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Nearly 10 years ago, this county by the bay known for its progressive political leaps became one of the first in the nation to offer residents universal access to healthcare. Now the federal Affordable Care Act has been rolled out nationwide with the same goal in mind. But in an ironic twist, officials in this city are worried the new law could adversely affect some of the most vulnerable San Franciscans. The local health program known as Healthy San Francisco, which has served as many as 60,000 patients annually since its creation in 2007, is almost free. Obamacare plans, however, are not. ... County officials here are weighing ways to help residents pay for insurance plans offered through Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange. (Karlamangla, 7/6)

When economist Dan Polsky set out to study how many doctors were in the health-insurance networks available to Obamacare customers, he found out it was hard - even for him. How hard? "Nine out of 10," said Polsky, executive director of the University of Pennsylvania's Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. ... Polsky said insurers need to do more to help shoppers determine who is in the network they are considering. Otherwise, he predicted, lawmakers may set specific limits on how narrow networks can be. (Burling, 7/7)