The 2010 Affordable Care Act legislated the use of Community Transformation Grants, an allocation of dollars to states and other local jurisdictions to promote preventative care and healthy lifestyles. On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced $103 million in grants across the United States. Initiatives approved include anti-tobacco programs, healthy eating incentives, and physical activity programs geared at children.

One of the key missions of the Affordable Care Act is to shrink the number of uninsured Americans, currently approaching 50 million people. Government estimates project that health reform will provide coverage for a significant portion, somewhere between 30 and 40 million people by 2014. In all of the bickering about the appropriateness of the law and its measures, there has been little discussion regarding how insuring more Americans will positively impact those who already have coverage from an employer or government program.

Health officials from the states -- even those with Republican leadership opposed to the health reform law -- met with Obama administration officials in Washington yesterday to discuss partnerships for establishing and running health insurance exchanges, according to Kaiser Health News and McClatchy News Service.

In spite of predictions by reform law opponents and objective analysts alike that Medicare Advantage enrollees would face higher premium rates when the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finds that insurers, beneficiaries, and taxpayers have all benefited. In fact, premium rates for seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage, the private insurance options contracted by the Medicare program, fell this year and are expected to decline an additional 4% in 2012.

Health Insurance Exchange discussions typically feature two key points:

The Houston Chronicle reports that Illinois state lawmakers tasked with making recommendations to the General Assembly have received campaign dollars from health insurers who could potentially benefit from the organization of the state's health insurance exchange. The contributions found their way into the political coffers of the Illinois study committee's co-chairpersons, representing both sides of the aisle.

This blog post is by Chad Perman, a first-year master's student at the Maryland School of Public Policy who will be helping out with the "Making Health Care Reform Work" blog.

Kaiser Health News has a good story today chronicling some consumer advocates' displeasure with how multiple facets of the health reform law have been implemented. Some advocates, while unwilling to speak out publicly, have voiced private concerns that decision after decision is favoring business interests over those of individual consumers.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began soliciting proposals for bundled payments to treat patients, with specific deadlines for four different models.

One of the less controversial -- though not less important -- components of the health reform law requires insurers to present their coverage products to consumers in a standardized format, akin to nutrition labels on food. The goal is to help consumers avoid the "fine print" pitfalls that sometimes mark insurance products.