WASHINGTON — In another setback for President Obama’s health care initiative, the administration has delayed until 2015 a significant consumer protection in the law that limits how much people may have to spend on their own health care. The limit on out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles and co-payments, was not supposed to exceed $6,350 for an…

Medicare’s Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) program lost two organizations that suffered $4 million in losses, while seven others have shifted to a less financially stringent ACO model. Those seven organizations plan to move to the Medicare Shared Savings Program, which permits bonus-only financial arrangements, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).…

Late yesterday, California’s trial attorneys made good on their May threat to ask voters to repeal California’s landmark Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA). Language was submitted to the California Attorney General in Sacramento, the first step in placing an initiative on the ballot. The initiative’s main provision would increase the cap on speculative, “non-economic”…