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Even as turmoil in insurance markets nationwide fuels renewed election-year attacks on the Affordable Care Act, California is emerging as a clear illustration of what the law can achieve. The state has recorded some of the nation’s most dramatic gains in health coverage since 2013 while building a competitive insurance marketplace that offers consumers enhanced protections from high medical bills. (Levey, 10/7)

When Elizabeth Wolfe switched her insurance to Molina Healthcare Inc. earlier this year, her coverage changed dramatically. She had to stop going to her old doctors because they didn’t accept Molina. Her new health-maintenance-organization plan didn’t include some of the highest-profile hospitals in the Los Angeles area, where she lives. Losing her old doctors and switching to a no-frills clinic “was a big concern, but when we had to make the first premium payment, we got over that quickly,” she says. (Wilde Mathews, 10/6)

In a letter sent to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell on Thursday, 153 patient groups said they were encouraged by the department’s plans to extend standardized options plans into 2018, with the assumption that patients will be able to more easily compare plans across insurers. The groups encouraged HHS to go a step further and require issuers to offer the standardized plans in 2018. (McIntire, 10/6)

Delawareans are again facing steep price increases for health insurance next year under the Affordable Care Act. Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart has approved an average rate increase of 32.5 percent in the individual market for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware, which has the vast majority of the individual market share in Delaware. That follows an average premium increase of 22.4 percent for individual Highmark plans this year. (Chase, 10/6)