IN ADDITION TO articles done by Peninsula Daily News staffers on the federal Affordable Care Act’s local and state impacts, we want to share with you a new Seattle Times blog, “Healthcare Checkup.”

It is focused on helping Washington state residents understand the Affordable Care Act and how the federal health-care law affects everyone — insured or not.

The blog is produced by Times staffers through a partnership with Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent part of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy research and communication organization that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

To those without a paid print or digital subscription, The Seattle Times allows access to its website, www.Seattletimes.com, on only a limited basis.

If you visit the site repeatedly, you will ultimately encounter a barrier requiring a subscription.

Here are links to three stories currently in the blog:

1. “What you need to know about health-care deadlines”— last updated 1/09, 12:58 PM: http://blogs.seattletimes.com/healthcarecheckup/2014/01/09/what-you-need-to-know-about-health-care-deadlines/

1. “Medicaid enrollment meeting goals, private insurance falling short“ — last updated 1/07, 09:36 PM: http://blogs.seattletimes.com/healthcarecheckup/2014/01/07/medicaid-enrollment-meeting-goals-private-insurance-falling-short/

3. “State files to change Medicaid policy to recover only long-term care costs “ — Last updated 12/31, 06:37 PM: http://blogs.seattletimes.com/healthcarecheckup/2013/12/31/state-files-to-change-medicaid-policy-to-recover-only-long-term-care-costs/