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Language creates new challenge for states implementing health care reform
By Garance Burke and Judy Lin/Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Set on a gritty corner of Oakland's International Boulevard, the nonprofit Street Level Health Project offers free checkups to patients who speak a total of 22 languages, from recent Mongolian immigrants seeking a doctor to Burmese refugees in need of a basic dental exam.
It also provides a window into one of the challenges for state officials who are trying to implement the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's sweeping health care overhaul.
Understanding the law is a challenge even for governors, state lawmakers and agency officials, but delivering its message to non-English speakers who can benefit from it is shaping up as a special complication. That is especially true in states with large and diverse immigrant populations.
For Zaya Jaden, a 35-year-old from Mongolia, getting free care for her sister's persistent migraine was a much higher priority than considering how the expansion of the nation's social safety net through the Affordable Care Act might benefit her.
The sisters crammed into the clinic's waiting room, sandwiched between families chatting in the indigenous Guatemalan language Mam, and discussed whether enrolling in Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act would work for the family's finances.
"It was a good idea that Obama had, but I don't know if it will work for me," said Jaden, who gets private insurance for her family through her job as a laundress at an Oakland hotel and currently makes too much money to qualify for Medicaid. "If I make less than what I make to try to qualify for the government program, how could I pay my rent?"
Jaden's ambivalence demonstrates the cultural and language hurdles that California and several other states are facing as they build exchanges — or health insurance marketplaces —and try to expand coverage to ethnic and hard-to-reach populations.
California has the largest minority population of any state, about 22.3 million people. That's followed by Texas with 13.7 million, New York with 8.1 million, Florida with 7.9 million and Illinois with 4.7 million.
In Illinois, where nearly 1.2 million residents don't speak English well, the task of translating information about the health care overhaul into other languages has fallen to nonprofit groups and community organizations.
"So far it's fallen to us, and we don't know what (the state's) capacity will be to go beyond Spanish," said Stephanie Altman of Health and Disability Advocates.
The state intends to submit an outreach plan to the federal government this spring. Illinois officials expect federal grant money eventually will be available to help reach non-English speakers, said Mike Claffey, a spokesman for Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.
The U.S. Census estimates that more than 55 million people speak a language other than English at home. Nearly 63 percent of those are Spanish-speakers, with the highest concentrations in Texas, California and New Mexico. Chinese was the third most commonly spoken language, with large populations in California, New York, Hawaii and Massachusetts.
Five other languages have at least 1 million speakers: Tagalog, French, Vietnamese, German and Korean.
In California, two-thirds of the estimated 2.6 million adults who will be eligible for federal subsidies in the health care exchange will be people of color, while roughly 1 million will speak English less than very well, according to a joint study by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the University of California, Berkeley Labor Center.
With such diversity in cultures and language, the authors said the success of health care reform "hinges in large part on how well the state conducts culturally and linguistically competent outreach and enrollment efforts."
"If the exchange did no targeted outreach, there could be 110,000 fewer limited-English proficient individuals enrolled," said Cary Sanders, director of policy analysis for CPEHN, an Oakland-based multicultural health advocacy group.
Even the relatively mundane task of developing a brand for California's new health care exchange has prompted some angst.
The exchange's staff tried to come up with a name that signified health insurance and would translate well into Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and other languages commonly used in California.
The exchange's five-member board settled on "Covered California" and is currently testing tag lines to see which words resonate best in focus groups. Advocates disappointed by the name are hoping the board selects a tag line that will be simple to understand and translate.
Jaden, for instance, said she had no idea how "Covered California" would translate to Mongolian.
More importantly, they want Covered California to launch an inclusive marketing and outreach campaign in a place where a majority of the population is not white and nearly 7 million residents speak limited English.
"'Covered California' translates to California Cubierto in Spanish, but what exactly does it mean?" said Laura Lopez, Street Level Health Project's executive director, who immigrated to the United States from Peru years ago. "It's not just providing a piece of paper that says this is what is covered. It's really having people on the ground talking with the community."
California's exchange isn't shying away from the challenges.
Its executive director, Peter Lee, recently announced that new federal funding will be used to support a multi-language campaign, build a network of community-based assistants who can guide people to the right health plan and multilingual call centers.
The exchange is making $43 million available for community-based organizations, faith-based groups, nonprofits and local governments to compete for outreach and education grants.
"California is unique from every other state not only geographically because our population is spread out, but you have multiple ethnic populations that are traditionally hard to reach, and they need their own custom way to be reached," said Oscar Hidalgo, the exchange's communications director.
The exchange estimates that 5.6 million Californians are without health insurance, or 16 percent of the population under age 65. Of that number, 4.6 million are eligible for coverage under the Affordable Care Act, while the rest are not because of their immigration status.
Advocates say California should refine its efforts to reach non-English speakers.
Doreena Wong, who promotes health access for immigrants at the Los Angeles-based Asian Pacific American Legal Center, is among those urging the exchange to build a website that is not just in English and Spanish, but to offer translations in other languages prevalent throughout the state: Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Farsi (Persian), Hmong, Khmer (Cambodian), Korean, Russian, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, organizations that receive federal funding have to provide written notices in English, Spanish and other languages spoken by 10 percent or more of the households in the area they serve.
Wong recently told the board that many people eligible for the exchange aren't proficient in English, have limited education or have never had health care insurance. Other groups have requested the exchange, at a minimum, add Chinese.
Hidalgo said the state's health exchange website, www.coveredca.com , is being created in such a way more languages can be added later. He said the exchange first needs to launch an introductory website where consumers can learn about impending health care changes, such as federal subsidies for working families and tax credits for small businesses.
"It's very challenging to put together a website that's consumer friendly in English, and then to do it in 13 languages is a very, very big task," he said. "I think what's important for us is to take a step in English and Spanish and figure out what the feedback is. ... We don't have all the answers at this moment, but we're going to find them."
Click here to learn what Oregon is doing to reach non-English speaking residents
Lin reported from Sacramento. Associated Press writer Carla K. Johnson in Chicago also contributed to this report.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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The story has blown up on Twitter. “Unbelievable,” tweets TPM’s Brian Beutler. “Flat out incredible,” says Politico’s Ben White. “Obamacare for thee, but not for me,” snarks Ben Domenech. “Two thumbs way, way down,” says Richard Roeper. (Okay, I made the last one up).
- Washington Post: About the Obamacare ‘train wreck’
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. The moment that made headlines was when Sen. Max Baucus, the key author of the health-care law, fretted that the rollout would be “a huge train wreck
- Obamacare Adviser Zeke Emanuel: Obamacare Uncertainity Driving Up Premiums
"Can the premiums be kept relatively stable and not growing at, you know, 10, 12 percent? The first year is filled with uncertainty,” Emanuel said.
- Top Obamacare jobs vacant for months at HHS as Baucus fears 'train wreck,' Issa demands docs
Top executive jobs have been vacant for months at the Department of Health and Human Services key Obamacare insurance program, but officials there refuse to talk about the problem.
- Want to know the future of Obamacare? Take a look at Fort Dodge, Iowa.
The city has a population of 25,136 and a median income of $38,015. It is apparently named after a Wisconsin senator, which seems a bit strange for a city in Iowa
- Is Labor Turning Against Obamacare?
A union is calling for the law's repeal
- Affordable Care Act rules differ for former foster kids
While many young adults are now covered by the Affordable Care Act, able to remain on their parents' insurance until age 26, the rules are different for those like Cox-Reed, who grew up in the foster care system.
- Regal Entertainment Group's Obamacare Policy Leads To Facebook Backlash
The country's largest movie theater chain probably didn't expect widespread boycotts when it recently sent out a company memo about health care costs
- Baucus warns of 'huge train wreck' enacting ObamaCare provisions
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Wednesday he fears a "train wreck" as the Obama administration implements its signature healthcare law.
- How ObamaCare Blocks Reform From Taxes To Immigration
Is ObamaCare the reform to end all other reforms?
- Health law could boost use of temp workers
The health-care law could prove to be a boon for temporary-staffing companies as employers outsource jobs to sidestep complex requirements for medical insurance.
- Big Obamacare Backer Issues Warning
West Virginia Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller, one of the towering architects of Obamacare, on Tuesday openly criticized program managers for not moving quickly enough to build the system, warning that if it gets off to a bumpy start it will just get worse.
- Forbes: To Sign Up For Obamacare, Start Filling Out The Forms Now
The on-line version of that form requires 60 printed pages to spell out all the queries. (A condensed paper version of the same application fills 21 pages).
- ObamaCare in Trouble? Exchange provision delayed, as lawmakers push to repeal another
The Obama administration now says a special system of exchanges designed to make it easier for small businesses to provide insurance will be delayed an entire year -- to 2015.
- Most individual health insurance isn't good enough for Obamacare
If you buy your own health insurance now, you'll be in for a big change when you sign up for coverage in 2014.
- Does The Republican plan for replacing Obamacare really replace Obamacare?
Take a look at the 8 point place to replace Obamacare.
- Lawsuit over health care tax could kill ‘Obamacare’
“Obamacare” looks increasingly inevitable, but one lawsuit making its way through the court system could pull the plug on the sweeping federal health care law.
- Groups Of Adults Turn To Cooperative Households To Save Money in Light of Health Care Costs
With the cost of living on the rise and showing no sign of slowing down, total strangers desperate to save money are moving in together.
- W.H. Still Insists Obamacare Will Lower 'Future' Rates
Here's a White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, being asked about the comments today:
- Study estimates Obamacare could raise individual claim costs 32 percent
Actuaries groups offers sobering look at the rising costs for individual insurance coverage plans under Obama health law
- Sebelius: Yep, ObamaCare is raising insurance costs
A watershed moment in the ongoing disaster of ObamaCare, as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius finally admits that health insurance premiums are rising because of the President’s health insurance takeover, per the Wall Street Journal:
- Is medical device tax next piece of Obamacare to be scrapped?
The Senate voted 79-20 last week to repeal a 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices, dealing a blow to one of the new taxes imposed to pay for health care reform.
- Obamacare Costs Spark Voter Cynicism
Nowhere is this frustration and distrust more apparent than in the realm of health policy. Three years after the enactment of Obamacare, the level of skepticism about it remains high.
- Here’s Obamacare’s most controversial regulation
The requirement that contraceptives be covered without co-payment has drawn more than 147,000 public comments, according to an analysis from the Sunlight Foundation.
- Judge overturns Mo. law on birth control coverage
federal judge has struck down a Missouri law exempting moral objectors from mandatory birth control coverage because it conflicts with an insurance requirement under President Barrack Obama's health care law.
- Obamacare Group Appointments With Doctors: When Three Isn't A Crowd
According to a study published in December, meeting the country's health-care needs will require nearly 52,000 additional primary-care physicians by 2025. More than 8,000 of that total will be needed for the more than 27 million people newly insured under the Affordable Care Act.
- Want Obamacare? Here’s the 21-page draft application
The Affordable Care Act also envisions a group of navigators, financed by state exchanges, who will—as the name implies—help navigate the insurance system.
- Affordable Care Act: Rural hospitals face coverage quandary
Like many rural hospitals, the Brownfield Regional Medical Center has a high percentage of patients on Medicaid, the joint federal and state program that helps low-income and uninsured people pay for medical and custodial care.
- Care about Obamacare? Then you should really care about Arkansas
When Arkansas governor Mike Beebe was in Washington for the National Governors Association meeting, he made a trip to Health and Human Services.
- Judge: Feds Can’t Make Domino’s Founder Offer Birth Control under Obamacare
A federal judge has blocked the Obama administration from requiring Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan to provide mandatory contraception coverage to his employees under the federal health care law.
- Associated Press: Applying for Obamacare ‘Enormously Time Consuming and Complex’
Applying for benefits under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul could be as daunting as doing your taxes.
- Obamacare May Bite You At The Vets Office
Pet owners listen up: You may want to start saving more money for veterinarian care this year. The reason goes all the way back to Washington and an unintended consequence from medical reform
- Fact Check: Does ‘Obamacare’ have $1 trillion in tax hikes, aimed at the middle class?
When the health care law became law in 2010, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation provided estimates of the revenues in the law. But those estimates did not give a full picture because some big taxes did not begin until 2013 — and some are delayed even further. That means the tax number is bound to grow each year we move into a different budget window.
- Tax Prof: ObamaCare Tax Increases Are Double Original Estimate
The Joint Committee on Taxation recently released a 96 page report on the tax provisions associated with Affordable Care Act. The report describes the 21 tax increases included in Obamacare, totaling $1.058 trillion – a steep increase from initial assessment, according to the Tax Prof Blog.
- Rep. Paul Ryan's Budget Assumes the Repeal of Obamacare
"We think we owe the American people a balanced budget," Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, said on Sunday.
- How Obamacare will make finding a doctor harder
A study in the American Journal of Medical Quality found that the ranks of “safety-net physicians” — those willing to see Medicaid and uninsured patients —appears to be at its limit under current circumstances.
- Obamacare sales tax whacks Republican super PACs
Federal tax regulators outlined the rules pertaining to a tax on health insurance companies (and super PACs, to Karl Rove’s chagrin) levied by Obamacare that will cost$58.8 billion over five years before rising after 2018.
- HHS Proposes Delaying Key Part of ObamaCare’s Small Business Health Insurance Exchanges
In response to skepticism that ObamaCare’s health insurance exchanges will be ready on schedule later this year, Obama administration officials have been swearing up and down, cross their hearts and hope to voucherize Medicare, that ObamaCare’s exchanges — the health insurance portals that are the centerpiece of the law — will indeed be ready on time.
- Obamacare requires employers to offer insurance. What if it’s too expensive?
Millions of lower-income workers may gain access to employer-sponsored health insurance under the Affordable Care Act—but they may decide not to purchase that coverage.
- What’s changed, what’s coming and how Obamacare affects you
A look at changes under the Affordable Care Act.
- Factcheck: Will ‘Obamacare’ cost $20,000 a family?
Check out a fact check of some of the phases of Obamacare rollout.
- Florida doesn't have enough doctors for Medicaid expansion, lobby group says
Brace yourself for longer lines at the doctor's office.
- Universal Orlando dropping health coverage for part-time workers over ObamaCare rule
The rule, which has raised concern at a number of other companies, would restrict annual limits on insurance policies. The trade-off in these plans has historically been that while payouts were capped, premiums were low.
- Dunkin' Brands Lobbying Against Key Obamacare Provision
An iconic American brand has come out against a key Obamacare provision requiring some companies to expand their health insurance coverage.
- An Alternative to Obamacare?
Instead of paying for more poor people to have health insurance, S.C. Republicans offered to pay hospitals more to keep poor people out of emergency rooms.
- 26 States to Get Obamacare Exchanges With Little Local Input
The Obama administration said that it will operate federal online health insurance marketplaces in 26 of the 50 U.S. states with little or no input from local state officials.
- Are There More Obamacare ‘Surprises’
Every time one of the warnings voiced by Obamacare’s critics before the law was enacted has come true, the law’s most eager champions (i.e. the political press) have seemed deeply surprised. It’s almost as if they just weren’t listening, isn’t it?
- Under Obamacare, who even counts as a tobacco user?
Big tobacco companies and anti-cancer activists are standing in opposition to a part of the Affordable Care Act that allows insurance companies to charge smokers 50 percent more than patients who do not use tobacco
- Rate shock: How ObamaCare is causing a surge in insurance premiums
Over the past couple of weeks, many insurance companies have provided guidance in their investor calls that premiums for insurance plans being sold in the individual market could go up as much as 50 percent on average.
- Va. Gov. cuts state employee hours to avoid Obamacare costs
About 10,000 Virginia public employees are poised to see their hours cut back as Gov. Bob McDonnell continues to find ways around what he said were President Obama's costly health care reforms.
- Obamacare co-ops being created behind closed doors
Secrecy shrouds President Obama's $2 billion program to launch 24 new co-ops designed to compete with private insurance companies under the chief executive's landmark health care reform.
- Obamacare red tape burden: 127,602,371 hours yearly
Complying with the raging tsunami of new Obamacare rules and regulations will cost American businesses and families 127 million hours annually, enough time to carve out another 1,039 Mount Rushmores which took 14 years complete, according to a new House report.
- Column: Obamacare Starts In 2013, As Should Plans To Reform It
2013 will be a crucial year in the implementation of Obamacare, and a central focus of the Obama administration. Thus far, the Obama administration’s emphasis has been on standing up the program’s basic edifice for the long run rather than making sure it rolls out smoothly. Once erected, the law’s dictates will transform the underlying architecture of the American health care system – perhaps permanently.Given these stakes, Obamacare’s critics cannot afford to spend the next year on the sidelines and accept its intrusive excesses as the new status quo in American healthcare.
- Seven million will lose insurance under Obama health law
President Obama's health care law will push 7 million people out of their job-based insurance coverage — nearly twice the previous estimate, according to the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday.
- IRS: Cheapest Obamacare Plan Will Be $20,000 Per Family
In a final regulation issued Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assumed that under Obamacare the cheapest health insurance plan available in 2016 for a family will cost $20,000 for the year.
- Health care reform: Timeline for Affordable Care Act
What's next for the implementation of "ObamaCare"? Take a look at the history of the Affordable Care Act and what laws are ahead through 2016.
- Will Health-Care Reform Cause Hospitals to Turn Patients Away? VIDEO
- How Might Immigration Reform Influence Health Care Reform?
After decades of debate and legal challenges, national health care reform moves onward. Next up: immigration reform. The two are linked. Immigrants -- both those who are documented and those who are not -- are less likely to have health insurance than their U.S.-born counterparts. Almost half the documented immigrants in the U.S. do not have health coverage, according to 2011 Employee Benefit Research Institute statistics .
- John Metz Denny's Obamacare Surcharge Stirs Big Mess For Restaurant Chain
Don't expect to hear more about an Obamacare surcharge from Denny's franchisee John Metz.
- Darden Restaurants Tests Hiring Of More Part-Time Employees To Avoid Obamacare Costs
The owner of Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants is putting more workers on part-time status in a test aimed at limiting costs from President Barack Obama's health care law.
- Under Health Care Reform, Employers May Slash Workers' Hours To Avoid Mandate
In the choice between either cutting workers' hours or settling for a smaller profit margin, some people expect most companies will be more concerned with their own bottom lines than with those of their workers.
- Study: Health care costs to increase for business under health law
If you've got anywhere between 101 and 1,000 employees, listen up: Your health care costs are expected to rise 9.5 percent because of federal health care reform.
- Open Enrollment and Obamacare: What You Need to Know
While health care is still a hot issue in the election, in the coming months consumers will be facing a health insurance decision of their own: open enrollment. That’s the period, usually in the last quarter of the year, when workers with insurance can change coverage options without having to prove their health status.
- Could small businesses skirt Obamacare’s mandates?
Bob Laszewski, a former insurance executive, has taken a look at how small businesses might dodge a number of the health law’s (potentially expensive) mandates: They could self-insure.
- Liking It or Not, States Prepare for Health Law
Like many Republican governors, Jan Brewer of Arizona is a stinging critic of President Obama’s health care law. When the Supreme Court upheld it in June, she called the ruling “an overreaching and unaffordable assault on states’ rights and individual liberty.”
- CBO raises estimate of those hit by Obama health care tax
Congress‘ official scorekeeper said Wednesday that 30 million people will be uninsured when President Obama’s health care law goes fully into effect, including six million Americans who are expected to pay a tax penalty — about two million more than originally forecast when the law was passed in 2010.
- Hobby Lobby Files Suit Against Health Care Mandate
The founder of Hobby Lobby, David Green said during a conference call that his family's faith is being challenged by the federal government.
- Bart Stupak: “Perplexed and disappointed” that White House undid Obamacare abortion compromise
In a forum at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, former Michigan Democratic congressman Bart Stupak made a surprising admission: The White House had walked away from the compromise it had earlier struck with him on the abortion language in Obamacare.
- Bloomberg: The Great Medicare Cost-Control Experiment Begins
In the Obama administration’s effort to transform the American health-care system, perhaps the biggest challenge is whether Obamacare can reign in costs without sacrificing quality.
- Ryan: Obama Using Medicare As A ‘Piggy Bank’ For Obamacare
Paul Ryan accused President Obama on Wednesday of raiding Medicare to fund "Obamacare," a common campaign attack for the Romney-Ryan campaign, at a rally in Adel, Iowa.
- Did Paul Ryan Request Obamacare Cash?
Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan is barnstorming the country, promising to repeal every provision of the Affordable Care Act if the Romney-Ryan ticket is elected. But a letter he wrote to the Obama administration may undermine this message.
- Governors bucking Obamacare gamble with women's health
In four southern states where maternal or pregnancy-related mortality is higher than average and insurance coverage is lower, health authorities worry about governors' decisions to decline Medicaid expansion.
- TX AG compares fight against Obamacare to Alamo
Comparing it to the battle of the Alamo, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Wednesday though the state lost the health care fight in the U.S. Supreme Court, there are other ways to dismantle the landmark legislation critics call Obamacare.
- National Review: Trying to Love Obamacare?
After running away from Obamacare since 2010, Democrats embraced the law and tried to wrap it in new packaging in hopes it will sell better.
- Washington Post: Repealing Obamacare would take health care away from people
There’s been a good deal of punditry to the effect that Obama and Dems will have to run from the health law this cycle; Obamacare remains unpopular and a symbol of Obama taking his eye off the ball of the economy; etc. This doesn’t really look like running away from the health law, does it?
- Student Health Care Costs to Skyrocket at Private NC College Due to Obamacare: ‘This Is the Beginning’
Guilford College in North Carolina will likely be forced to charge students 75 percent more for health insurance in order to comply with federal regulations under President Barack Obama’s sweeping healthcare law, college administrators told Campus Reform.
- Book: Obamacare law designed to unionize 21 million health care workers
In a book set for publication Tuesday, a politics and government professor at The Citadel claims President Obama’s 2009 health care reform law was, in part, a union-driven effort to organize 21 million health care workers.
- Fact Check: Four video explanations of ‘gaffes’ by Obama and Romney
Take a closer look at “gaffes” made by President Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney. Find out what they really said — without the selective editing
- Health law readiness follows state, party lines
The District and Maryland are moving aggressively to implement virtual markets of insurance plans, becoming national leaders in carrying out President Obama’s vision for health care reform, while their Republican neighbors in Virginia remain less than eager to implement the controversial law.
- Parents’ insurance covers children up to age 26 — but not for pregnancy
The health-care overhaul provides a safety net for young adult children, who can now stay on their parents’ health plans until they reach age 26. But it doesn’t guarantee that their parents’ plan will cover a common medical condition that many young women face: pregnancy.
- Democrats: OK, We WIll Say "Obamacare"
It's the term critics invented for President Obama’s health law, more properly known as the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Republicans long ago successfully pasted the president’s name on the program to deride it as a big-government boondoggle. But now an unlikely group has adopted the moniker: Democrats.
- NY Times:U.S. Officials Brace for Huge Task of Operating Health Exchanges
Obama administration officials are getting ready to set up and operate new health insurance markets in about half the states, where local officials appear unwilling or unable to do so.
- Poll: 46 percent of Americans could still change their mind about Obamacare
Despite the Supreme Court decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, a new poll shows that 46 percent of Americans admit they can still be persuaded to change their opinion of the law.
- In-store clinics look to be a remedy for healthcare law influx
If you thought it was hard getting a doctor's appointment now, just wait until 30 million more Americans join the line.
- Judge Temporarily Stops Administration from Forcing Christian Family to Act Against Faith
U.S. District Judge John L. Kane issued an injunction that temporarily prohibits the Obama administration from forcing a Christian family in Colorado to act against its faith in the way it operates its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning business.
- Nearly one in 10 employers to drop health coverage
About one in 10 employers plan to drop health coverage when key provisions of the new health care law kick in less than two years from now, according to a survey.
- Judge Rejects States' Lawsuit Challenging Obamacare Contraception Mandate
Seven attorneys general trying to block the federal health care law's requirement for contraception coverage saw their lawsuit dismissed Tuesday by a federal judge who said they didn't have standing to file it.
- Doc says ‘physicians have reached a tipping point’
A doctor representing the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons told The Daily Caller that “physicians have reached a tipping point” under current health care laws, as they cannot both care for their patients and comply with mandated regulations.
- ObamaCare's Unenforceable Linchpin
Americans can refuse to comply with its command that they obtain government-approved medical coverage.
- Judge Rejects States' Lawsuit Challenging Obamacare Contraception Mandate
Seven attorneys general trying to block the federal health care law's requirement for contraception coverage saw their lawsuit dismissed by a federal judge who said they didn't have standing to file it.
- Plan now for tax impacts of health care reform
With the Supreme Court upholding the health care law, millions of Americans now face the prospect of getting health insurance or paying Uncle Sam a penalty/tax. That could mean an extra car payment each month for families not paying for coverage now.
- Reform may hit hospitals harder
The immediate reaction on Wall Street to last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding President Obama’s health care law was to buy hospital stocks and dump health insurance stocks. But at least one analyst expects the long-term outcome to be exactly opposite of that
- Americans Are Still Confused About Health-Care Reform
Results from a Gallup poll show that voters' beliefs about the ACA's anticipated effects are highly colored by partisan affiliation.
- Maryland examines taxes, fees to fund health exchange
The state of Maryland is looking for ways to raise up to $50 million annually though an assortment of taxes and fees to finance the state's health benefits exchange, an insurance marketplace that the federal health care law requires states to have operational by 2014.
- FTC: Health ruling is prompting scams
Federal trade regulators warned Friday that scam artists are using the healthcare law to ask for consumers' personal information over the phone.
- Estimated Cost of ‘Obamacare’ Is Now $2.6 Trillion — Nearly $1.7 Trillion More Than Obama Promised
According to the latest estimates, President Obama’s health care law, also known as “Obamacare,” will cost around $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years, nearly $1.7 trillion more than Obama’s initial promise of $900 billion.
- Congressman: Door Opens For More Government Taxes
The U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the 2010 health-care law’s individual insurance mandate as a tax opens a “brave new world” for Congress to impose levies, said Representative Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
- Tax businesses see profits in healthcare law
While some see the new healthcare law as a source of controversy, tax preparation companies see it as an opportunity, hoping it will bring in millions of new and confused customers.
- IRS to Issue ‘Scary Letters & Threats,’ Hire Thousands of New Employees to Enforce Health Care Law
Can the Internal Revenue Service police President Barack Obama’s health care mandate while simultaneously collecting all the taxes for running the federal government?
- SEIU to spend $250,000 on Spanish-language ads on Obamacare repeal vote
The Service Employees International Union announced it would run radio ads in the battleground states of Nevada, Virginia and Colorado aimed at telling the Spanish-language community it should back Obamacare
- House member compares healthcare law to TV's Boss Hogg
Rep. Phil Gingrey compared the 2010 healthcare law to Boss Hogg, the crooked commissioner of the fictional Hazzard County, Ga., in the 1970s TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard."
- Lawmakers attempt to shield religious organizations from HHS mandate tax
The bill is called the Religious Freedom Tax Repeal Act of 2012.

