Broker Regulation

Dozens of women on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, alleging that his participation in legal action seeking to overturn the new federal health care law threatens access to comprehensive coverage for women.

Groundwork is being laid to create a statewide health insurance exchange in Kentucky intended to reduce coverage costs, but it would be used only if the federal health care reform law is upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Medicare's payment system, the unseen but vital network that handles 100 million monthly claims, could freeze up if President Barack Obama's health care law is summarily overturned, the administration has quietly informed the courts.

The Obama administration is buying into an ambitious health care initiative in Oregon, announcing Thursday it has tentatively agreed to chip in $1.9 billion over five years to help get the program off the ground.

Federal authorities charged 107 doctors, nurses and social workers in seven cities with Medicare fraud Wednesday in a nationwide crackdown on unrelated scams that allegedly billed the taxpayer-funded program of $452 million the highest dollar amount in a single Medicare bust in U.S. history.

The Republican majority on the House Ways and Means Committee says the "Democrats' health care law," otherwise known as health care reform, contains policies that create "perverse financial incentives" for employers to stop offering health insurance to their employees.