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Among the thousands of hospitals in the U.S., Medicare has identified 95 where elderly patients were most likely to suffer significant setbacks and another 97 hospitals where patients tended to have the smoothest recoveries.

Dr. Tim Ihrig has almost become a member of the Avelleyra family. He's helping Augie and Phyllis, who've been married 60 years, lead the best lives they can under trying health circumstances. When Phyllis was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, Ihrig asked what she wanted from the rest of her life.

Medicare has tied incentive payments and penalties to two-dozen quality measurements, including surveys of patient satisfaction and death rates. More than 1,200 hospitals are receiving bonuses. But more hospitals are being paid less for each Medicare patient they treat for the year that began Oct. 1.

Among other things, the law prohibits treatment limits and copayments or deductibles that are more restrictive than a health insurance plan's medical coverage. Now regulations make the specifics clearer.

People with employer-based health plans won't have to shop for coverage on the exchanges. Still, the federal health law can affect them. As employers adjust plans to meet new requirements, people can expect to see changes in their coverage.

After Angelina Jolie announced she has a genetic variant that raises her risk of breast cancer, many women asked their doctors for the test. Insurers will pay for tests only if there's a clear indication that it would help shape medical care. That's often not the case.

Taxes have been part of health plan costs for decades, but they're not usually itemized on customers' bills. But a leading insurer in Alabama has calculated its customers' shares of taxes being paid by the company under the Affordable Care Act.

A likely change in obscure rules governing the Affordable Care Act could save unions a bundle. A fee that starts at $63 for each person covered by union insurance in 2014 would be waived if the administration proceeds as expected.

Some Californians are choosing plans that don't comply with the Affordable Care Act to save money. They have only a few weeks left to pick coverage that will last a year. It will eventually be replaced by health insurance that includes a full range of essential benefits, but at a higher cost.

Even for those with the will and drive to pursue treatment, the process remains difficult, frightening and full of holes. Mental health advocates say little has come, on the federal level, from the task forces and promises that followed the Newtown shootings.