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The Backlash to the Obamacare Fix Has Already Started

"It took about three hours exactly for states to start pushing back against President Obama's request that regulators allow insurance plans to offer current products in 2014. Washington state insurance commissioner Mike Kreidler has announced that he will not allow insurance companies to do so.... It does feel a bit weird to have one of the most liberal regulators be the first out of the gate to oppose Obama. At the same time, it also makes sense: What Kreidler is doing is a full-throated defense of the Affordable Care Act."

Health Insurers Think Obamacare Is Going to Be Fine

"Health insurers arguably have the biggest financial stake in the exchanges' success. They are the ones who are selling products on the new marketplaces, and who would have to bear the costs of covering a sicker-than-expected exchange population. But even after a troubled launch, and with early enrollment shaping up to be lower and older than expected, plan executives generally cite two reasons they're not panicking -- and not pulling out of the exchanges after year one.... [M]any approached 2014 as a test year for the Affordable Care Act and participated in only a handful of exchanges to test the waters.... And even as the health exchanges grow, they will likely still remain a smaller part of a health plan's business."

Delaying Obamacare's Reinsurance Fee Would Be a Win for Insurers

"The Senate proposal wouldn't ... delay the reinsurance program altogether. Health insurers would absolutely hate that because they would lose an important financial protection. Instead, it would delay collection of the fee for one year. So, you would then have a reinsurance plan that runs from 2014 through 2016 -- but fees will be collected from 2015 through 2017. For 2014, the reinsurance payments would come out of general revenues. That's great news for health plans: They get all the benefits of the reinsurance program (protection against sick enrollees) and get to hold off on paying for it until 2015."

It's Not Just the Employer Mandate: Three Obamacare Delays You Haven't Heard About

"For the Obama administration, [Friday, July 5] was the perfect moment to release a 606-page final regulation on some of the health-care law's most key provisions.... The word 'delay' turns up 45 times in the document.... State-run marketplaces will not have to verify consumers' claims that they do not receive health insurance from their employer.... The federal government will scale back oversight of what applicants say they earn.... Electronic notices will not be required until 2015."

The White House Says Obamacare Begins on October 1... Not Really.

"Oct. 1 is a completely arbitrary date, one that never shows up in the text of the [ACA] and that has little bearing on the health law's success or failure.... [It has become] increasingly clear that [the state marketplaces'] big day isn't necessarily Oct. 1. Instead, it's Jan. 1, the day that the individual mandate takes effect and any plans purchased on the marketplace actually kick in. The space between October and December is viewed, by many standing up the health care law, as as soft launch: the time to make their new Web sites live, sort out the kinks and get the site in prime condition for the beginning of 2014."

CMS Indicates Insurers Will Be Able to Bypass Healthcare.gov

"Spokeswoman Julie Bataille kicked off the call by announcing that her agency has 'completed fixes for two-thirds of the high priority bugs responsible with issues with 834 transactions.' ... [We] don't know, right now, how many of those are buggy.... Insurers should be able to directly enroll shoppers through their own Web sites at this point, including (and this is the important point here) people who are shopping with insurance subsidies."

The Uninsured Rate Is Dropping, But Don't Thank Obamacare Yet

"[T]he small decrease in the uninsured rate is difficult to attribute directly to Obamacare right now.... [T]he uninsured rate has been trending downward this entire year, likely a product of a declining unemployment rate and greater access to employer-sponsored insurance. At the same time, the Gallup poll does have some evidence that employment isn't the entire story. They show that the biggest declines in the uninsured rate are among those who are unemployed."

Obamacare Had Lots of Sign-Ups on Deadline Day

"California estimates that 27,000 people picked insurance plans this past Monday and 29,000 the Friday prior. Just last week, the state was averaging 15,000 sign-ups per day. Washington State had 10,000 people enroll Monday, and a total of 20,000 from Dec. 20-23. That accounts for one in 10 Washingtonians picking private health insurance plans. And New York had about 20,000 sign-ups come in that same day.... The 36 states on HealthCare.gov do not release data on their own schedule but rather rely on the federal government's monthly data sets. We won't know December enrollment numbers until sometime in the middle of January."

Thirty-One Things We Learned in Healthcare.gov's First 31 Days

Includes a "Finger-Pointing Flowchart" and some useful points in an entertaining format. Excerpt: "The key date is no longer Oct. 1. It's Nov. 30. This is the third night of Hannukah, but, more relevant here, the day that the administration expects the Web site to be up and running. If it's not, health law supporters say, it will be difficult for some people to sign up by Dec. 15, the last day to get coverage beginning January."

How Much Will Obamacare Premiums Cost? Depends on Where You Live.

"The low rates are possible in part because insurance companies created special plans that include fewer in-network doctors and hospitals than many current plans. This may not be a problem for healthy people who currently lack insurance. But those with illnesses may discover that their specialists are not covered by an exchange insurance plan. Low-income people accustomed to a certain community clinic may find that going there is no longer an option. And everyone may encounter long waits to see a doctor. In addition, many of the lowest-cost plans may carry high deductibles[.]"