Selected stories from the daily newsletter CQ HealthBeat from the week of September 27, 2010. Provided as a service under rights licensed by The Commonwealth Fund. The full-text version of this newsletter is available in the
Health Reform section of commonwealthfund.org.
A new chapter in the implementation of the health care law opened last week with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature on a bill creating the state’s health insurance exchange, the first in the nation since the federal law was enacted. Read more »
Consumers can now compare premiums and benefits for 6,200 plans offered by 300 insurers on healthcare.gov. Read more »
A former executive with one of the nation's leading-edge health systems is the new head of a center that one might say has the hopes of a nation riding on its shoulders—the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation created by the health care overhaul law. Read more »
The nation's biggest health insurance lobby said that it will work with federal regulators to fix the problems in the child-only market that have emerged since the health care overhaul law was passed. Read more »
Some seniors are likely to get relief from the dreaded prescription drug "doughnut hole" next year as the number of drug plans that say they will cover at least some brand-name drugs will triple—from 35 to 106—according to an analysis released by Avalere Health, a private research firm. Read more »
A section of the health care law that went into effect Sept. 23 expanded coverage for young adults under their parents' policies, but military families weren't included—and it's not clear how soon they will be able to take advantage of the popular provision. Read more »