Affordable Care Act

The average deductible for employer-sponsored health insurance has quadrupled in the last 12 years. A Los Angeles Times investigation finds even insured workers are going without needed medical care.

Her employer offered only a high-deductible health plan; that meant she'd have to pay up to $6,000 out of pocket each year. Advocates for patients say this sort of underinsurance is snatching lives.

"Medicare for America" would stop short of a full-blown expansion of Medicare. It would include copays from patients and a role for insurers. Could it survive health care's politics?

The president still promises "a great health care package" — but not until after the next election. His comments come after a phone call with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The Trump administration's decision to fight for total repeal of the Affordable Care Act in court sent shock waves across Congress, where lawmakers were caught off guard by the renewed repeal effort.

A letter from the Department of Justice announced the shift, in support of a district court judge's ruling that the law is unconstitutional. The case is likely to end up in the Supreme Court.

Well-known insurers are selling new sorts of health plans outside the Affordable Care Act exchanges that may sound cheaper but aren't necessarily. Some, for example, charge extra for common surgeries.

While some officials urge expansion of the Medicare system, several states are mulling a different way to ensure residents have affordable coverage: help them buy into a Medicaid-like plan.

Political fights over health care continue to flare. In Utah, angry voters say lawmakers are disregarding their wishes by trying to limit the scope of a ballot referendum that expanded Medicaid.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Rep. John Dingell was instrumental in expanding the Medicaid program, reshaping Medicare and modernizing the Food and Drug Administration. He died Thursday night.

The idea, they say, would be to eliminate the health insurance industry and replace it with government-run health insurance. The industry is already gearing up to oppose any moves in that direction.

Monday's ruling follows a more limited one by another judge on Sunday. The policy makes good on Trump's promise to peel back the requirement that employers offer contraception coverage at no cost.