.

In Massachusetts, the first state to enact comprehensive health care reforms, lawmakers last year supported a goal of restraining the rise in health care costs to a level no greater than the state's overall growth rate. To accomplish this, legislators passed a multi-tiered state law that expands the role of physician assistants and nurse practitioners to act as primary care providers, making it easier for patients to access care outside the emergency room.

The law also requires providers to disclose more information to consumers about costs and quality and allows the state to review proposed consolidations to assess the effect on those factors.

The Massachusetts regulations provide money to accelerate electronic record-keeping and create tax credits for businesses that adopt wellness programs to combat preventable chronic diseases.

Cost-containment efforts are not confined to states that have embraced Obama's health care reforms.

Many Southern states are transitioning their Medicaid patients into managed-care programs, which receive a fixed amount of money for each patient, regardless of their costs. Some insurance companies are thinning their networks of doctors to funnel patients to lower-cost options.

South Carolina, for example, is targeting elective early births, trying to keep newborn babies out of the expensive neonatal intensive care unit. The state also trained 18 community health workers who are in clinics that see a large number of Medicaid patients.

There are substantial challenges to copying these experiments nationally. Adopting a technology system to keep medical records electronically, for example, entails substantial upfront costs, as does hiring staff to coordinate patient care. At the same time, providers have to be careful to avoid skimping on needed care to save money.

Most of the experiments are too new to produce reliable data about their success, but health policy experts warn that the rapid rise in costs is unsustainable.

"It has to end eventually," said Larry Levitt, senior vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, "because we can't have an economy driven entirely by health care."

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Associated Press writers Seanna Adcox in Columbia, S.C.; Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis.; Carla K. Johnson in Chicago; Kelli Kennedy in Miami; and Geoff Mulvihill in Princeton, N.J., contributed to this report. Reported by Huffington Post 2 days ago.

Regulations on health insurance penalties are finalized by IRS

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The Internal Revenue Service's final regulations on health insurance penalties, which will be published in the Federal Regist -More-  Reported by SmartBrief 2 days ago.

USA Doctors Online Announces They Are Now Able to Offer Health Insurance Options in all 50 States

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National health insurance provider Online USA Doctors is now able to offer health insurance options in all 50 states across the USA. Online USA Doctors is able to help people with common or sensitive health issues, such as; erectile dysfunction.

Miami, FL (PRWEB) August 28, 2013

National health insurance provider Online USA Doctors is now able to offer health insurance options in all 50 states across the USA. Online USA Doctors is able to help people with common or sensitive health issues, such as; erectile dysfunction. Services are available 7 days per week utilizing today's technology with video conferencing, which is especially helpful with sensitive issues, such as erectile dysfunction.

Erectile dysfunction affects between 15 and 30 million US men according to US News & World Report. Diagnosis continues to be embarrassing for sufferers. The discreet nature of the Online USA Doctors service enables professional diagnosis by a team of USA licensed, educated doctors, without the awkwardness of face-to-face meetings.

"We are please to report that we are now able to offer health insurance alternative options in all states across the USA" reports Julie Wright, president of Online USA Doctors. "By offering in all states, we are striving to reduce health utilization costs for both the insured and insurer" claims Wright.

The multiple origins of erectile dysfunction can restrict health insurance options. US News & World Report lists smoking, drinking, illegal drugs and excess weight among the causes, as well as crossovers from depression, stress and performance anxiety. Physiological precursors include prostate surgery, kidney disease, high blood pressure and hormonal imbalance. It is hardly surprising that so many American men prefer to suffer their affliction in silence, rather than discuss it with anybody, including a doctor. Online USA Doctors affordable health insurance packages bring an effective alternative within every male’s reach.

“We realized that erectile failure is a textbook case for telemedicine,”Online USA Doctors president Julie Wright explained at a national symposium on the subject. “Our medical director Dr. Shelton researched the subject thoroughly before we launched the program. He convinced me that the relative anonymity of telemedicine via email and video conferencing links might help many US men who currently have little hope. The fact that the service is available after hours and nationwide could also spare them the embarrassment of someone listening-in inadvertently.

Online USA Doctors countrywide approach available at any time of day or night, makes hope available for erectile dysfunction sufferers in search of affordable health insurance options. Their prepaid program begins at monthly premiums as low as $29.99 per person. “I really encourage them to contact me to explore these opportunities further,” Julie Wright told a New York press briefing recently. “Our services are available through a team of USA licensed, educated doctors, who have the experience and wisdom to take a broad-ranging, holistic approach. This is set to alleviate the widespread erectile problems that plague our nation’s men.”

About Online USA Doctors:
Health care visionary Julie Wright established Online USA Doctors in 2012, to bring her vision to fruition that health care should be available, accessible and affordable to all American citizens. Medical director Dr. Shelton joined her shortly afterwards to build a team of specialists around him, including those with particular aptitudes towards telemedicine.

Media Contact
Julie Wright, President
Online USA Doctors
(855) 872-0012 Reported by PRWeb 2 days ago.

Zane Benefits Publishes New Information on Applying for Individual Health Insurance in 2014

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An overview of applying for individual health insurance post-2014.

Park City, Utah (PRWEB) August 28, 2013

Today, Zane Benefits, the number one online small business health benefits solution, published new information on applying for health insurance in 2014.

According to Zane Benefits’ website, recently common questions about what actions to take with the new health insurance exchanges have become very common, such as, how will people apply for individual health insurance post-2014? And, how will the process work?

Employees that are familiar with applying for individual health insurance now need to be aware that the application process will change in 2014 because of health care reform. Employees that aren’t familiar with applying for individual health insurance, need to learn what actions are going to be required.

The biggest tip for any employer or employee is: work with a health insurance agent to help employees navigate insurance plan options, the new marketplaces, and the federal premium tax subsidies. Agents are an invaluable resource and will end up saving the company money on health insurance.

Here's an overview for employees on how individual health insurance works, what to expect when applying for individual health insurance, and how to apply for individual health insurance post-2014.

Any individual or employee can purchase an individual health insurance plan. There are many choices when it comes to selecting a plan. Agents and brokers are available to help advise, and purchase a plan through (recommended), an individual can purchase a plan alone via the public new health insurance marketplaces, or directly from the insurance company.

To receive tax credits, insurance must be purchased through a public health exchange, with an agent or individually. The public health insurance marketplaces will open for shopping and enrollment October 1, 2013, with plan coverage starting January 1, 2014.

The individual will select the insurance company, the plan, and the options that best fit them and their family (such as what is covered, network of doctors, deductibles, co-insurance, etc).

Once purchased, the plan is still customizable. Unlike most employer plans, plan options, coverage items, and even the health insurance company can be changed at any time. In addition, the plan is portable. The plan will stay with the insured, even if he/she leave his/her employer.

There are four significant changes happening to individual health insurance in 2014 because of health care reform ("ObamaCare").

(1) Guaranteed-Issue: Medical underwriting goes away and all plans will be "guaranteed-issue". This means that all individuals will be accepted regardless of health status, and will not pay more because of health status. The only uprating (charging more) allowed will be for tobacco use, age, and location. Even so, there are limits on the amount an insurance company can up-rate for these factors.

(2) Federal Premium Tax Subsidies: Premium tax subsidies will be available to eligible individuals, for plans purchased through the individual health insurance marketplaces. Households with income between 100% and 400% of FPL who purchase coverage through a state (individual) health insurance exchange are eligible for a premium tax subsidy to reduce the cost of coverage. To be eligible, employees cannot be offered affordable, qualified health insurance through their employer.

(3) Essential Health Benefits: Starting in 2014, all plans will be required to include essential health benefits, a core package of items and services.

(4) Open Enrollment Periods: There will be set open enrollment periods when employees can enroll in guaranteed-issue health insurance. The first open enrollment period is October 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014.

Click here to read the full article.
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About Zane Benefits
Zane Benefits was founded in 2006 to provide a revolutionized SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) administration platform ("ZaneHRA") for Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) and defined contribution health care. The flagship software provides a 100% paperless administration experience to small businesses and insurance professionals that want to offer better health benefits without a traditional group health insurance plan at lower costs. For more information about ZaneHRA, visit http://www.zanebenefits.com. Reported by PRWeb 2 days ago.

Republican Governors Buck GOP On Obamacare

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DES MOINES, Iowa -- Despite unrelenting pressure by congressional Republicans to repeal President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, GOP governors in swing-voting states are grudgingly bowing to the reality that "Obamacare" is the law of the land and almost certainly here to stay.

The governors' reluctant acceptance is based on what they call financial prudence and what appears to be political necessity.

"My approach is to not spend a lot of time complaining," Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said recently. "We're going to do our level best to make it work as best we can."

It's the same view embraced by fellow Republicans John Kasich of Ohio, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Rick Snyder of Michigan and Rick Scott of Florida.

It's also in stark contrast to the approach taken by Republicans in Washington, where the GOP-led House repeatedly has voted to repeal the law. Congressional Republicans may keep at it this fall to force a budget showdown even though the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the law.

After initial gripes, these Republican governors are now trying to expand health insurance programs for lower- and moderate-income residents in exchange for billions in federal subsidies. Some governors are building and running online insurance exchanges for people to shop for insurance, instead of leaving the task to the federal government.

While all face re-election next fall in states that Democrat Obama won in both his White House races, these Republicans governors say that the 2014 elections and political calculations are not driving the health care decisions.

But a year after Democrats succeeded in casting Republicans as the party of the prosperous, the governors could blunt criticism they are ambivalent to the poor by embracing billions in federal dollars to cover millions of residents without insurance.

"At the end of the day they are making the best out of a crappy situation," says Phil Musser, an adviser to Martinez.

Lori Lodes of the Center for American Progress, a liberal-leaning think tank that supports the law, puts it this way: "They can't risk pursuing a partisan agenda that would turn down taxpayer dollars and deny their constituents health care."

Some Republican governors are willing to take the chance that Democrats will cast them that way for opposing the measure. Wisconsin's Scott Walker, who is considering a presidential run in 2016, has rejected all aspects of the law. These Republican governors find comfort in surveys that show more people in the United States disapprove of the law than approve of it.

But Republican governors who have embraced the law are making a different calculation, believing they will benefit politically as more people get insurance.

"People are seeing that they are going to have access to health care that they don't have now and that they've never had, and with the support of the subsidies, the cost is going to be significantly lower," said state Rep. Greg Wren, a Alabama Republican who's co-chairman of the National Conference of State Legislature's health care committee.

In Michigan, where Snyder faces an uphill re-election fight and there is disagreement in his party about the law, he has argued that receiving an estimated additional $1.4 billion in federal money to bring roughly 500,000 residents under health coverage makes economic sense.

Michigan's Republican-controlled Senate late Tuesday passed Snyder's Medicaid expansion proposal by two votes.

Michigan voters would be more likely to support Snyder's re-election, based on his call for expanding Medicaid, said T.J. Bucholz, of Lansing, Mich.-based Lambert-Edwards, a public relations firm unaffiliated with Snyder that has commissioned research on the issue.

"We believe Gov. Snyder's efforts championing Medicaid expansion have helped him," said Bucholz, "although he still has work to do."

Ohio's Kasich, also with a potentially difficult re-election road, promotes expanding Medicaid as a moral issue.

Kasich advisers say agreeing to include more low- and moderate-income people in the program could soothe relations with female voters or independents angry about the budget he signed in July that included new restrictions on abortion.

"Among suburban women, it could soften his image," said Bob Klaffky, a Kasich adviser.

Martinez and Sandoval have gone the furthest toward putting the law in place. Their states have Democratic-controlled legislatures that support the overhaul and growing Hispanic populations that polls show favor the law. They also face less daunting re-election challenges than others.

"These are governors from the more practically oriented part of the party," said Joel Ario, who was the director of health exchanges during Obama's first term.

Branstad is an example.

He spent months refusing to expand Medicaid, only to strike a deal with the Legislature for Iowa to take federal dollars in exchange for adding low-income residents to a new state-run plan and paying premiums for others to get private insurance. The compromise satisfied Democrats, by covering an additional 150,000 residents, and Branstad, by not technically expanding Medicaid.

"Just because we're cooperating, some people may try to blame us," Branstad said. "We have to try to make things work."

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Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta, David Eggert in Lansing, Mich., and Catherine Lucey in Des Moines contributed to this report.

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Follow Thomas Beaumont on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomBeaumont

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Online:

National Conference of State Legislatures: http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/health.aspx Reported by Huffington Post 2 days ago.

Garment Industry Grapples With Health Insurance Rules

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Garment Industry Grapples With Health Insurance Rules NEW YORK—Growth in New York’s garment industry could be limited by the federal government’s insurance overhaul.

At least one Manhattan-based bridal store feels workers don’t want to pay for insurance, so its owners will limit staff to avoid having to …

The post Garment Industry Grapples With Health Insurance Rules appeared first on The Epoch Times. Reported by Epoch Times 22 hours ago.

Obamacare Exchanges Not Expected To Simplify Health Insurance Maze

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Obamacare Exchanges Not Expected To Simplify Health Insurance Maze Consumer Survey Shows Low Expectations for Exchanges SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumers expect that the upcoming process to sign up for health insurance in October will be a complicated one according to new poll data from HealthPocket. When... Reported by PR Newswire 18 hours ago.

Aetna pulls out of New York health insurance exchange

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(Reuters) - Aetna Inc, the No. 3 U.S. health insurer, said on Thursday it has decided not to sell insurance on New York's individual health insurance exchange, part of the country's healthcare reform. Reported by Reuters 17 hours ago.
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