NEWS

Thousands of Anthem Blue Cross customers await decision on rate hikes - LA Times

The insurer had delayed the increases till May 1 pending a review by an outside actuary appointed by the state insurance commissioner. That report is expected within two weeks.

PROMISES, PROMISES: Health plan maps Obama pledges - AP

The nation may be divided over the wisdom of President Barack Obama's big new health care law, but it largely delivers on more than 30 specific promises he made as a candidate.

Boccieri gives reasons for health care 'yes' vote on health care - The Daily Record

When U.S. Rep. John Boccieri cast his vote in support for the Senate version of health care reform, he did so because it was dramatically different from the House bill and "some things you vote on are just the right thing to do."

Scott lauded for helping pass health care reform - DailyPress.com

U.S. Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D-Newport News, took a political victory lap Sunday with local Democrats  applauding him for the passage of health care reform.

Back home, defending their healthcare votes - LA Times

For three lawmakers — one who opposed the bill, one who supported it and one who changed his mind — it's time to explain themselves to uneasy constituents.

Orszag: CBO lowballs savings from Obama's healthcare reform - The Hill

White House Budget Director Peter Orszag is arguing that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) underestimates the savings from President Barack Obama's healthcare bill.

OPINION

Health-care reform's biggest losers - Ezra Klein

Rep. Bart Stupak has not had an easy year. He made himself a villain to liberals when he threatened to kill the Affordable Care Act unless the already-restrictive abortion language was made more restrictive. He made himself a villain to conservatives when he accepted an executive order saying that the abortion language in the bill was intended to be extremely restrictive. And now, after weeks of negative ads and angry letters and shouting phone calls, he's retiring.

Medicare Advantage Competitive Pricing: The Political Failure of a Good Idea - Kaiser Health News

Few Americans should be satisfied with the way the government pays private health insurance plans that participate in the Medicare Advantage program. Taxpayers pay 14 percent more to insure a beneficiary through the Advantage program than through traditional, fee-for-service Medicare, the program’s “public option.” The new health reform law–the Affordable Care Act–will reduce, but not eliminate, the additional payments to Advantage plans. Medicare beneficiaries are concerned  about the reductions in Advantage plan availability and generosity that will result from those payment cuts.

Bob’s Blog: The Health Reform You Haven't Heard About - The California Endowment

There’s a lot that’s gotten lost along the way in the coverage of the historic passage of the health care reform bill. The divisive partisan fight – and the media obsession with that fight – has diverted attention from what’s truly historic about this reform.