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Health Exchange Outreach Targets Latinos

States and the federal government have a big job to do when it comes to explaining to the uninsured how to buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The success of the law will be judged in part by how many Latinos sign up.

Toothache? The ER doctor will see you now.

Dental Visits To ERs Are On The Rise

More than 800,000 visits to hospital emergency rooms in 2009 were for toothaches and other avoidable dental ailments. In hard times, states often cut Medicaid's dental benefits, pushing low-income patients from the dentist's office to the emergency room.

Heavy Doctors Avoid Heavy Discussions About Weight

Physicians who pack on the pounds discuss weight loss less frequently with obese patients than doctors who have normal weights, a study finds. Overweight and obese physicians expressed greater confidence in prescribing weight-loss drugs than other doctors.

Health insurance that lasts less than a year may look like a deal, but there could be hidden costs.

Short-Term Insurance Skirts Health Law To Cut Costs

Plans offering coverage that lasts 364 days can cost half as much as those that are in force for a year. But the savings may be illusory for people who need care for injuries or illnesses because the coverage can be skimpier.

Maria Webster joins others protesting Texas Gov. Rick Perry's stance against the Affordable Care Act in early 2013.

5 Things That Could Alter The Perception Of Obamacare

Insurance enrollment will be a key yardstick for assessing whether the Affordable Care Act is working. Almost as important as the total number of people who get coverage is whether a significant percentage of them are healthy.

Part-Time Workers With Minimal Health Coverage Get New Options

Many health insurance policies for part-time workers will end next year and won't be renewed. Better quality choices will likely be on the menu for these workers, though they are also going to cost people more.

Martha Castro lives on the streets in Los Angeles' Skid Row neighborhood. She's still resistant to the idea that she can now get health coverage because of California's expansion of Medicaid.

Obamacare Brings Medicaid To Skid Row's 'Ugly Reality'

Among those who stand to benefit the most from the expansion of Medicaid are homeless adults. Many of these men and women are mentally ill or addicted to drugs and alcohol. Enrolling them can be difficult, but the benefits should be substantial.

For Tambra Momi, who has Dercum's disease, health coverage can't come soon enough.

Uninsured Fret About Getting Health Coverage By New Year's Day

The technological trials for the online health insurance exchanges have turned an enrollment period that was supposed to be a leisurely three-month stroll into a last-minute sprint for millions of Americans. People who want coverage that starts at the beginning of 2014 need to sign up no later than Dec. 23.

President Obama laid out a plan Thursday to allow people who received insurance cancellation notices to keep their coverage, at least for a while.

Consumer Guide To Obama's Plan For Canceled Health Policies

The president offered a fix for people whose insurance coverage has been canceled because it didn't meet the minimum standards of the federal health law. But will insurers follow through? And even if they want to, will state regulators let them?

Many people who buy their own health insurance are being told their policieswill be canceled. New coverage may cost more and sometimes less, but it can't be denied because or pre-existing conditions.

Why Insurers Cancel Policies, And What You Can Do About It

No one knows for sure right now how many of the estimated 14 million people who buy their own coverage are getting cancellation notices, but the numbers appear to be big. Some insurers report discontinuing 20 percent of their individual business, while other insurers have notified up to 80 percent of policyholders that they will have to change plans.

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