Latest California Healthline Stories
Did the Democrats Miss Chance To Protect Reform Law?
The 11th Circuit Court’s decision to strike down the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate raises questions for the law’s future, but also its past. Could the White House have better constructed its sweeping health law to avoid constitutional challenges?
Fixing U.S. Workforce May Be a Job for … Health Reform
Health care remains the standout amid the nation’s flagging jobs numbers. Do the sector’s latest employment figures put to rest the “job-killing ObamaCare” argument once and for all?
Remember the Co-Ops? Overlooked Plan Raises Questions
Two years after lawmakers and activists battled over the fate of the public option, its erstwhile replacement — a plan to create health cooperatives — was finally unveiled last month.
Ranking the Reforms at Risk in a Deficit Deal
As the nation’s leaders lurch toward a deal to cut the deficit, lawmakers have floated a range of possible health care cuts. Here’s a list of potential programs and reform initiatives that are most at risk in the current negotiations.
The Afterlife of ‘Death Panels’ Still Haunts Health Reform
False accusations that the health reform law would spawn “death panels” continue to cause political problems. A renewed push to strike down the Independent Payment Advisory Board relies on similar claims of government rationing.
Will ‘Most Important Study in Decades’ Matter for Reform?
Although Medicaid is set to be the backbone of the Affordable Care Act’s health coverage expansion, the program is beset by criticism from conservatives. Health policy experts hope that a once-in-a-generation study will strengthen the case for preserving the program.
Four Rules and Regs Health Policy Experts Can’t Wait To Read
Health policy experts list the upcoming rules and regulations that have the potential to shape the industry, such as proposals to implement health reform provisions like state health insurance exchanges and accountable care organizations.
Unsolved Mystery: Could Secret Shoppers Have Helped Reform Law?
The Obama administration’s plan to use mystery shoppers to gauge physician wait times was abruptly killed on Tuesday. Health policy experts sleuth out why the program met its sudden end and whether it will hurt health reform implementation.
Accounting for the ACO Backlash by Recounting DRG Fight
All kinds of health care stakeholders seem to agree: CMS’ proposed ACOs are profoundly disagreeable. But is this criticism truly new or just providers’ traditional resistance to federal efforts to overhaul health care payment?
Are Legal Challenges to Reform Actually Making it Stronger?
Opponents of health reform rushed to challenge the law in court — but the flurry of anti-overhaul cases may have helped the government build its own case to defend it. Lawyers explain the Obama administration’s rare approach to the unprecedented legal battle.