Health reform implementation

Obama assured former Sen. Snowe that GOP opposition to the law would be short-lived.

A top implementation official from the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department is headed to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a hearing on the department's outreach efforts. Gary Cohen, director of the office that's handling most of the work implementing President Obama's healthcare law, is scheduled to testify at a hearing about "the administration's outreach campaign to ... enroll individuals in exchanges and Medicaid." 

So it's a pretty safe bet Cohen will face some questions about the fundraising requests HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has made on behalf of Enroll America — a nonprofit group promoting the reform law and encouraging people to enroll in its new coverage options.

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Sebelius's speech at the World Health Assembly comes as she faces GOP criticism over fundraising for Enroll America.

Predictions of massive "rate shock" as a result of President Obama's healthcare law have been overblown, according to new analysis from the Center for American Progress (CAP).

CAP, a liberal think tank, said higher costs will only affect about 3 percent of people between ages 19 and 29.

Critics of the healthcare law say young, healthy people will see their premiums skyrocket as a result of new rules designed to protect patients who have pre-existing conditions.

Two key rules within ObamaCare are set to be published this week in the Federal Register.

Potential donors to Enroll America grow skittish

McConnell predicts ObamaCare will be 'biggest issue' of 2014

Medicaid opposition underscores states' healthcare disparities

Small businesses looking for a break from President Obama’s healthcare law aren’t getting any help from Congress.

Three years in, ObamaCare faces steep challenges

Sebelius: What's at stake if the health law is repealed

New Jersey hospital is the costliest in the nation

The House passed a bill Thursday to repeal President Obama's healthcare law — the third full repeal vote and the 37th vote to repeal or defund all or part of the law.

Only two Democrats sided with Republicans in the party-line 229-195 vote, and no Republicans voted against repeal.

Republicans defended the vote Thursday, saying it's important to keep up pressure on the law, noting that only 35 percent of the public has a favorable impression of it. The vote on full repeal could also help clear the way for more targeted votes to weaken specific provisions.

“Well, while our goal is to repeal all of ObamaCare, I would remind you that the president has signed into law seven different bills that repealed or defunded parts of that law. Is it enough? No. Full repeal is needed to keep this law from doing more damage to our economy and raising health care costs," Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said at a press conference Thursday.

The Hill's coverage of the repeal vote is here.

Dems defend ObamaCare: The latest repeal push seems to have reminded Democrats that they have some positive things to say about the healthcare law. After months of criticizing the law's implementation, Democrats sought to mobilize their own base in defense of the law on Thursday.

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Only two Democrats sided with Republicans in the party-line 229-195 vote.