The positive or negative impact of health law is in eye of beholder

Sep 24 2012

Some businesses are taking advantage of the health law's requirements as states prepare to implement it.

The New York Times: Liking It Or Not, States Prepare For Health Law
Like many Republican governors, Jan Brewer of Arizona is a stinging critic of President Obama's health care law. ... Yet the Brewer administration is quietly designing an insurance exchange -; one of the most essential and controversial requirements of the law. Officials in a handful of other Republican-led states say they are also working to have a framework ready by Nov. 16, the deadline for states to commit to running an exchange or leave it to the federal government to run it for them (Goodnough, 9/23).

USA Today: Health Care Law's Impact On Businesses Varies
Companies specializing in driving down spending on health care, whether through electronic records, preventive care or consolidating services, are turning out to be the biggest winners from the 2010 health care law. ... Health care information technology spending for the second quarter hit $293 million, up from $86 million for the same period last year (Kennedy, 9/23).

And on the topic of essential health benefits -

Politico Pro: Exchange Week: Wrapping Up Essential Benefits
States continue to wrestle with their essential health benefit decisions, as many aim to have their picks in by the suggested date of Oct. 1. Meanwhile, Nebraska looks to get its Web portal going, and California starts to figure out who will come, now that they've built it (Millman, 9/24).

Politico Pro: Advocates See State Confusion Over EHB
T]he health law's strongest supporters in some fierce anti-"Obamacare" states are facing ample confusion about what the governors are planning. ... consumer groups in states that are most opposed to the federal health law say there is not much clarity about the EHB decision. Nor is it exactly clear how much more time HHS will really allow them to finalize plans (Millman, 9/24).