New Scrutiny For Insurance Mandate After Repeal Vote
By Jessica Marcy Aimee Miles Amita Parashar
January 19, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Republicans are eager to repeal the requirement in the health care law. Public support for the mandate is shaky, and even some Democrats have signaled a willingness to look at alternatives. Some – but not all – health policy experts say the mandate is essential. KHN interviewed several to get their views.
Smoking-Related Illnesses Could Kill Up To 1B People This Century, U.N. Official Says
May 2, 2011
Morning Briefing
As many as one billion people could die of smoking-related illnesses this century if efforts to curb the practice are not implemented, a senior U.N. health official warned on Friday, the U.N. News Centre reports.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Releases FY12 Budget Plan Proposing To Cut $30B From Current Spending Levels
May 12, 2011
Morning Briefing
House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) released a 2012 budget plan on Wednesday that would cut federal spending levels by $30 billion compared with current levels, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plan “calls for cutting virtually every area of the federal government. The one exception would be defense spending” (Boles, 5/11).
The Medicare Doc Fix: Physicians Again Are Staring Into The Abyss
By Gail Wilensky
November 18, 2010
KFF Health News Original
At the end of November, the most recent “doc fix” will expires. Without congressional action, physicians who see Medicare patients will face an across-the-board 23% reduction in their fees. If nothing happens by January, physicians would face an additional 7 percent reduction.
Deficit Reduction Plans Would Squeeze Medicare
By Mary Agnes Carey
November 29, 2010
KFF Health News Original
Spurred by growing concerns about the federal deficit, plans to curb Medicare spending are proliferating – setting the stage for potentially bruising battles between seniors’ advocates and budget cutters.
AMA Head Readies New Medicare ‘Doc Fix’ Push
November 1, 2010
KFF Health News Original
No matter what the outcome of the midterm elections, the American Medical Association is hard at work on a new proposal to fix the Medicare physician payment system. The AMA wants to stave off cuts of up to 30 percent, slated to begin taking effect Dec. 1. AMA chief Cecil B. Wilson talks with Kaiser Health News to talk about the looming cuts, why it’s increasingly difficult for doctors to see Medicare patients in America and how the AMA will soon try to lobby lawmakers for a permanent fix to the system.
2 Million Medicare Beneficiaries Missing Out On Discounted Drug Coverage
By Phil Galewitz
January 4, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Federal officials turn to ads and pitches from Chubby Checker to help get low-income seniors to enroll in the drug discount program.
House Passes FY11 Measure To Fund Government With $6B Worth Of Cuts
March 16, 2011
Morning Briefing
The House passed a continuing resolution on Tuesday “that would cut $6 billion from current discretionary-spending levels and keep the government operating through April 8,” National Journal reports. The House voted 271-158 to approve the bill (Sanchez, 3/15).
How The Health Reform Game Has Changed
By Austin Frakt Aaron Carroll
December 9, 2010
KFF Health News Original
The future trajectory of health reform will be shaped far more by interest group agendas and state-level actions than by the new House leadership’s stated plans.
UNICEF Requests $1.4B To Assist Women, Children In Humanitarian Crises Worldwide
March 7, 2011
Morning Briefing
UNICEF on Sunday released the Humanitarian Action for Children Report, 2011 (.pdf) “requesting $1.4 billion in its appeal to donors to assist children and women caught in the throes of crises. The report highlights 32 countries and emphasizes the increasing importance” of investments in disaster preparedness and risk reduction, The Hindu reports (Dhar, 3/7).
House Republicans Release Two-Week CR With $4B In Proposed Cuts
February 28, 2011
Morning Briefing
“House Republicans late Friday afternoon released a two-week continuing resolution [CR] that cuts more than $4 billion in federal spending,” Roll Call reports (Stanton, 2/25). “Under the proposal, the law now keeping the government open would be extended two more weeks, until March 18 … In the interim, House and Senate leaders would try to negotiate a broader plan to finance the government at reduced levels through Sept. 30,” the New York Times reports. Republican leaders trimmed programs in education, transportation and other areas “that President Obama had previously sought to close down” (Hulse, 2/25). “The plan, scheduled to hit the House floor Tuesday, includes $1.24 billion in program terminations and $2.7 billion in earmark terminations, according to a summary provided by the House Appropriations Committee,” CQ writes (Goldfarb/Young, 2/25).
Replace The Tattered Medicaid Long-Term Care Safety Net
By Howard Gleckman
November 29, 2010
KFF Health News Original
Medicaid, the state-federal health program that also pays for nearly half of all long-term care services for the frail elderly and younger people with disabilities, is in big trouble.
Text: President Obama’s Proposed 2012 HHS Budget
February 14, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Text of President Obama’s proposed budget for the Department of Health and Human Services.
House Republicans Drafting Two-Week Continuing Resolution With About $4B In Spending Cuts
February 24, 2011
Morning Briefing
In an effort to avoid a government shutdown, House Republicans are drafting a new continuing resolution (CR) that will include some cuts to the federal budget, Republican leadership aides said on Wednesday, Roll Call reports (Stanton, 2/23). “The measure will contain about $4 billion in spending cuts and will merge cuts approved last week by the House and several taken from President Obama’s list of program terminations and savings,” National Journal writes. “The CR would extend government financing for two weeks” and the cuts “would be prorated to reflect” the reductions that were approved in last week’s CR. “In other words, the $4 billion in savings would be roughly equal to the cuts the CR called for if carried out for just two weeks,” the publication notes.
Digital Divide Threatens Health Care
By Emma Schwartz, The Center For Public Integrity
January 11, 2011
KFF Health News Original
In a story from The Center For Public Integrity, experts worry low-income clinics cannot afford the electronic health records that others can and will fall behind as a result, potentially missing the Obama administration’s goal of going digital in the next five years.
New Deficit Report Recommends Seniors Pay More For Medicare
By Jordan Rau Phil Galewitz
November 17, 2010
KFF Health News Original
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.
House Republicans Release CR Proposing To Cut $100B From FY11 Budget
February 14, 2011
Morning Briefing
House Republican leaders on Friday evening released legislation “designed to fund the rest of the fiscal year, which includes $100 billion in discretionary spending cuts compared with President Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget request,” National Journal reports.
Dueling Letters On Medicare Part D Changes
By Jessica Marcy
October 25, 2010
KFF Health News Original
Officials at CMS say they’re streamlining Medicare Part D – including eliminating some plans they call duplicative. But as the open enrollment period nears, some Republicans are criticizing the move as “frightening.”
House Republican Leaders’ FY11 Budget Proposal Cuts $32B In Spending
February 4, 2011
Morning Briefing
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday released a fiscal year 2011 spending proposal that would “slice more than $32 billion from agency budgets over the next few months,” the Washington Post reports (Montgomery, 2/3). The proposal “could mean big reductions for virtually all federal agencies other than the Pentagon,” according to the Wall Street Journal (Hook/Boles, 2/4).
Hundreds Die of Illnesses In Texas County Jails
By Brandi Grissom, The Texas Tribune
November 16, 2010
KFF Health News Original
More than 280 inmates in Texas county jails died from illnesses while in custody over a four-and-a-half period. There are no state standards for health care in county jails, but criminal justice advocates and correctional facility experts say the large number of illness-related deaths prove they’re needed.
