Feds Reject Hawaii’s 10-Day Medicaid Hospital Limit
Updated at 4:15 p.m. The Obama administration has rejected Hawaii’s proposal to limit most adult Medicaid recipients to 10 days of hospital coverage per year, which would have been the strictest in the nation. Instead, Hawaii has been approved to implement a 30-day hospital coverage limit starting July 1, state and federal health officials say. […]
Inside The Courtroom On The Final, Historic Day
At 1 p.m. sharp on Wednesday, the loud buzzer sounded, and from behind floor-length ruby curtains and four marble columns, the nine justices emerged to take their chairs. Chief Justice John Roberts, seated in the center in a high-backed leather chair, quickly brought down the gavel. And the last of four hearings into the 2010 health […]
Crowd Dwindles On Final Day of Health Law Arguments
A smaller and more subdued crowd gathered outside the Supreme Court Wednesday for the third and final day of the historic hearings over President Obama’ health care law. About 100 supporters of the law, many carrying signs saying, “Protect our Health, Protect the Law,” marched in front of the Court, while about 30 opponents stood […]
Pundits Parse Tough Questions By Conservative Justices
The second day of the momentous Supreme Court hearing on President Obama’s health law ended almost exactly at noon. By 12:03, many conservative lawmakers and television commentators who had been in the packed chambers stood on the marble steps outside, saying the health insurance mandate at the heart of the law appeared to be in deep trouble. […]
Hundreds Brave Chilly Weather For Chance To Witness History
With the Supreme Court poised Tuesday to hear arguments about the health law’s mandate requiring most Americans to buy health insurance, about 200 advocates for and against abortion rights marched outside the court on a sunny, but chilly morning. They carried signs saying, “Abortion is not Health Care,” and “Protect the Law.” A few feet […]
Debate Over Law Sparks Mostly Civil Exchanges Outside High Court
Scores of opponents and supporters of the health care law rallied next to each other for over three hours Monday, before, during and after the Supreme Court hearing. “Protect our care, protect our law,” yelled the law’s backers as they marched in a circle, some with shirts that read, “Death is not an option.” “We […]
Health Law Accelerates Industry Changes
Experts don’t expect the Supreme Court’s ruling to alter that course.
Dozens Gather Outside Court Hoping to Witness, Shape History
WASHINGTON — Chanting “ACA is here to stay,” and accompanied by a trumpet and drums, about 100 supporters of the 2010 health law rallied outside the Supreme Court Monday morning, as attorneys prepared for three days of oral arguments in the most anticipated high court hearing in years. Fewer than 20 health law opponents also […]
New Rule Spells Out Streamlined Medicaid Eligibility
Most people who apply for health coverage in the new online marketplaces required by the federal health law will be able to learn almost instantly if they qualify for Medicaid or premium subsidies, Medicaid chief Cindy Mann said Friday. Mann said currently most people who apply for Medicaid must wait days or weeks until states determine their […]
For Tavenners, It’s All In The Family
Hospital administrators have to deal with Medicare and Medicaid almost every day. Not too many have their mom as head of the two government health insurance programs. Matt Tavenner does. Matt, assistant administrator at Jackson Purchase Medical Center in Mayfield, Ky., is the son of Marilyn Tavenner, whom President Barack Obama in December nominated to […]
Hospitals Demand Payment Upfront From ER Patients With Routine Problems
Proponents say the policy saves time and money, but critics fear people will be discouraged from seeking emergency room care when they need it.
HHS Seeks To Cut Preterm Births
The Obama administration launched a $40 million effort Wednesday to reduce premature births, especially early elective deliveries, but it has no plans to stop Medicaid from paying for those deliveries. About 10 percent of all deliveries are scheduled — either as induced or Cesarean-section –before 39 weeks and are not medically indicated, according to the Department of Health […]
Hospitals Mine Their Patients’ Records In Search Of Customers
Hospitals say they are promoting needed services, such as cancer screenings and cholesterol tests, but they often use the data to target patients with private health insurance, which typically pay higher rates than government coverage.
Study: Health Law’s Tax On Insurers Will Take Bite Out Of Medicaid
Under the health care overhaul, the federal government will begin taxing itself and the states beginning in 2014. And that’s giving state Medicaid directors heartburn. The law calls for a new tax on health insurers’ premium revenue — intended to help pay for expansion of coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans. But the tax will be paid by all […]
‘Oy Vey’: Jewish Republicans In South Florida See Little To Like In Health Care Law
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Waiting for Newt Gingrich to arrive at a Republican Jewish Coalition rally here late afternoon Friday, Connie Cestari, 80, said health care will be a top issue for her in November. She said she’s voting Republican in part to make sure the 2010 health overhaul gets overturned, because it gives the government too big a role in health. […]
States Ease Barriers To Medicaid, CHIP Enrollment, Survey Says
Updated at 10:55 a.m. Half the states last year made it easier for children and their parents to enroll in Medicaid by streamlining enrollment and using technology advances to verify citizenship requirements, according to a report released Wednesday. Medicaid is the state-federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled that covers about 60 million Americans. […]
Alaska To Spend $200K A Year For Each High Risk Pool Member
Alaska has long been known as one of the most expensive places to live in the United States. Those higher costs extend to health care services as well. A high risk pool set up under the federal health overhaul to help the uninsured who have pre-existing medical conditions expects to spend $10 million this year […]
‘Almost Heaven’ Meets ‘Paradise’ — Virgin Islands and West Virginia Discuss An Exchange
One place, known for its Appalachian Mountains and rich coal supply, was immortalized in John Denver’s 1970s hit, “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” The other has white sandy beaches, rum distilling and an average January high temperature of 86 degrees that attracts millions of tourists each year. From economy to climate, West Virginia and the U.S. Virgin Islands […]
The Supreme Court, The Individual Mandate, And Eating Your Broccoli
One of the major arguments against the individual health insurance mandate in the federal health overhaul is this: If Congress can force most Americans to buy health insurance, can’t it also require people to buy broccoli? It’s a question a senior Obama administration official faced Friday in a briefing with reporters an hour before the Justice […]
9 States Seek Help For High-Risk Pools
Nine states have asked the federal government for more money to make sure their new high-risk pools that provide health coverage for people with pre-existing conditions don’t run out of money before 2014, the Obama administration said Thursday Two of the states — California and New Hampshire — have already been promised additional money. The […]
