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February 8, 2013 MPBMississippi would have been the only Republican-led state in the South with a health insurance exchange not run by the federal government. Now Mississippi has another distinction: It's the only state to have its exchange plan turned down by the federal government.

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January 30, 2013 KHNUnder the health care overhaul, many people who find their job-based health coverage too expensive can get help buying insurance through exchanges. But rules just finalized by the Internal Revenue Service will limit who is eligible for a subsidy and could leave some families shut out.

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January 8, 2013 KHNWithout rules that spell out which health plan takes the lead, a young person who lives out of state and is covered by his parents' plan and a college health plan might run into trouble trying to get in-network care when far from hometown.

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January 7, 2013 Economists have calculated that spending on health care continued to increase slowly in 2011, at a rate similar to the two previous years. Researchers point to the stagnant economy for holding back health inflation.

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January 3, 2013 KHNUtah's unorthodox health insurance exchange got conditional approval from the Obama administration. Six other states with more conventional approaches to running health insurance marketplaces also received provisional OKs.

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December 14, 2012 KHNOnly 17 states and the District of Columbia have proposed running their own insurance markets. Experts had expected mostly small states to seek federal help, but some of the nation's largest have said they will not run an exchange on their own.

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December 11, 2012 KHNHealth insurers sometimes pay too much to a doctor or hospital for services rendered. When insurers look to get their money back, patients may be surprised to get stuck with the bills.

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December 4, 2012 Economists say that excluding the value of employer-sponsored health insurance from federal taxes makes no sense. But many worry that changing the tax code could mean higher taxes or that employers would push down the value of the health insurance they provide.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

December 4, 2012 If you lose your job with a small employer, you'll less likely to get the same kinds of extended health insurance benefits available from bigger firms. Many states have enacted laws to change that, but the results vary.

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December 4, 2012 Most people don't realize that they don't pay taxes on the value of health benefits from their job. If employer-provided health insurance was taxed in the same way as wages, the federal government could gain $250 billion a year. But it would mean higher taxes for many people.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 29, 2012 By delaying the age at which people can join Medicare, the federal government could save millions of dollars. But if 65- and 66-year-olds have to find health insurance on the open market, states, employers and individuals of all ages will end up paying a lot more.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

November 20, 2012 KHNJust because medical marijuana is legal where you live doesn't mean your health insurer will deem it worthy of coverage. The feds still classify it as a controlled substance with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, so insurers and employers are wary of paying for it.

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November 15, 2012 Two Republican governors announced Thursday afternoon that they would not create exchanges in their states. A Democratic governor chose a hybrid model for her state. Then, the federal government pushed back the states' decision deadline, again.

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November 15, 2012 KHNState insurance regulators learned recently that an electronic system most insurers will use to submit their policies for state and federal approvals won't be ready for testing next month. The unexpected problem could delay work on the exchanges by three months.

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