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Insurer defections and rising premiums in the individual insurance market are spurring Democrats and Republicans alike to talk about changes to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. For now, the conversations are largely aimed at their party’s base. President Barack Obama led his party’s cry on Thursday with suggestions that would further entrench the law, including the addition of a government-run health plan in parts of the country with limited competition. GOP lawmakers have continued to call for gutting the law, including proposals to waive its penalties for people who forgo coverage in areas with limited insurance options. In each of these proposals, both sides have been largely talking past one another. Come January, they will have to talk to each other instead. (Radnofsky, 10/21)

Average premiums and deductibles for individual and small-group health plans on the Affordable Care Act exchanges in 2016 were nearly 13% cheaper than for plans sold off the exchanges, according to new data from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The data set, compiled from information purchased from Vericred, a New York City-based data company serving the health insurance industry, provides the most detailed look yet at how the ACA marketplace compares with the off-exchange market, about which much less is known. (Meyer, 10/24)

Gov. Mark Dayton on Friday guaranteed that the cost of health care will echo in Minnesotans’ decisions as they vote for the next Legislature in November. A week after bluntly critiquing the Affordable Care Act for making health care unaffordable for many, Dayton called on Republican and Democratic state lawmakers to reach quick agreement on fixes. He wants legislators to have their joint plan ready by Nov. 1 — a week before Election Day. “Time is running short, so legislators must begin their work immediately,” Dayton said. The governor’s comments on the cost increases have played a starring role in Republican ads against Democrats, and Dayton said Friday he heard from a deputy assistant to President Obama about them. (Stassen-Berger, 10/22)

Double-digit premium hikes are jolting millions of Americans who get their coverage through the Affordable Care Act, but just the opposite is happening to Ryan Lemburg. Like most Americans who get their health insurance through their employers, the Tracy school teacher has seen his annual premiums creep up at a historically low pace since the country’s controversial health care law, Obamacare, was passed six years ago. ... Behind that stability in premiums for many of the country’s 150 million workers is a trade-off: they’re being shifted to high-deductible health plans, which companies are increasingly championing as a way to hold down their own health care costs. (Seipel, 10/23)

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, those signing up for health insurance are, for the first time ever, able to easily compare plans and decide which is best for them. But that doesn’t do much good if they don’t understand what frequently used insurance terms mean. A poll conducted in late September by the country’s largest insurer, Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare, found that only 7 percent of Americans fully understand the meanings of four basic insurance terms: premium, deductible, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximum. (Demeria, 10/23)

As thousands of Marylanders begin enrolling in health insurance on the state exchange starting next week, they'll face significantly higher premiums that nationwide have turned the Affordable Care Act into even more of a political issue that it already was. Rates for insurance plans purchased through the online marketplace will increase no less than 20 percent, making it even more important for the state health officials and advocates to conduct outreach and explain the subsidies available to many buyers. (Cohn, 10/23)