2013 February Health Care News

The February issue of Health Care News reports the Department of Health and Human Services won’t cut the states any slack when it comes to expanding enrollment in their Medicaid programs: Either they expand the way Obamacare wants them to--to reach everyone up to 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level--or they don’t expand at all.

Also in this issue:

• A for-profit publishing firm has won an injunction against the Obama administration’s implementation of the contraception mandate, making it likely the matter will come before the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Oklahoma, the most recent state to reject implementation of President Barack Obama’s health care provisions on both Medicaid and the insurance exchange, is a hot spot for challenges to the law’s future.

• Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is forced to choose a different path after his legislature rebuffed attempts to implement a state exchange.

• With Gov. John Kasich opting against a state exchange, Ohio small businesses may sue the federal government over the employer mandate.

• While Gov. Brian Sandoval proceeds with plans for a state exchange, restaurant owners in Nevada say they can’t afford to keep the doors open.

• Gov. Jay Nixon and Sen. Claire McCaskill want to expand Missouri’s Medicaid program, but the state legislature may not cooperate.

• The vaguely defined regulatory basis for Obamacare’s medical device tax could also raise the cost of veterinary services.