Top health care reform stories

Wave goodbye to waivers: The Obama administration succumbed to political pressure this week, announcing that it will end the health care waiver program later this year. The announcement came despite a GAO report released last week that the administration hoped would allay suspicion that waivers were being awarded as political favors.

The McKinsey dustup continues: The controversy continued this week over the McKinsey study that found up to 30 percent of employers will drop their coverage in 2014. Under pressure by a group of Democrats led by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), McKinsey finally released the study's methodology. "The survey was rigorous after all," says Forbes.com blogger Avik Roy. Not so fast, says The Washington Post's Greg Sargent, who points out that the firm conceded the study was not predictive. (To follow BenefitsPro's ongoing coverage of the McKinsey controversy, see our McKinsey watch page.)