Health Blogs Buzzing About Insurance Exchanges
Monday’s release of proposed regulations on the oft-talked about health insurance exchanges sparked a feverish 244-page read by bloggers who are now exchanging their own ideas on just what the regs will mean for the health law, for employers and for people looking to buy health insurance online. Here’s what some of them are saying: At […]
Sounding Off On Medicaid’s ‘Big Difference’ In Quality Of Life
How is quality of life affected by getting health insurance? Positively, both financially and mentally, a new study says. A group of researchers — led by economists from MIT and Harvard –sought to answer that question when they studied how getting health insurance coverage through Medicaid affected the health and well-being of low-income Oregon residents in a […]
Reax To Appellate Decision Upholding Health Law
Yesterday’s 6th Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the health law’s constitutionality has bloggers opining about what it might mean for a Supreme Court ruling and just who can count themselves the winner in the decision. Many consider a Republican appointee joining a Democratic appointee in upholding the constitutionality of the law as the most […]
Google Health Signing Off, Medicaid Funding And Planned Parenthood
With the launch of our new blog, Capsules, we’ve also resurrected Blogwatch, where we’ll track a variety of health policy blogs and give you the highlights in easy-to-swallow bites. I’m your new host, Andrew Villegas. Read your favorites or add to the conversation below: This week, bloggers are sounding off about the demise of Google Health, the Internet […]
Are ‘Mini-Med’ Plan Waivers A Good Idea?
Mark Rukavina of The Access Project and Neil Trautwein of the National Retail Federation discuss the Obama administration’s relaxation of the health law’s requirements for insurance plans for some employers.
Nurses’ Push For Bigger Role Gets Powerful Ally
An Institute of Medicine report says nurses should take on a larger role in providing health care and calls for removal of government restrictions, which doctors have repeatedly opposed.
Uninsured Rate Soars, 50+ Million Americans Without Coverage
In a reflection of the battered economy, the rate of uninsured Americans rose to 16.7 percent last year from 15.4 percent in 2008, according to a new Census Bureau report.
New Law Offers Hope For Homeless Health Care
Many homeless people are uninsured and ineligible for Medicaid. But that will change beginning in 2014, when Medicaid greatly expands under the new health law.
Sebelius To Governors: Extra Medicaid Money Comes With A String Attached
HHS Secretary Sebelius this week sent a letter to all governors telling them that if they want to continue receiving the enhanced Medicaid funds that Congress approved last week, they have to ask for the money.
Health Insurance Costs Rise Sharply For Unemployed As COBRA Subsidy Ends
When a program subsidizing health insurance for people who lose their jobs ended this year, it created a costly problem as the recession continues to throw workers off the payroll. COBRA coverage, which employees of many businesses can obtain after being laid off, typically is very expensive.
House leaders are taking the unusual step this week of interrupting the August recess to call members back to consider state aid legislation that includes $16 billion in federal Medicaid assistance. The Senate approved this funding package last week.
Seven Health Care Changes You Might Have Missed
Provisions such as eliminating co-payments for some preventive services, reviewing premium increases and expanding Medicaid coverage to adults without children could have a lasting impact on the health system.
COBRA, Medicaid Subsidies Still Loom Over Congressional Agenda
Democrats had hoped to extend health insurance subsidies for newly laid off workers, extend extra Medicaid payments to the states, and pass a long term Medicare ‘doc fix’ before the July 4 recess. But all they could accomplish was a short-term Medicare fix.
Renewed Threat Of Medicare Pay Cuts Leaves Doctors With ‘Sense Of Fatigue’
Doctors across the country find themselves
COBRA Subsidy Starts Running Out For Some As Congress Grapples With Extension
The proposal to extend COBRA subsidies to those laid off through the end of the year is languishing in Congress. So the unemployed may soon pay more to remain on COBRA, look for insurance on the individual market, go on Medicaid or lose coverage altogether. And that could further tax a health system already struggling to keep up with the number of uninsured.
Democrats Scale Back Medicare ‘Doc Fix,’ COBRA Subsidy Extension In Jobs Bill
Caught up in the congressional politics swirling around a pending tax bill are proposals that affect health care for newly laid-off workers as well as Medicare and Medicaid patients.
Sebelius, Holder: New Health Reform Law Will Help Prevent Medical Fraud
Obama administration officials, touting $2.5 billion recovered from Medicare overpayments and fraud, immediately turned to talk of how health reform could ensure bigger successes in the future.
Are Doctors Like Wall Street Lenders?
Unless clarifications are made in the financial overhaul legislation currently pending in Congress, doctors and dentists — as well as other health practitioners — are concerned that they will face hefty costs and paperwork burdens.
Studies: When Doctors Take More Responsibility, Care Becomes Cheaper And Better
Medical homes – where primary care doctors are held responsible for coordinating care for individual patients
Small Business Owners Have Mixed Reviews On Health Law’s Tax Credits
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the tax credit offered to small business owners to cover their employees could be a burden; others say it will help them afford insurance for their workers.
