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One of the ideas behind the Affordable Care Act was to enable more Americans to afford health care coverage. But it turns out that some consumers are snubbing the ACA and picking another path: short-term coverage. (Picchi, 4/12)

Twenty-one states opted to add a new option for choosing insurance coverage to their small business insurance exchanges -- a move that regulators hope will encourage more participation from employers. The Small Business Health Option Program, or SHOP, exchanges, created under the health overhaul (PL 111-148, PL 111-152) to help small business owners offer their employees more options for health insurance coverage, have until now focused on letting employees choose between different insurers. Under the new option, called "vertical choice," employers can select a specific insurer and let employees choose from among different benefit levels that the company offers on the exchange. Those levels include bronze, silver, gold and platinum plans. (Mershon, 4/11)

New York is requiring insurers providing individual coverage through the state health exchange to allow victims of domestic violence or abandonment to enroll at any time. The Department of Financial Services says those enrollments should be available starting Friday for coverage outside the state-operated exchange. (4/11)

The staff at Your Health Idaho issued a bulletin to insurance agents on March 29, telling them what to do if a client cannot get treatment for a life-threatening illness or injury because of problems with health insurance. ... Your Health Idaho, the state's exchange, is not an insurance company. It is a conduit, responsible for helping Idahoans buy health plans that comply with the Affordable Care Act. ... Idaho's exchange operated with little turbulence and received praise for being lean and efficient after it opened in 2013, at first piggybacking on the federal exchange until Idaho built its own machinery to process tens of thousands of insurance applications each year. Now, however, some Idaho consumers and agents say the exchange is struggling to do its job. (Dutton, 4/11)

Massachusetts is marking the tenth anniversary of a landmark health care law that would later serve as a model for the federal Affordable Care Act. On April 12, 2006, then-Republican Gov. Mitt Romney signed the law during a Faneuil Hall ceremony, calling it a big step forward in health care reform. At Romney's side were Democratic leaders including the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, who championed universal health insurance on a national level. (4/11)

Ten years ago today, then-Gov. Mitt Romney signed into law a bill with an ambitious goal: health coverage for virtually every Massachusetts resident. To mark the 10th anniversary, we asked health experts of all stripes to assess the law’s first decade. Links to the commentaries are gathered here and at the bottom of this post. But first, 12 facts and figures. (Bebinger, 4/12)