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Under the health law, pediatric dental coverage is one of 10 core health benefits that must be offered to people who shop for plans on the health insurance marketplaces. But the plans are only required to cover only medically necessary orthodontia.

Clubfoot is a common birth defect that can make walking difficult. It used to be treated with surgery, which could have serious side effects, but a simple nonsurgical solution is now the norm. It took years of pushing by parents for that treatment to become accepted.

Taxes have been part of health plan costs for decades, but they're not usually itemized on customers' bills. But a leading insurer in Alabama has calculated its customers' shares of taxes being paid by the company under the Affordable Care Act.

Dr. Tim Ihrig has almost become a member of the Avelleyra family. He's helping Augie and Phyllis, who've been married 60 years, lead the best lives they can under trying health circumstances. When Phyllis was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, Ihrig asked what she wanted from the rest of her life.

The technological trials for the online health insurance exchanges have turned an enrollment period that was supposed to be a leisurely three-month stroll into a last-minute sprint for millions of Americans. People who want coverage that starts at the beginning of 2014 need to sign up no later than Dec. 23.

Among other things, the law prohibits treatment limits and copayments or deductibles that are more restrictive than a health insurance plan's medical coverage. Now regulations make the specifics clearer.

Medicare has tied incentive payments and penalties to two-dozen quality measurements, including surveys of patient satisfaction and death rates. More than 1,200 hospitals are receiving bonuses. But more hospitals are being paid less for each Medicare patient they treat for the year that began Oct. 1.

Some Californians are choosing plans that don't comply with the Affordable Care Act to save money. They have only a few weeks left to pick coverage that will last a year. It will eventually be replaced by health insurance that includes a full range of essential benefits, but at a higher cost.

After Angelina Jolie announced she has a genetic variant that raises her risk of breast cancer, many women asked their doctors for the test. Insurers will pay for tests only if there's a clear indication that it would help shape medical care. That's often not the case.

Among the thousands of hospitals in the U.S., Medicare has identified 95 where elderly patients were most likely to suffer significant setbacks and another 97 hospitals where patients tended to have the smoothest recoveries.