HCR Update from Mark Sanna: House Republicans were so opposed to forcing people to buy health insurance that they fought Obamacare all the way to the Supreme Court. But now they may be okay with an individual mandate — if it's for illegal immigrants. Members of a House immigration group are considering a rule that would force immigrants to buy their own health insurance while they wait for citizenship.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: While most of the attention on the Obama administration’s health care law has been on providing coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans by 2014, workers with employer-paid health insurance are also beginning to feel the effects. Companies hoping to avoid the "Cadillac" tax are beginning to scale back the more generous health benefits they have traditionally offered and to look harder for ways to bring down the overall cost of care.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The monthly cost for policies sold on California's state-run health insurance exchange came in lower than the 30% rate increases some had anticipated, though some consumers will still experience sharply higher premiums. Blue Shield of California estimated that current customers would see rate increases of about 13%.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: More than half of doctors' offices and 80 percent of hospitals that provide Medicare or Medicaid will have electronic health records by the end of the year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced this week.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The Obama administration’s efforts to raise private money to carry out the president’s health care law have provoked such a strong partisan uproar that potential donors have become skittish about contributing, according to several people involved in the fund-raising program.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Conservative lawmakers and tea party advocates Thursday sought to link the IRS scandal to efforts to repeal Obamacare, even acknowledging the potential of impeachment. Rep. Michele Bachmann made the leap from Benghazi to the IRS scandal to Obamacare, a progression she said was all related.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, has solicited sizable donations from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and H&R Block, the tax preparation service, as part of a multimillion-dollar campaign to ensure the success of President Obama’s health care law, even as a leading Senate Republican raised questions about the legality of her efforts. The foundation is expected to contribute as much as $10 million, while H&R Block is expected to make a smaller donation of about $500,000.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The nation’s largest cardiovascular health organization has a new message for Americans: Owning a dog may protect you from heart disease. The unusual message was contained in a scientific statement published on Thursday by the American Heart Association, which convened a panel of experts to review years of data on the cardiovascular benefits of owning a pet. The group concluded that owning a dog, in particular, was probably associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Data being released for the first time by the government today shows that hospitals charge Medicare wildly differing amounts — sometimes 10 to 20 times what Medicare typically reimburses — for the same procedure, raising questions about how hospitals determine prices and why they differ so widely. The data for 3,300 hospitals, released by CMS, shows wide variations not only regionally but among hospitals in the same area or city.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: For the third time, Republicans are trying to make the new health care law perhaps the biggest issue of the elections, and are preparing to exploit every problem that arises. After many unsuccessful efforts to repeal the law, the Republican-led House plans another vote soon. And Republican governors or legislatures in many states are balking at participating, leaving Washington responsible for the marketplaces.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: In a study published today in the journal Pediatrics, scientists report that infants whose parents sucked on their pacifiers to clean them developed fewer allergies than children whose parents typically rinsed or boiled them. They also had lower rates of eczema, fewer signs of asthma and smaller amounts of a type of white blood cell that rises in response to allergies and other disorders.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The nation's largest health insurers are far from leaping at the chance to join new state health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's reform law, making it likely that some markets will have little or no competition next year. … But health insurers, some of whom fought the law before it was passed and continue to lobby to reverse parts of it, are wary.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Scientists have discovered that the most dangerous cancer of the uterine lining closely resembles the worst ovarian and breast cancers, providing the most telling evidence yet that cancer will increasingly be seen as a disease defined primarily by its genetic fingerprint rather than just by the organ where it originated. The study of endometrial cancer and another of acute myeloid leukemia were published simultaneously on Wednesday by Nature and The New England Journal of Medicine.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Yesterday, federal officials released simplified application forms to be used by people seeking health insurance, tax credits and other government subsidies under the law, which Mr. Obama signed 3 years ago. The new application forms — one for individuals is 3 pages long, and another for families is 7 pages — are significantly shorter than a 21-page draft that the administration circulated earlier this year. Major provisions of the law take effect next Jan. 1, when most Americans will be required to have health insurance.