Articles by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

Undoing Health Care Law Could Produce Ripple Effects

It sounds like a silver lining. Even if the Supreme Court overturns President Barack Obama’s health care law, employers can keep offering popular coverage for the young adult children of their workers. But here’s the catch: The parents’ taxes would …

Small Firms’ Health Insurance Tax Break Disappoints

It seemed like a good idea at the time. But a health insurance tax credit for small businesses, part of President Barack Obama’s health care law that gets strong support in public opinion polls, has turned out to be a …

Consumer Rebates Under Medical Loss Ratio Estimated to Be $1.3 Billion

More than 3 million health insurance policyholders and thousands of employers will share $1.3 billion in rebates this year, thanks to President Barack Obama’s health care law, according to a nonpartisan research group. The rebates should average $127 for the …

What to Expect If Supreme Court Strikes Down Obamacare

If the Supreme Court strikes down President Barack Obama’s health care law, employers and insurance companies — not the government — will be the main drivers of change over the next decade and maybe even longer. They’ll borrow some ideas …

6 Ways Supreme Court Could Rule on Healthcare Law

The Supreme Court has several options in ruling on President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, from upholding the law to striking it down in its entirety. The court also could avoid deciding the law’s constitutionality at all, if it finds …

Administration Grants States Leeway on Health Benefits Package

The Obama administration has rolled out a benefits framework for millions of people who will get private insurance through the health care overhaul, but states will decide the specifics. The new law calls for the federal government to set a …

Electronic Medical Records Not Without Risks to Patient Safety: Report

The nation’s transition to electronic medical records, now in full swing, risks overlooking potential patient safety problems, independent advisers warned the Obama administration in a report this week. Computerized medical records have been sold as a powerful tool to improve …

States Grapple with Healthcare Overhaul

True or false: States suing to overturn core requirements of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul are refusing to carry out the law. If you said ‘true,” you’d be wrong. Republican state legislators and governors are working on how to …

Might Obamacare Substitute Medicare Approach for Individual Mandate?

The courts may not get the last word after all on President Barack Obama’s historic health care overhaul. A Virginia federal judge ruled this week that the law’s key requirement for individuals to carry health insurance is unconstitutional. But even …

Premiums for New High Risk Pool to Average $400-$600 Per Month

President Barack Obama’s new health coverage for uninsured people with health problems won’t be cheap — monthly premiums as high as $900, administration officials said. Prices will vary by state and type of coverage from a low of $140 a …