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On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton issued her defense of the Affordable Care Act and proposals to change the landmark health law, signaling the next battle in a war with all the signs of a political stalemate. Americans are basically evenly split in their assessments of the law and sharply divided along partisan lines; Republican presidential candidates want to scrap the law, while Democrats support keeping it (Clinton) or expanding it (Bernie Sanders). None of this is new to anybody, nor expected to change anytime soon. (Clement, 9/23)

In a bit of poetic justice, a tax named after an automobile brand got a boost from contract negotiations in the Motor City. That new federal levy, officially called an excise tax on high-cost health coverage, is better known as the "Cadillac tax." Under this provision of the Affordable Care Act, employer-sponsored health coverage worth more than $10,200 per year to an individual or $27,500 per year to a family will be subject to a 40 percent tax on the amount that exceeds the threshold. The tax doesn't take effect until 2018, and as we get closer to that date, pressure in Congress is building to repeal it. (Eisenhower, 9/24)

A federal oversight agency says the New York Health Exchange's internal controls sometimes were ineffective in verifying household income and reconciling inconsistent data for people enrolling for coverage and financial assistance. The Department of Health and Human Services inspector general says that doesn't necessarily mean the exchange improperly enrolled applicants, noting that other controls did work, like verifying Social Security numbers. (9/24)