PRESIDENT Barack Obama scored a major victory in his historic healthcare law when an appeals court in Cincinnati ruled the legislation that would require every American to buy health insurance by 2014 is constitutionally sound. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued its three-judge panel opinion on the constitutionality of the individual [...]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Administration officials are acknowledging another unintended consequence of President Barack Obama’s health care law. Older adults of the same age, income and similar medical histories could pay widely different amounts for private health insurance unless the glitch is fixed. People who are old enough to get an early retirement check from Social [...]

The majority opinion by a 6th circuit panel Wednesday upholding Obama’s health care reform law is a victory for the administration on its face. But to understand just how big a victory it is, you have to read the concurring opinion by Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton. Sutton, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin [...]

The majority decision, issued by a three-judge panel from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, included the support of a Republican appointee to the federal bench — the first to affirm the individual mandate’s constitutionality. The New York Times: Round 1 In Appeals Of Health Care Overhaul Goes to Obama The Obama administration prevailed Wednesday [...]

The new healthcare law President Obama signed last year survived its first test before a federal appellate court Wednesday, as the Sixth U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati concluded that the law’s insurance requirement is constitutional. “We find that the minimum coverage provision is a valid exercise of legislative power by Congress under the Commerce [...]

Secret shopper survey to test doctor access: Massachusetts is one of nine states in which the Obama administration plans to test access to primary care physicians by having mystery shoppers call to ask if the office is accepting new patients. In each state, 465 doctors will be called at least twice, once from a patient [...]

The body count in the war between Democrats and Republicans over Medicare continues to mount. First, Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebilius said that cancer patients would “die sooner” under the House Republican Medicare proposal. (She earned Three Pinocchios for that statement.) Now, Rep. Phil Gingrey has charged that a provision in the Obama [...]

By design, Obamacare is set to explode state Medicaid budgets by expanding eligibility. By accident, it also adds to those costs by making couples who earn up to $64,000 a year eligible, the Obama administration admitted this week. The surprises from this gargantuan law just keep coming. “Up to 3 million more people could qualify [...]

On Friday, the Obama administration announced that after Sept. 22 HHS will not accept applications for waivers exempting certain coverage-level mandates in the federal health reform law, the New York Times reports. Steve Larsen, director of the federal Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, said employers and labor unions can seek new waivers or [...]

HELENA, MONT. A new Montana law eliminating medical marijuana sales and implementing strict checks to verify a patient’s condition is unconstitutional and must be blocked before it takes effect next month, an attorney for an industry group suing the state argued Monday. The law passed by state lawmakers earlier this year will effectively put commercial [...]