By DAVID NATHER | 2/21/14 6:12 PM EST Updated: 2/21/14 8:44 PM EST

By now, the pattern is pretty clear: Obamacare deadlines don’t stick. And they probably never will.

The unanswered question is, does the extra time create more hassles than benefits for those affected – and is the goalpost-moving worth the political headaches it creates for the Obama administration?

By Jordan Rau, KHN Staff Writer, Feb 21, 2014

Networks of doctors and hospitals set up under the Affordable Care Act to improve patients’ health and save money for Medicare are having varying rates of success in addressing their patients’ diabetes and heart disease, according to government data released Friday.

The release is the first public numbers from Medicare of how patient care is being affected by specific networks. These accountable care organizations, or ACOs, are among the most prominent of Medicare’s experiments in changing the ways physicians and health care facilities work together and are paid. The ACOs will be able to keep some of the money they save, but they also take on some of the financial risk if their patients end up being costly.

By Ronnie Cohen, Fri Feb 21, 2014 12:54pm EST

(Reuters Health) – Group meetings and preventive home visits helped octogenarians maintain their health, independence and a positive outlook, according to a first-of-its-kind study in Sweden.

Gerontologist Gwen Yeo told Reuters Health she was “amazed” that researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg successfully documented what she has long suspected – health-promotion programs can postpone disease progression in older adults and keep them in relatively good shape.

By Jonathan Easley and Mike Lillis, February 20, 2014, 05:13 pm

Senate Democrats are mounting a surprisingly strong defense of Medicare Advantage, a private insurance option that their party used to deride as a wasteful giveaway to insurance companies.

Nineteen Senate Democrats this week signed a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) warning of dire consequences for seniors if cuts to Medicare Advantage (MA) go through as expected later this month.

The rising tide of Democratic support is led by heavyweights including Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Michael Bennett (D-Co.), as well as vulnerable Democrats facing reelection such as Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

Liberals have historically lampooned the alternative to government health insurance as receiving outsized federal support in comparison to Medicare. In keeping with this, the Democratic-led Congress that passed the healthcare reform law partially paid for it by enacting $200 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage over 10 years.

Chris Conover, Contributor, 2/20/2014 @ 9:29AM

We’ve known for some time that the enactment of Obamacare firmly shattered President Obama’s campaign promise: “I can make a firm pledge under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” There’s 21 different taxes stuffed into Obamacare designed to raise more than $1 trillion in taxes over the next decade. Last October I showed that only 30% of these taxes would actually be borne exclusively by “rich” households ($200,000+ for singles/$250,000+ for couples).

By Caroline Humer, NEW YORK Thu Feb 20, 2014 1:06am EST

(Reuters) – The U.S. government is expected to announce this week the proposed payment rates for insurer-run Medicare plans in 2015, but industry officials say the anticipated cuts will mean higher co-pays and fewer benefits for seniors.

Of the more than 50 million older Americans who receive coverage through Medicare, about 15 million are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans offered by companies such as UnitedHealth Group Inc, Humana Inc and Aetna Inc. The rest use Medicare fee-for-service programs, in which doctors are reimbursed by the government for patient visits and procedures.

By Justin Sink and Erik Wasson, February 20, 2014, 01:04 pm

The president’s budget request for fiscal 2015, which is due out March 4, will not call for a switch to a new formula that would limit cost-of-living increases in the entitlement program, the White House said Thursday.

“This year the administration is returning to a more traditional budget presentation that is focused on achieving the president’s vision for the best path to create growth and opportunity for all Americans, and the investments needed to meet that vision,” a White House official said.

Obama last year proposed the new formula for calculating benefits as an overture to Republicans toward a “grand bargain” on the debt.

By Todd Haselton | February 20, 2014

AT&T just took home the best customer experience award from J.D. Power and Associates, and today it won another accolade. J.D. Power just announced that AT&T took home the top spot in its 2014 Wireless Purchase Experience Full-Service study. The data provides a look at customers who are most satisfied with a sales transaction from their wireless carrier, and it includes feedback from 8,525 wireless customers who participated between July 2013 and Dec. 2013.

Overall, AT&T received a score of 806 out of 1,000 points, first place, which was an improvement of 8 points over the last study. It was the only carrier above the industry average of 798/1,000, and was followed by Sprint with a score of 797/1,000, T-Mobile with a score of 796/1,000 and Verizon Wireless, with a score of 792/1,000. Meanwhile, Boost Mobile took home the top award out of non-contract carriers with a score of 798, followed by MetroPCS (788), Virgin Mobile (786), TracFone (783), the non-contract industry average (780), Cricket (767), Net10 (761) and Straight Talk (758).

Feb 19, 2014

News outlets report on how consumers, employers and even providers are grappling with a score of emerging issues — ranging from health care costs and demand to the challenges of trying to understand the complexities of the marketplace.

The Wall Street Journal: Health Law’s Impact Has Only Begun. On Jan. 1, the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act took effect. Americans gained access to new health plans subsidized by federal dollars. Insurers no longer can turn away people with existing conditions. Millions are now eligible for new Medicaid benefits. But the federal law also upended existing health-insurance arrangements for millions of people. Companies worry about the expense of providing new policies, some hospitals aren’t seeing the influx of new patients they expected to balance new costs and entrepreneurs say they may hire more part-time workers to avoid offering more coverage (Mathews, 2/18).

By PATRICK CONDON, Associated Press, Feb 19, 11:38 PM EST

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that it would be a good start for the federal health care law if 5 million to 6 million people sign up by the end of March, an acknowledgement that enrollments might fall significantly short of the Obama administration’s unofficial target of 7 million.