health care

Insurance Firms Forced To Cancel Many Individual Policies

5:08am November 05, 2013

by Richard Knox

More than 12 million Americans buy health insurance on their own, and many are getting cancellation notices because their individual coverage does not meet the standards of the Affordable Care Act. This is causing anxiety and anger — especially since most of these people can't get onto the healthcare.gov website to figure out their options for 2014.

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New York University's Langone Medical Center in New York City is considered in-network for relatively few of the health plans offered in the state marketplace.

So You Found An Exchange Plan. But Can You Find A Provider?

6:51am November 03, 2013

by Fred Mogul

Many health plans being offered on the New York state insurance marketplace do not include some of New York City's biggest hospitals in their networks. And across the state, many doctors say they are not yet participating in exchange plans at all.

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An "Obamacare Enrollment Team" application, left, and an official application from HealthCare.gov.

Adding To Insurance Confusion, Outside Groups Try To Cash In

6:51am November 03, 2013

by Lynn Hatter

With the federal insurance exchanges still a mess, some uninsured people are turning to local groups to figure out how and where to purchase insurance. In Florida, a lack of coordination among different agencies is leaving room for dubious outfits to enter the scene.

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Students Amanda McComas, Rose Marie Chute and Sari Schwartz are approached in October at Santa Monica City College in California about signing up for insurance with the Affordable Care Act.

For The Young And Healthy, Health Insurance Is A Hard Sell

6:01pm October 31, 2013

by Sonari Glinton

The success of the Affordable Care Act rests in part on getting young, healthy people to purchase coverage. But despite marketing attempts to reach them, some young people feel they're too healthy or cash-strapped to buy something they say they're unlikely to need.

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One person who got a letter canceling his health insurance was Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo. He holds up the letter during a congressional hearing Wednesday on insurance problems. He says his family chose to buy private insurance rather than use the congress

Notices Canceling Health Insurance Leave Many On Edge

6:00pm October 30, 2013

by John Ydstie

President Obama repeatedly said that anyone who likes their current health insurance policy would be able to keep it. But insurers have sent hundreds of thousands of cancellation notices to people who buy their own coverage — and some of them face significantly higher costs to get new policies under the Affordable Care Act.

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Marilyn Tavenner was the first Obama administration official to testify before Congress about the troubled launch of HealthCare.gov.

Insurance Cancellations Elbow Out Website Woes At Health Hearing

7:57pm October 29, 2013

by Julie Rovner

For Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, the big question was not why isn't the HealthCare.gov website working. It was why are people being told their insurance is being cancelled when President Obama said they can keep it, no matter what. Administration officials said the new coverage will be better.

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Gone is the smiling young woman who used to grace HealthCare.gov. Now it's time to get down to work.

More Technical Issues For Obamacare, But Good News For Medicare

5:02pm October 29, 2013

by Julie Rovner

After yet more problems over the weekend, HealthCare.gov, the federal site for people to buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act, seems to be making incremental improvements. Probably the best news on the health care front is that premiums for Medicare will not increase next year.

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Ashley Hentze (left) gets help signing up for the Affordable Care Act from a volunteer in Florida. The government says that 40 percent of the expected enrollees for 2014 must be young and healthy for health insurance premiums to remain affordable.

For Obamacare To Work, It's Not Just About The Numbers

3:38pm October 28, 2013

by John Ydstie

Relatively few people have enrolled in new health insurance plans since the Affordable Care Act exchanges launched this month. But some health care experts say it's early days yet — and that getting the right proportion of healthy, young new enrollees is just as important as how quickly people sign up.

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Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks Thursday in Phoenix.

'Loyal Soldier' Sebelius Vows To Stay Put, Fix HealthCare.gov

11:19am October 26, 2013

by Brian Naylor

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is rejecting calls for her resignation, saying, "I don't work for" those calling the loudest for her to step down. And the government official who has become the face of the disastrous rollout of the Obamacare website says she has promised the president she'll get things straightened out.

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Bipartisan Anger, Competing Interests Over HealthCare.gov

11:19am October 26, 2013

With the drama of the 17-day government shutdown over, the spotlight this week turned to the troubled rollout of the federal health insurance exchanges. Host Scott Simon talks to NPR's Ron Elving about the frustrations from both parties over the crippled HealthCare.gov website.

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