Today is the deadline for thousands to provide information to keep subsidies

Oct 1 2014

The administration has notified more than 300,000 people that they need to provide documentation to keep their health insurance subsidies. Also in news on the health law, supporters are weighing a new focus on the individual mandate, and the administration promises changes to the ACO rules.

The Wall Street Journal: Hundreds Of Thousands Face Health Law Subsidy Deadline
Hundreds of thousands of Americans face a Tuesday deadline to verify their income and are at risk of losing or having to pay back their federal health-insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. The need for people to pay back the government could become a headache during next year's tax season, when Americans are expected to pay back any subsidies they weren't eligible for. The Obama administration has told more than 300,000 individuals who obtained coverage through the federal HealthCare.gov site that they may lose some or all of the subsidies if they don't provide additional income information that jibes with Internal Revenue Service data. That information includes tax returns, wages and tax statements, pay stubs and letters from employers (Armour, 9/29).

Politico: Obamacare: New Messaging Hurdles Ahead
The second Obamacare enrollment season could go negative -; but not because of the health care law's critics. Obama administration allies are weighing a focus on the loathsome individual mandate and the penalties that millions of Americans could face if they don't get covered. It would be a calculated approach to prompt sign-ups, a task that the law's supporters expect to be more difficult, or at least more complex, than in its coverage's inaugural year (Haberkorn, 9/29).

Politico: Obamacare's Surprises
Most of the debate over the Affordable Care Act has focused on its coverage provisions: the health-care exchanges where Americans can shop for insurance, the controversial mandates for employers and individuals and the expansion of Medicaid in the states. But in a 900-plus-page landmark bill, there are bound to be a few surprises. Here are some of Obamacare's hidden corners (Kenen and Wheaton, 9/29).

CQ Healthbeat: Medicare Officials Prepare To Issue Proposed Changes To ACOs
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will soon release a rule updating the main program that pays groups of hospitals and doctors that coordinate patients' care through accountable care organizations, a top agency official said Monday. CMS Deputy Administrator Sean Cavanaugh told insurance industry executives gathered at a conference sponsored by the America's Health Insurance Plans trade group that the so-called "shared savings" program will be modified through a proposed regulation. When asked for more information after the briefing, he did not elaborate (Adams, 9/29).

Connecticut Mirror: CT Hospitals Say Obamacare Hasn't Cut Uncompensated Care
A recent federal report says hospitals saw a major decrease in uncompensated care after the rollout of key provisions of the federal health law this year. But so far, that's not what Connecticut hospitals are experiencing, according to their association. From January to June of this year, after the major coverage expansion provisions of Obamacare took effect, uncompensated care provided by Connecticut hospitals represented 2.4 percent of total patient revenue, according to the Connecticut Hospital Association (Levin Becker, 9/29).