Oklahoma shelves plans to build its own health insurance exchange

Oklahoma lawmakers have determined that the state will not work to build its own health insurance exchange. The exchange is mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Federal officials claim that insurance exchanges would give consumers access to affordable coverage and help reduce the cost of insurance premiums. Oklahoma legislators are not keen to take this as fact, however, and will wait until the U.S. Supreme Court has reviewed the federal law before they continue to work to comply with the federal government’s mandates. Oklahoma is one of many states that…

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Supreme Court may delay ruling on Affordable Care Act until 2015

The Supreme Court is scheduled to begin hearing a case regarding the constitutionality of the 2010 Affordable Care Act on March 26. Many have assumed that the individual insurance mandate provision of the law, which requires all U.S. citizens to have some form of health insurance, would be among the first topics of discussion. The Court, however, has announced that the issue to be discussed will be whether a decision on the constitutionality of the law should be made now or delayed for the future. The Supreme Court may choose…

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States rally against health care reform, petition Supreme Court to solve the problem

Twenty-six states and several small business advocacy groups have officials petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the issue of the Affordable Care Act. The states are urging federal judges to strike down the entirety of the law, ruling every provision as unconstitutional. The Affordable Care Act, signed into law last year, was meant to bring sweeping changes to the nation’s health care system, but the law has, thus far, succeeded only in spawning a great deal of controversy and opposition. The health care law, once fully enacted in…

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Perry may repeal healthcare reforms without alternative in state with highest rate of uninsured

Texas has been named the state with the largest number of residents who do not have health insurance, so they should also be one of the states that could receive the most benefit from the health care reforms made by the Obama administration. However, Governor Rick Perry has halted attempts to lay the foundation for the coverage expansion. That said, one of the solutions that Perry is supporting as an alternative to the overhaul is an untested regional effort that may make individual states responsible for Medicare; a method that…

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Health insurance requirement likely headed to Supreme Court following rejection by appeals court

The panel at a federal appeals court has ruled against the heart of the Obama Administration’s healthcare reform, bringing into question whether or not Americans will actually be required to purchase a healthcare policy. The next step will be the U.S. Supreme Court. The panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals was made up of three judges. They were not unanimous, but ruled that Congress had stepped beyond its authority when they passed what is being called the “individual mandate”. Experts in the healthcare industry are saying that the…

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