Free Republic

The White House is meeting with CEOs of health plans on Wednesday, according to two insurance industry sources. The insurance executives are meeting with Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett and chief of staff Denis McDonough, the sources told POLITICO on Tuesday evening. The White House didn’t immediately confirm the meeting. Insurers have a lot riding on the success of Obamacare enrollment — which is being stymied by pervasive technical problems with the federal website, HealthCare.gov. HHS has announced stepped-up efforts to resolve the signup problems. The White House hasn’t announced how many people have successfully enrolled, although insurers have described it...

Senate Democratic leaders say last-minute changes to the health care bill include giving nonprofit health insurance companies an exemption from the excise tax on insurers, a revision pushed by Sen. Carl Levin, who is a major recipient of campaign contributions form mega nonprofit Blue Cross Blue Shield. The excise tax or fee on health insurance companies was expected to bring in $6.7 billion to help pay for the nearly $1 trillion bill, but the complete exemption for nonprofits sought by Mr. Levin, Michigan Democrat, would cut the revenue in half. "The health insurance fee proposal in the pending Senate bill...