• Weekly Line: When the Data Makes an Inarguable Case for the ACA

  July 11, 2014
  

  A review of health policy news from the week of July 7, weekend reads, Sunday shows and a look at what's happening next week.

• House GOP Unveils Draft Resolution To Authorize Lawsuit Targeting Obama, ACA Delay

  July 11, 2014
  

  If the House adopts the resolution, the lawsuit will allege that the Obama administration's delay of the employer mandate falls outside the president's constitutional powers.

• Surveys: Millions of Previously Uninsured Have Gained Coverage Under ACA

  July 11, 2014
  

  Surveys by Gallup-Healthways, the Urban Institute and the Commonwealth Fund suggest that the U.S. uninsured rate has declined since the start of the ACA exchanges' initial open enrollment period last fall.
  

• GAO: About 75% of Insurers Met ACA's Medical-Loss Ratio Requirements in 2011, 2012

  July 11, 2014
  

  The report finds that insurers selling plans on the individual, small group and large group markets spent a median of 88% of premium payments on medical care in 2011 and 2012.
  

• Study Finds Link Between Anti-ACA Ads, Enrollment in Coverage

  July 11, 2014
  

  The study by a Brookings Institution fellow suggests that the ads acted as public service announcements and warnings that the law could be repealed and subsidized coverage would be lost.
  

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• Senate Confirms Burwell as Next HHS Secretary

  June 06, 2014
  

  An HHS aide says that Sylvia Mathews Burwell will officially assume the role on Monday.

• HHS: Medicaid Enrollment Surged in April; Total Enrollment Hits 6M Since Last October

  June 05, 2014
  

  States that chose not expand their Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act saw substantially lower Medicaid enrollment figures. 

• CBO: 4M U.S. Residents Will Owe Penalties in 2016 Under ACA's Individual Mandate

  June 06, 2014
  

  The agency in 2012 estimated that about six million people would have to pay the penalties, but it revised its estimate after HHS extended additional exemption regulations after September 2012.

• Do the Exchanges Need a CEO?

  June 05, 2014
  

  Would a single, CEO-like individual be able to help avert the challenges that plagued the first open-enrollment period? Find out what the experts say.

• CBO Says It Can No Longer Assess ACA's Financial Estimates

  June 05, 2014
  

  CBO says it will continue to provide estimates on some of the law's key provisions, including premium subsidies, Medicaid expansion and the penalties under the employer and individual mandates.
  

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