California seeks limits on small-business self-insurance trend

In recent weeks, critics of the Affordable Care Act have turned their attention to Massachusetts, where there's some evidence that the reforms signed into law by Mitt Romney in 2005 are struggling. But the evidence that they're struggling has been, well, a bit weak: Emergency room visits haven't dropped. Gov. Deval Patrick has been tussling with insurers over rates.

Business and insurance groups attack a proposal by California regulators to impose new limits on stop-loss coverage for small employers that want to self-insure.

The Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book report, which provides anecdotal data on economic conditions around the United States, paints a mixed picture. One of the things that came up a few times in the report was the Affordable Care Act.

ByChandrasekhar Rajagopalan:The decks seem to be cleared for the continued affordable care act or ACA implementation in healthcare reforms following the victory of U.S. President Barack Obama for a second term. However, challenges continue to remain for the President to overcome in his second stint.

By Suzy Khimm A Boston Globe story argues that thousands of customers are trying to game the Massachusetts health-care system by buying coverage when they need it and dropping it right afterward, despite the individual mandate to be insured: