Sen. Tim Kaine, D- Va., talked about the pressure for the creation of a universal Medicare buy-in program at a hearing on the individual health insurance market organized by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

A new report from analysts at the Congressional Budget Office predicts that federal spending on subsidies for three major ACA individual health insurance subsidy programs could amount to just $729 billion over the period from 2017 through 2026.

Political analysts are not expecting either the Medicare for All team or the Graham-Cassidy team to have much luck with getting its proposal through Congress in time to have any effect on health coverage in 2018, but either package, or both, could shape future legislation.

A firm focused on helping agents and brokers enroll people in Affordable Care Act public health insurance exchange plans has been acquired by GetInsured, a web broker.

Analysts say Health Care Service Corp may be strong enough to handle the turmoil in the ACA public exchange market.

Some Republicans see state rule waivers as a tool for smoothing over differences.

Managers of HealthCare.gov have gotten 7,350 insurance agents and brokers registered to sell health insurance exchange plans through its enrollment system for 2018, in spite of continuing uncertainty about how the individual major medical market will work in 2018.

Managers of the ACA CO-OPs that survived in 2017 have argued that the risk-adjustment program rules discriminate against smaller, newer, cheaper plans.