Health reform implementation

The Obama administration announced new funding Thursday for efforts to help the uninsured find coverage through ObamaCare.

The Health and Human Services (HHS) Department will spend $150 million on enrollment assistance through community health centers, which serve an estimated 21 million patients annually.

The funding comes as Democrats are expressing concerns about implementation of the landmark law. Polls show that few people understand it, or how they might benefit. 

Ryan predicted that the failings of Obama's healthcare reform law would give the GOP the opportunity to push free-market alternatives.

Congressional Republicans are refusing to recommend members for a controversial panel designed to slow the growth of Medicare spending.

The panel was created by President Obama's healthcare law and structured to ensure some level of bipartisan input. But House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday they will not recommend anyone to serve on the board.

They say the panel — known as the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) — ought to be repealed. It's one of the controversial sections of the law Republicans have singled out for repeal votes.

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GOP leaders try to help their freshmen stake out a firmly anti-ObamaCare voting record, and gain support for another bill.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated Tuesday that GOP leadership could bring back a bill to strengthen part of ObamaCare. The measure to shore up the law's temporary high-risk insurance pools, lacking enough support for passage, was recently pulled from the House floor before its final vote.

"Conversation underway," Boehner said of the legislation, which drew opposition from prominent Tea Party and conservative groups. "I think there's a lot more conversation about all of ObamaCare that needs to take place," Boehner added.

The Helping Sick Americans Now Act (H.R. 1549) would pull funds from the Affordable Care Act's preventive health fund and use them to reopen a temporary insurance program for people with pre-existing conditions. The Obama administration stopped enrolling new patients earlier this year, citing financial struggles in the program.

The vote on H.R. 1549 was seen as another cohesion test for the GOP conference, and leaders will be loath to bring the measure back until it is guaranteed to pass. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) previously named fixing the Pre-Existing Conditions Insurance Plan as one of the conference's top priorities for spring. Read more about Boehner's comments on Tuesday here.

Richards rising: Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, is no stranger to controversy. She's also no stranger to politics, and she has used the relentless attacks on her organization to its advantage. Healthwatch recently sat down with Richards for an interview, in which she credited Planned Parenthood's power to the grassroots support of millions of patients. And even one of Planned Parenthood's staunchest opponents offered up unprompted praise of Richards's political skill.

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Complying with President Obama's healthcare law will take nearly 190 million hours per year, according to a new tally released by House Republicans.

The GOP reached that total by adding together the compliance burden in each regulation implementing part of the healthcare law.

They said the annual burden to comply with ObamaCare is enough time to build Mount Rushmore more than 1,500 times over, or to build the Empire State Building 27 times.

The Iowa Democrat was upset about cuts the administration has made to the healthcare law's prevention and public health fund.

House GOP leaders had to pull the bill two weeks ago amid pushback from conservatives in the Republican conference. 

Enroll America, a prominent outside group aiming to promote President Obama's healthcare law, has its work cut out for it.

The group's leaders acknowledged that most of the people who could benefit most from the health law aren't aware of the new options that will be available to them. Enroll America is trying to boost awareness as new coverage options take effect.

"National surveys and focus groups make clear that the vast majority of uninsured people are simply unaware of the new and significant opportunities that will be available to them through the [Affordable Care Act (ACA)]," Enroll America leaders wrote on the Health Affairs blog.