More Elderly and Disabled Medicaid Patients Headed for Managed Long-Term Care
Some patient advocates and nursing homes object, but health plans say they can reduce states’ costs.
Blumenthal To Leave Obama’s Health IT Office
Harvard researcher paved the way for a $27 billion effort to push doctors and hospitals into the digital age.
Who Is A President To Turn To? HHS Or The Business Roundtable?
In health care speech, Obama ignores new HHS study on insurance costs and cites 2009 industry report instead.
Meet Two ‘Ordinary Americans’ Recruited by Obama For State Of The Union
Two people who benefited from the health care law provide State of the Union support.
FAQ: Selling Health Insurance Across State Lines
More than 60 House Republicans are sponsoring a bill to permit the sale of health insurance across state lines. Consumer advocacy groups argue such provisions would erode many state protections.
2 Million Medicare Beneficiaries Missing Out On Discounted Drug Coverage
Federal officials turn to ads and pitches from Chubby Checker to help get low-income seniors to enroll in the drug discount program.
More Patients Making Appointments Online As Doctors Embrace Web
A web-based company called ZocDoc is piggybacking on doctors’ increasing willingness to let patients make appointments online.
Seniors May Not Rush In For Medicare Wellness Exams
The new health law adds coverage for an annual checkup, but in the past beneficiaries have not shown great interest in the “wellness exams” offered when they first qualify for Medicare.
Some States To Get Hit Twice With Medicaid Funding Cuts In 2011
Already facing a record budget shortfall, Texas has received more bad news: The portion of state Medicaid costs paid by the federal government is about to drop.
New Deficit Report Recommends Seniors Pay More For Medicare
A blue-ribbon bipartisan panel of experts, chaired by former budget director Alice Rivlin and former Sen. Pete Domenici, recommends major changes to the way the government pays for health care.
Health Law Expected To Boost Medicaid Enrollees In Managed Care
But states’ increasing use of the private plans is raising questions about whether low-income residents are getting adequate care.
Poll: Economy-Not Health Law-Topped Voters’ Concerns
Health care ranked fourth among factors that influenced how people voted last week, according to a new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Conservatives’ Conflict: Try For Health Law Repeal – Or Revision?
Conservatives are already debating whether it’s better for Republicans to chip away at part of the health law or just lay the groundwork for 2012.
HHS Cuts Premiums For Some High Risk Pools
Trying to spur enrollment in a new health insurance program for uninsured people with pre-existing medical conditions, the federal government is doing something private insurers almost never do: slashing rates.
Fear + Worry = Fewer Kids Getting Vaccinated
After years of steady progress, the percentage of 2 year olds in private health plans being immunized dropped last year, while it went up for Medicaid patients.
Health Care Interests Push To Make ACOs Pay Off For Them
From medical device makers to pharmacists to labor unions, a host of organizations want to ensure that accountable care organizations expand their business and influence.
Feds Reassure Hospitals, Doctors On Cooperation Through ACOs
The agencies that oversee doctors and hospitals promised they will give unified guidance on how medical providers can form “accountable care organizations” without violating antitrust regulations. ACOs are a key part of the new health law.
Health Care Providers, Insurers: Accountable Care Organizations Bring Legal Worries
The Obama administration has touted ACOs as a key way that the new health law will help providers work more closely together to lower health costs and improve patient care. But doctors and hospitals are worried about inadvertently violating antitrust and anti-fraud laws. Insurers fear the new doctor-hospital entities could boost health care prices. Industry and government officials are meeting Tuesday to deal with the concerns.
States Cutting Medicaid Benefits As They Stagger Under Economic Downturn
The recession’s double whammy – less money and more need – is leaving states with reduced tax revenues and increasing numbers of people enrolling in the federal-state health care program for the poor.
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.
