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.
Participation In Children’s Health Insurance Program Varies Widely Across Country
A new study found states have very different rates of enrollment for eligible kids – from a high of 95 percent in Massachusetts to a low of 55 percent in Nevada.
Employers Push Higher Health Insurance Costs Onto Workers
Premiums for family coverage rose about 3 percent to an average of $13,770, but workers are absorbing a greater percentage of the costs, survey finds.
CT Scans Can Increase Cancer Risk
Several recent studies show the risk of cancer associated with CT scans appears to be greater than previously believed.
Health Law Changes Rules For Docs With In-House Imaging Machines
Doctors who refer Medicare and Medicaid patients to in-house imaging machines must disclose in writing that they own the equipment.
New Plans For Uninsured Off To Slow Start
The new “high-risk pools” – the federally-subsidized program for uninsured people with health problems – are one of the first benefits of the health overhaul law passed this year, but not many people have applied and been enrolled in the plans springing up around the country.
