Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Posts

President Barack Obama's health care law has become a tale of two Americas. States that fully embraced the law's coverage expansion are experiencing a significant drop in the number of uninsured residents, according to a major new survey released Tuesday. States whose leaders still object to "Obamacare" are seeing much less change. For example, while Arkansas had the 10-point decline in its uninsured rate, the drop in Tennessee was just 2.4 percentage points.

More than half of privately insured women are getting free birth control under President Barack Obama's health law, a major coverage shift that's likely to advance. This week the Supreme Court allowed some employers with religious scruples to opt out, but most companies appear to be going in the opposite direction.

Sodexo tried to screw workers out of healthcare last year, using a loophole in the ACA to calculate hours in a way that made certain employees ineligible. Backlash from the unions up to the Obama administration made the company reverse course.

With just three weeks left to sign up under President Barack Obama's health care law, a major survey tracking the rollout finds that the uninsured rate keeps going down. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, released Monday, found that 15.9 percent of U.S. adults are uninsured thus far in 2014, down from 17.1 percent for the last three months — or calendar quarter— of 2013. That translates roughly to 3 million to 4 million people getting coverage.

Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) didn't mean to allow easier access to abortion for congresspeople when he presented the amendment that made the elected officers obtain insurance in the open exchanges available now to all Americans. But that's exactly what happened.

The ugly duckling of government health care programs has turned into a rare early success story for President Barack Obama's technologically challenged health overhaul. Often criticized for byzantine rules and skimpy payments, Medicaid has signed up 444,000 people in 10 states in the six weeks since open enrollment began, according to Avalere Health, a market analysis firm. Meanwhile, private plans offered through troublesome online markets are expected to have enrolled a far smaller number of people.

The glitch-ridden rollout of President Barack Obama's health care law has opponents crowing: "Told you so!" and insisting it should be paused, if not scrapped. But others, including insurance companies, say there's still enough time to fix the online enrollment system before uninsured Americans start getting coverage on Jan. 1.

Contentious from its conception, President Barack Obama's health care law has survived the Supreme Court, a battle for the White House and rounds of budget brinkmanship. Now comes the ultimate test: the verdict of the American people. A government shutdown could dampen the rollout Tuesday as insurance markets open around the country. But it won't stop the main components of "Obamacare" from going live as scheduled, glitches and all. The biggest expansion of society's safety net since Medicare will be in the hands of consumers, and most of their concerns don't revolve around ideology and policy details.

Nearly two-thirds of uninsured low-income people who would qualify for subsidized coverage under President Barack Obama's health care law may be out of luck next year because their states have not expanded Medicaid.

It's called the Affordable Care Act, but President Barack Obama's health care law may turn out to be unaffordable for many low-wage workers, including employees at big chain restaurants, retail stores and hotels.

The first draft was as mind-numbing as a tax form. Tuesday the Obama administration unveiled simplified application forms for health insurance benefits coming next year under the federal health care overhaul.

It isn't every day that more than half the Democrats in the Senate vote to repeal part of President Barack Obama's health care law.

But that's what happened Thursday night when the Senate voted 79-20 to repeal a 2.3 percent sales tax on medical devices such as catheters, pacemakers and MRI machines, which was intended to help to finance coverage for the uninsured that starts next year.

Applying for benefits under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul could be as daunting as doing your taxes.

The government's draft application runs 15 pages for a three-person family. An outline of the online version has 21 steps, some with additional questions.

Seven months before the October 1 start of enrollment season for millions of uninsured Americans, the idea that getting health insurance could be as easy as shopping online at Amazon or Travelocity is starting to look like wishful thinking.

States can refuse the expansion outright or indefinitely postpone a decision. But if states think they'll ultimately end up taking the deal, there's a big incentive to act now: The three years of full federal funding for newly eligible enrollees are only available from 2014 through 2016. So far, 17 states and the District of Columbia have said they'll take it. That group includes three Republican-led states, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was prominent among GOP leaders who had tried get the law overturned.

The respite means President Barack Obama and lawmakers in Congress have a window to ease in tighter cost controls this year, if they can manage to reach a broader agreement on taxes and spending. Health care spending is projected to spike up again in 2014, as Obama's law covering the uninsured takes full effect, before settling down to a new normal.