Month: October 2013

By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) – While technical problems slowed the launch of new "Obamacare" websites to sell health insurance on Tuesday, the law's supporters on Twitter had an easier time welcoming the "Affordable Care Cat." Celebrities and community groups took to social media to promote President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law popularly known as Obamacare, that aims to provide health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans beginning next year. …

WASHINGTON (AP) — Patients hoping to enroll for treatment in cutting-edge research studies at the National Institutes of Health’s renowned hospital will have to seek care elsewhere during the government shutdown.

CHICAGO (AP) — The online insurance marketplaces that are at the heart of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul struggled to handle the wave of eager new consumers Tuesday, the first day of a six-month open-enrollment period that inaugurates the biggest expansion in coverage in nearly 50 years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hailing it as an "historic day," President Barack Obama pressed forward his flagship health care program Tuesday, inaugurating new insurance exchanges to expand access for those without coverage despite the shutdown taking hold across much of the government.

By Andy Sullivan and John Whitesides WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Up to one million federal workers were thrown temporarily out of work on Tuesday as the U.S. government partially shut down for the first time in 17 years in a standoff between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans over healthcare reforms. The stalemate closed museums and national parks and slowed everything from trade negotiations to medical research, while sparking new questions about the ability of a deeply divided Congress to perform its most basic functions. …

By David Morgan and Caroline Humer (Reuters) – Technical glitches stalled Tuesday's launch of new insurance exchanges at the heart of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, a slow start that could fuel the political debate over providing millions of uninsured Americans with coverage. The administration went ahead with opening day for a six-month enrollment period on the state marketplaces, or exchanges, despite a partial federal government shutdown precipitated by Republican opposition to the healthcare law that deadlocked a spending bill in Congress. …

By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) – Merck & Co, taking a cue from rival drugmakers that have slashed research spending to bolster earnings, said it will cut annual operating costs by $2.5 billion and eliminate 8,500 jobs, or more than 10 percent of its global workforce. Merck, whose shares rose 2.3 percent, said it aims to narrow its focus to products with the best chance of winning regulatory approval and achieving substantial sales. It will jettison research products with less likelihood of success. …

By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday blamed Republicans for an "ideological crusade" aimed at his healthcare program and urged lawmakers to vote to keep government operations running and to raise the nation's borrowing cap without conditions. "They've shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans," he said in remarks in the White House Rose Garden. …

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hailing it as an "historic day," President Barack Obama pressed forward his flagship health care program Tuesday, inaugurating new insurance exchanges to expand access for those without coverage despite the shutdown taking hold across much of the government.