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A push in states to protect consumers’ insurance tax credits in the face of a Supreme Court challenge is losing steam because of political and practical obstacles to reworking the health law’s exchanges, raising the stakes in the court battle. At issue are subsidies for millions of consumers under the Affordable Care Act that make health plans cheaper. In 37 mostly Republican-controlled states, the federal government has a hand in running the exchanges where consumers buy insurance. About 4.7 million people in those states got billions of dollars of tax credits to offset the cost of insurance premiums for 2014, and more are expected to get them this year. (Radnofsky, 1/15)

California's Obamacare exchange rejected a bid from the nation's largest health insurer to start selling coverage statewide next year. The Covered California board adopted new rules Thursday that sharply limit where industry giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. could offer policies to individuals. Many consumer advocates backed the exchange's decision. But California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones panned it, saying Californians deserve more choice and competition statewide. (Terhune, 1/15)

When Dennie Wright went to sign up for Affordable Care Act insurance last year, it wasn’t a hard decision. His insurance agent told him he had only one insurer – Anthem Blue Cross – that he could buy from on the exchange, Covered California. Wright lives in a modest house overlooking a pasture in Indian Valley. It’s a tiny alpine community at the northern end of the Sierra Mountains, close to the border with Nevada. He lives in one of 250 zip codes where Blue Shield of California stopped selling individual insurance policies in 2014. (Bartolone, 1/15)

A federal report says about 75,900 Kansans either signed up or automatically re-enrolled in a health care plan through the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says those who signed up by Thursday will receive their coverage starting Feb. 1. The final open enrollment deadline for this year is Feb. 15. (1/15)