Affordable Care Act

After years of price hikes, the cost of the average Affordable Care Act policy is dropping across the U.S. Competition among insurers has increased as the political uncertainty starts to settle down.

If a funding extension can't be hammered out in the Montana Legislature, the state could be the first to undo an expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

Throughout the U.S., subsidies are available to reduce the price of 2019 policies sold on state and federal insurance exchanges. But promotion of the insurance is varying widely from state to state.

Ballot initiatives in Utah, Nebraska and Idaho will determine whether to expand Medicaid, after legislators refused to do so. Montanans will vote on whether to keep the state's expansion intact.

Frustrated that Congress hasn't repealed the Affordable Care Act, the administration continues to make moves that chip away at the ACA's nationwide protections and give states more control.

Idaho is one of three conservative states where voters will decide in November whether to buck the GOP's resistance to the Affordable Care Act and implement its Medicaid expansion for adults.

Consumers favor safeguards that help people with a history of health problems still get insurance. In the heat of the midterm campaigns, politicians' arguments don't always add up.

New short-term insurance policies will likely be cheaper than Affordable Care Act plans. But those lower prices mean they won't pay for as much health care.

Many hospitals that serve a large share of low-income patients will benefit from Medicare's less punishing approach to penalties for patient readmissions.

On Wednesday, a federal judge in Texas will hear arguments from Republicans who want him to strike down the health law and from Democrats who say the law is constitutional and should stay in place.

The government suggests that insurers offer plans off the health law marketplaces that don't have surcharges added last year to make up for a cut in federal funding.