By Matthew Heimer, February 24, 2014, 12:52 PM

Federal regulators have proposed larger-than-expected cuts in the government’s payments to the private insurers that run so-called Medicare Advantage plans—a move that insurers warn could force them to reduce services to retirement-age patients who belong to those programs. The cuts, which would take effect in 2015, were announced late last week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that administers Medicare.

By ANN CARRNS, FEB. 24, 2014

If you don’t have health insurance, there is still time to enroll through the public marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. But don’t delay too long: The deadline for obtaining coverage for this year is March 31.

With six weeks left in the open enrollment period, the numbers of people signing up for coverage are growing. California, which has about 15 percent of the country’s uninsured, said this week that more than 828,000 people had signed up for private coverage through the state’s online exchange.

However, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. acknowledged that enrollments nationally may fall short of the Obama administration’s informal projection of seven million people. He said during a trip to Minneapolis on Wednesday that if five million to seven million people signed up by the deadline, it would be a good start. His remarks were reported by The Associated Press.

By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH, February 24, 2014, 12:05 am

A panel of risk experts sees a teachable moment in Detroit’s bankruptcy and pension woes.

A blue-ribbon panel of the Society of Actuaries — the entity responsible for education, testing and licensing in the profession — says that more precise, meaningful information about the health of all public pension funds would give citizens the facts they need to make informed decisions.

In a report to be released on Monday, the panel will recommend that pension actuaries provide plan boards of trustees and, ultimately, the public with the fair value of pension obligations and estimates of the annual cash outlays needed to cover them. That means pension officials would disclose something they have long resisted discussing: the total cost, in today’s dollars, of the workers’ pensions, assuming no credit for expected investment gains over the years.

By Louise Radnofsky, Feb. 23, 2014 5:03 p.m. ET

The 2010 Affordable Care Act includes more than a dozen provisions aimed at bringing down costs in government health programs and private insurance.

Some of those provisions already have kicked in; others won’t take effect for a few more years.

Here’s a look at some of the ways the legislation’s cost-cutting initiatives already have affected health-care pricing, and some of what still lies ahead.

By DAVID NATHER | 2/23/14 10:59 PM EST

When you go to all this trouble to cover the uninsured, is it really that unreasonable to ask how many uninsured people Obamacare has covered so far?

The answer, apparently, is: Yes. It’s unreasonable.

The truth is, nobody has a good, real-time fix on how successful the Affordable Care Act has been in reducing the ranks of the uninsured. The Obama administration hasn’t been able to say how many of the 3.3 million people who have signed up for private health insurance coverage, or of the 6.3 million who have been determined eligible for Medicaid, were actually uninsured before — and health care experts aren’t sure yet, either.

Patrick Howley, Political Reporter, 11:26 PM 02/22/2014

The Obama administration is launching an “attack” on the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D programs as part of Obamacare that will result in higher costs and fewer health care options for seniors, according to a U.S. House subcommittee.

The administration is quietly introducing “policies that would undermine the integrity and success of the MedicarePart D program” according to the subcommittee. President Bush signed Medicare Part D into law in 2003 to subsidize prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries.

Feb. 22, 2014 at 12:46 PM

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (UPI) — President Obama’s policies are “fundamentally flawed,” a Republican congressman said Saturday, targeting the president’s healthcare law.

Rep. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, delivering the GOP’s weekly address, blamed Obama’ policies for “causing” problems experienced by his constituents and other Americans.

“Elizabeth, from Pulaski County, Arkansas, knows this all too well,” said Cotton. recounting a constituent’s issues with the law. “Elizabeth gets insurance through her employer, but her monthly premiums have risen 85 percent because of Obamacare’s new coverage mandates. She’s now forced to pay for things she does not want and can’t afford, simply because Washington politicians and bureaucrats think they know what’s best for her and her family.”

Bruce Japsen, Contributor, 2/22/2014 @ 9:12AM

Health plans offered on state and federal marketplaces known as exchanges mean higher deductibles and higher out-of-pocket costs for consumers and potentially less business for hospitals under the Affordable Care Act.

A parade of reports out this week looks at the repercussions for consumers who choose high deductible plans to get a lower priced premium and health facilities, which are being pushed further away from fee-for-service medicine to an era when they are paid based on the value of medical care that they provide.

By MARILYN ALVA, INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY, Posted 02/21/2014 06:54 PM ET

Medicare’s privately run health plans got long-awaited news Friday on how much the federal government wants to cut their funding next year, and it wasn’t good.

The rate changes affect nearly 16 million Medicare Advantage members and the insurers that provide them with coverage.

In a preliminary decision or “advance notice,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said funding to Medicare Advantage on a per-capita basis would be reduced 3.55% next year vs. this year. But that’s just a starting point.

By Matthew Heimer, February 21, 2014, 5:48 PM

President Obama’s federal budget proposal for the fiscal year 2015 isn’t due until March 4. But based on information about the plan that went public this week, the budget will take a fairly clear stance on retirement benefits—namely, that if those benefits need to be cut to curb the national debt, it should be higher-income taxpayers who take the hit.

In some ways, of course, the budget proposal is predominantly symbolic; with the House in Republican control and the GOP wielding filibuster power in the Senate, few or none of Obama’s more controversial proposals will be enacted. But as expressions of the administration’s retirement-policy priorities during a midterm election year, when both