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Health Inc. : Shots - Health News As spending on care rises, the business of health keeps getting more important. We feature news on and analysis of drugmakers, health insurers, hospitals, doctors and others in the business of providing health care.
Shots - Health News

Shots

Health News From NPR

Health Inc.

Tuesday

Tuesday

Online Insurance Brokers Stymied Selling Obamacare Policies

Independent online insurance brokers, like eHealth, haven't yet been able to sell subsidized health insurance policies. eHealthInsurance.com hide caption

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eHealthInsurance.com

Health Inc.

Online Insurance Brokers Stymied Selling Obamacare Policies

Many independent health insurance brokers were supposed to be able to sell subsidized health care plans starting Oct. 1. But complications with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act have derailed the plan, and the federal government hasn't said when the problems will be fixed.

Online Insurance Brokers Stymied Selling Obamacare Policies

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Wednesday

Hitches On Health Exchanges Hinder Launch Of Insurance Co-op

Maryland's Evergreen Health Co-op will eventually be owned by its policyholders. For now, the co-op is scrambling to find customers after the state's online health exchange got off to a rocky start. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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Hitches On Health Exchanges Hinder Launch Of Insurance Co-op

KFF Health News

Maryland-based Evergreen Health Co-op is one of nearly two dozen nonprofit insurers created by the health act. They will be owned by the policyholders and are supposed to add competition and lower prices for coverage. they're supposed to add competition and lower prices for medical coverage. But they can't do either without customers.

Tuesday

What Should Make A Hospital CEO's Paycheck Bigger?

Have you thought about getting a PET scanner? iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

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What Should Make A Hospital CEO's Paycheck Bigger?

KFF Health News

Running a hospital that scores well on keeping more patients alive or providing extensive charity care doesn't translate into a compensation bump for top executives. Nonprofit hospitals have been under scrutiny for paying high salaries to chief executives while skimping on benefits for their communities.

Friday

Part-Time Workers Search New Exchanges For Health Insurance

The specialty grocer Trader Joe's says next year it will end its policy of offering health benefits for part-time workers. Instead, the store will offer part-timers cash to help buy coverage. Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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Bloomberg via Getty Images

Health Inc.

Part-Time Workers Search New Exchanges For Health Insurance

Many will find better coverage with smaller monthly premiums on the exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act, insurance specialists say. But in states that decided not to expand Medicaid, some low-income part-timers are finding they don't qualify for federal health insurance subsidies.

Part-Time Workers Search New Exchanges For Health Insurance

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Thursday

Back To Work After A Baby, But Without Health Insurance

People get information on California's health exchange at a table at Union Station in Los Angeles on Tuesday, the exchange's opening day. Reed Saxon/AP hide caption

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Reed Saxon/AP

Health Inc.

Back To Work After A Baby, But Without Health Insurance

KFF Health News

Pardit Pri left her job as a legal assistant when she had a baby. She thought she'd be able to find a new job with health insurance, but so far has found only contract work with no benefits. She's not sure if her state's new health exchange will make sense for her, given her uncertain income.

Back To Work After A Baby, But Without Health Insurance

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Tuesday

First Step In Health Exchange Enrollment: Train The Helpers

Assisters get up to speed on how best to explain the new health coverage choices during training on Sept. 25 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. Morgan Walker/NPR hide caption

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Morgan Walker/NPR

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First Step In Health Exchange Enrollment: Train The Helpers

Navigators are a key part of the health law rollout. They work at nonprofit organizations, and they're being trained to help people learn about their coverage options. In some areas that training is still going on, even though the exchanges are up and running.

First Step In Health Exchange Enrollment: Train The Helpers

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Colorado's Exchange Opens After Years of Bipartisan Effort

Colorado has taken its own route to building a health exchange. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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Colorado's Exchange Opens After Years of Bipartisan Effort

The website may have been struggling under the demand, but one early user of Colorado's new health exchange said it still provided information that should prove useful in sorting out coverage needs. The state has been working on the exchange since 2007, and it's enjoyed strong bipartisan support.

Colorado's Exchange Opens After Years of Bipartisan Effort

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Monday

A Doctor's 9 Predictions About The 'Obamacare Era'

Health care delivery is expected to change, with more care provided by nurse practitioners and fewer people having a doctor for life. Images.com/Corbis hide caption

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Images.com/Corbis

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A Doctor's 9 Predictions About The 'Obamacare Era'

The traditional doctor-patient relationship in which a single doctor gets to know you over years will become a luxury. Those who want a personal physician will have to pay extra for that service. Doctors who chafe at working for big organizations will opt out and charge patients retainer fees.

How A Tax On Medical Devices United Political Rivals

U.S. House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (center) and colleagues gather before a Sunday vote on Capitol Hill. The House passed two new provisions to a federal spending bill to delay Obamacare for a year and to repeal the medical device tax. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption

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Alex Wong/Getty Images

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How A Tax On Medical Devices United Political Rivals

About $29 billion in funding for the expansion of health coverage under the Affordable Care Act is expected to come from a tax on devices. Hip implants, MRI scanners and catheters to unclog heart arteries are all affected. Toothbrushes, contact lenses, hearing aids and other consumer products are exempt.

Friday

Lessons About Insurance In The Obamacare Data Dump

Chicago insurance broker Sean Whaley told The Associated Press earlier this month that his self-employed clients were frustrated that didn't have the information to plan ahead for their families' health care costs in 2014. M. Spencer Green/AP hide caption

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M. Spencer Green/AP

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Lessons About Insurance In The Obamacare Data Dump

KFF Health News

Very few insurers around the country are offering top-of-the-line platinum insurance plans. Policymakers predicted less expensive but more restrictive bronze and silver plans would prove more popular than high-end options, and it looks like insurance companies think so, too.

Thursday

Employers Trim Health Costs By Cutting Coverage For Spouses

Workers prepare orders to be loaded for shipment at a UPS Healthcare Supply Chain and Distribution Center in Atlanta on March 12. The company recently announced that it would no longer offer coverage for spouses who had their own job-based insurance. Robin Nelson/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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Robin Nelson/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Health Inc.

Employers Trim Health Costs By Cutting Coverage For Spouses

As health costs keep rising, many firms are trying to run their benefits programs as leanly as possible. For some, that means not paying the claims of spouses who work for other companies. It costs more to insure the typical spouse than the typical employee, one analyst says.

Employers Trim Health Costs By Cutting Coverage For Spouses

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Tuesday

For-Profit Online Insurance Brokers Gear Up To Sell Obamacare

Workers at the eHealth call center outside Sacramento, Calif., get ready to sell health insurance through the marketplaces created under the federal health care law. Sales start Oct. 1. eHealth Inc. hide caption

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eHealth Inc.

Health Inc.

For-Profit Online Insurance Brokers Gear Up To Sell Obamacare

For online insurance brokers, selling health insurance through the Affordable Care Act presents a new opportunity — and a new competitor. It's unclear who will come out ahead: the businesses, with more experience, or the feds, who won't charge commissions.

For-Profit Online Insurance Brokers Gear Up To Sell Obamacare

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Wednesday

For Hospital Patients, Observation Status Can Prove Costly

The next bed could cost you a lot if the hospital says you're there on observation. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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For Hospital Patients, Observation Status Can Prove Costly

When is an inpatient in the hospital not an inpatient in the hospital? When that patient is on observation status. Patients who are termed on observation can have trouble getting Medicare to pay if they need to go to a nursing home. The practice has sparked lawsuits and legislation.

For Hospital Patients, Observation Status Can Prove Costly

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Friday

Money May Be Motivating Doctors To Do More C-Sections

Pregnant doctors are less likely than other women to deliver their babies via C-section, recent research suggests. Economists say that may be because the physician patients feel more empowered to question the obstetrician. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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Money May Be Motivating Doctors To Do More C-Sections

Many obstetricians make more money for C-sections than for vaginal deliveries. In a recent study, these doctors were more likely to perform the costly procedure than doctors paid a flat salary. But when the pregnant women were also physicians, doctors seemed less swayed by financial incentives.

Money May Be Motivating Doctors To Do More C-Sections

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