New Hampshire regulators to receive federal grants to improve state’s insurance system

New Hampshire insurance regulators are set to receive $3.56 million in federal grants over the next three years in accordance with the federal health care law. The state’s Insurance Department is welcoming the money with open arms, hoping to utilize the funds to help some of the regulatory shortfalls that have befallen the state in recent years. While regulators have yet to determine the breadth of their plans for the funds, officials have noted that some of the money will be used to instill more transparency in the state’s insurance…

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Health insurance analysts claim more guidance needed before insurance exchanges can take root in Nebraska

Despite assistance from the federal government, many states remain torn on what to do about health insurance exchanges. In Nebraska, legislators are currently weighing their options. The burden of unanswered questions and vague concepts of federal regulations have slowed the states progress toward an exchange. Nebraska has turned to insurance analysts for aid, but was met with disappointment after analysts told legislators that more guidance from the federal government was needed before any move on an exchange could be made. In light of this news, the state is confronted with…

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Overseer of federal health insurance exchanges resigns

As the federal government continues to push for the establishment of health insurance exchanges, while battling with states that reject the notion, an important member of the Department of Health and Human Services has resigned his position as Director of Health Insurance Exchanges. Joel Ario, once the man responsible for overseeing the program toward exchanges, is vacating his position for unknown reasons. It is unclear who will replace Ario, but HHS officials say that the transition will be as smooth as possible. Ario’s departure comes on the heels of new…

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Government hopes to see action on state insurance exchanges soon despite ambiguous guidelines

The federal government is hoping that states make moves on insurance exchanges soon. Several guidelines have been released by the government to lay the framework for how states should go about building and operating the exchanges, but few have been quick to take up action. Federal law requires that states must have a working exchange program established by 2014 or the control of this program will default to the federal government. The director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,…

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Federal appeals court upholds law requiring all to obtain health insurance

Judges of a federal appeals court have been toiling over the legality of one of the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. It is a provision that has been steeped in controversy since being introduced in early 2010. That is the provision that requires all U.S. citizens to have some form of health insurance. While the entirety of the federal health care law has been accused of being unconstitutional, it is this provision that has received much of this attention. Opponents of the provision have argued against it to…

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