Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Former Kansas Insurance Chief Says Health Law Could Be Fixed If Fellow Republicans Would Help
Former Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger says members of Congress should set aside partisan differences and fix problems with the Affordable Care Act. Failing to do so, she warned, could hasten consideration of a single-payer system. Praeger, a Republican who crossed party lines while in office to support the ACA, says the problems that are causing some insurance companies to pull out of the online health insurance marketplace are fixable. (McLean, 9/15)
Missouri-based Centene Corp. is seeking regulatory approval to sell ACA marketplace health insurance in Maricopa and Pima counties next year. Cigna would join the effort as a medical provider for Centene's insurance plans in Maricopa County, but Cigna now says that it doesn't expect to offer its own marketplace insurance in Maricopa County. (Alltucker, 9/15)
Oregon settled with a California software giant in a lawsuit that accused Oracle America Inc. of collecting tens of millions of dollars to create a state health care exchange website that didn't work. The state initially asked for more than $6 billion in punitive damages when it filed the lawsuit in 2014 against the Redwood Shores, California company, but Oregon ultimately accepted a package that included $35 million in cash payments and software licensing agreements and technical support with an estimated upfront worth of $60 million. (Flaccus, 9/15)
