Young people who fall into a gap between their parents’ health insurance plans and coverage through employers need to get information on how the federal exchange now open in Arizona can protect them should they face major health problems, advocates said Monday.

It was still a workday Tuesday for many staffers in Arizona’s congressional offices, even as other parts of the government were shut down by a budget impasse – and even though there’s no guarantee they will get paid for this time.

Arizonans without employer-provided health insurance were finally able to shop for policies Tuesday on a federally run website, with nonprofits providing outreach and assistance to potential enrollees trying to navigate the process.

Gov. Jan Brewer said a delay of Obamacare’s individual mandate isn’t worth a federal government shutdown.

Arizonans find lots to criticize amidst a few glimmers of praise

A huge rise in deportations. Regulatory overreach. Borderlands decimated by off-road vehicles. Operation Fast and Furious. More than four years after Barack Obama became president, liberals and conservatives alike have lots to criticize about what has happened in Arizona during his presidency.

The Obama administration’s decision to delay an employer-mandate in the Affordable Care Act has earned the praise of Arizona businesses but has left political observers concerned about rising costs and the possibility for further delays.

Influential legislators today concluded that the federal government’s decision not to infuse more dollars to states that don’t fully comply with the Affordable Care Act dealt a major blow to any proposal in the upcoming session that would seek to restore health care cuts made during the height of the recession.

An Arizona woman is scheduled to speak at the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina about the impact of health care reform on her family.

If the feds can’t force Arizona to move forward with the massive Medicaid expansion, it’s a near certainty the Republican-led Legislature won’t do it for them. Though the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the core of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, it ruled that the federal government couldn’t force states to expand health care for the poor by threatening to take away other Medicaid funding.

Arizona lawmakers who are hesitant about creating a state-run health insurance exchange, a key provision of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, will have some extra time to debate the issue.