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Gwen Hurd got the letter just before her shift at the outlet mall. Her health insurance company informed her that coverage for her family of three, purchased through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, would cost almost 60 percent more this year — $1,200 a month. She and her husband, a contractor, found a less expensive plan, but at $928 a month, it meant giving up date nights and saving for their future. Worse, the new policy required them to spend more than $6,000 per person before it covered much of anything. (Goodnough, 2/19)

Republicans and Democrats finally found something they can agree on about Obamacare: killing unpopular policies that were supposed to pay for the law or reduce health costs. The recent congressional spending deals repealed or delayed several Obamacare taxes, as well as a Medicare cost-cutting board. Removing those powerful levers, which terrified health providers and unions, is not a good omen for efforts to control health spending, which is expected to surge in the next few years. (Haberkorn, 2/19)

Responding to the federal repeal of the individual mandate requiring everyone to have health insurance, Maryland lawmakers are considering legislation that would impose the requirement at the state level. “We need to find some way to stabilize the individual insurance market. The premium increases we are facing are really high if we don’t,” said Sen. Brian J. Feldman, a Montgomery County Democrat and sponsor of the bill. (McDaniels, 2/20)

Scott Walker's plan to hold down Obamacare premiums is poised to pass the Senate and Assembly this week — a potential victory for the Wisconsin governor in passing his re-election agenda. The so-called "reinsurance" bill charts Walker's arc from fierce opposition to the Affordable Care Act — particularly in the lead-up to the 2016 Republican presidential primary — to a partial acceptance of it. (Stein, 2/19)

Ohio will soon ask the federal government to waive an Obamacare requirement that nearly everyone in the state get health insurance coverage. It will also ask permission to make some Medicaid recipients work 20 hours a week, go to school or take on similar activities. (Koff, 2/16)

Connecticut officials have joined a pushback against a Trump administration plan to allow unrelated employers to band together so they can provide their employees affordable — but perhaps limited — health care, while others in the state are celebrating the move.The plan, proposed by President Donald Trump in October, is being implemented by  Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, who is in the process of issuing a rule that would allow employers to join together to form an association health plan, or AHP, if they share a common industry or geographic area. (Radelat, 2/19)

In hopes of controlling MassHealth costs, Governor Charlie Baker in his fiscal 2019 budget proposal included new tools to manage growth in the program’s pharmacy spending and a transition of 140,000 non-disabled adults with incomes between 100 percent and 138 percent of the federal poverty line off of MassHealth and onto comparable plans at the Massachusetts Health Connector. (Lannan, 2/20)