Articles by Alex Wayne

Obamacare November Enrollment Tops 250,000; Sebelius Seeks Probe of Botched Launch

More than 250,000 Americans selected private health insurance plans through Obamacare enrollment systems last month, better than twice as many as in October when the exchanges opened amid technology errors and outages. Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. health secretary, asked today …

Healthcare.gov Attracts 800,000 Visitors As Operation Improves

More than 800,000 visitors gave the hobbled Obamacare website another chance as the government continued to work on software repairs, including a fix to the system that sends customer data to insurers. The rush yesterday to healthcare.gov followed a Dec. …

Obamacare’s Small Business Exchange Site Delayed 1 Year

Small businesses won’t be able to use the federal government’s health insurance website until November 2014 in most U.S. states, the latest delay for the Obama administration’s health-care system overhaul. Businesses can use brokers or enroll directly with insurers in …

State Insurance Commissioners Lack Consensus on Cancellations

Kansas, North Dakota and other state insurance commissioners snubbed a meeting with President Barack Obama set up to discuss allowing some people to keep medical plans that don’t meet the requirements of the U.S. health law. Six commissioners e-mailed their …

Obamacare Banking on Enrollment Surge Near Deadlines

Almost 1 million people who applied for health care on the government insurance exchanges last month left without choosing a plan, a pipeline of potential customers the Obama administration must persuade to return. While 106,185 people enrolled, 10 times as …

Administration Says 500K Americans Have Submitted Obamacare Applications

Almost 500,000 Americans have submitted applications for health insurance through the online exchanges being run by the federal government and 14 states, according to an Obama administration official. Consumer use of healthcare.gov has been stymied by technical glitches since it …

Obamacare Exchanges Open for Business Today; Some Glitches Expected

The three-year effort to open the Obamacare health-insurance exchanges culminates today, beset by logistical delays and efforts by Republicans to shut down the U.S. government in protest. Even states that have cooperated with the rollout, designed to enroll the uninsured …

Obamacare’s Small Business Health Markets Delayed a Month

Small businesses won’t be able to enroll in new online health insurance marketplaces until Nov. 1 in most U.S. states, the latest delay for the Obama administration’s signature health-care law. Small businesses won’t be able to sign up their employees …

Employer-Based Health Insurance Continues to Decline

The share of Americans who get health insurance through their jobs fell for the fourth straight year as aging baby boomers piled into the U.S. government’s Medicare plan and other adults sought coverage on their own. Medicare enrollment rose to …

Obamacare Premiums Called Affordable in 17-State Survey

A 25-year-old New Yorker earning $25,000 a year will pay as little as $62 a month for health insurance next year, and a peer living in Vermont may pay nothing, according to a 17-state survey of premiums under the U.S. …