Tentative ‘Doc Fix’ Deal Would Cut Health Law’s Prevention Fund by $5B
By Mary Agnes Carey
February 15, 2012
KFF Health News Original
After wrangling for weeks over how to finance a Medicare “doc fix,” House and Senate conferees have a plan. The proposal would cut Medicare payments to hospitals and other providers for “bad debt,” Medicare payments to clinical laboratories and Medicaid “disproportionate share” payments to hospitals that serve many poor patients, and divert $5 billion from the health law’s $15 […]
CMS: Doughnut Hole Provision In Health Law Has Saved Seniors $4B
July 26, 2012
Morning Briefing
According to the Obama administration, seniors have saved on average $629 on their medications during the first half of this year.
Some Women’s Groups See Another Agenda In Attacks On Contraceptive Coverage
By Judith Graham
April 18, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Opponents of the Obama administration’s contraception coverage mandate emphasize religious freedom, but others say the real issue is birth control.
Feds OK Oregon Medicaid CCOs, Ready $1.9B In Funding
July 10, 2012
Morning Briefing
The federal government has granted Oregon a waiver to run Medicaid coordinated-care organizations and will provide enhanced Medicaid money — $1.9 billion over five years — for the program.
GlaxoSmithKline Agrees To Plead Guilty, Pay $3B Settlement
July 3, 2012
Morning Briefing
Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges and pay $3 billion in total — with some money going to nearly every state — for promoting its bestselling antidepressants such as Paxil and Wellbutrin for unapproved uses, failing to report safety data about a top diabetes drug and improperly marketing other drugs.
Health Literacy’s Effect On Costs
By Jessica Marcy
March 22, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Every week, reporter Jessica Marcy selects interesting reads from around the Web. Huffington Post: Women’s Health Care Is Stronger Thanks To The Health Care Law In many families, women are the health care decision makers. When children go for their checkups, we are often the ones who make the appointment and sit in the room […]
Webcast Replay: Deconstructing The Supreme Court’s Historic Health Law Arguments
March 29, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Our panelists, who answered questions from readers that even the justices didn’t ask, includes KHN Senior Correspondent Mary Agnes Carey; Stuart Taylor, attorney, author and KHN legal analyst; Tom Goldstein, Goldstein & Russell, P.C., and publisher of SCOTUSblog; and Julie Rovner, health policy correspondent, NPR.
If Mandate Is Overturned, Obama Could Need Help To Salvage The Health Law
By Jordan Rau
March 28, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Should the Supreme Court throw out the requirement to carry insurance, the administration might need assistance from Congress or the insurance industry to complete the overhaul.
Illinois To Cut $1.6B In Health Costs; Medicaid Advocates Protest
June 15, 2012
Morning Briefing
The changes include eliminating some popular programs, raising some co-pays and creating a system for hospital exemptions from taxes.
Today’s Headlines – March 5, 2012
By Stephanie Stapleton
March 5, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Good Monday morning! Here are your headlines: The Wall Street Journal: Romney Advances As Obama Gains The resurgence of Mr. Romney, who hadn’t led the Journal poll since November, lays the path for a potential matchup against a president whose own position is strengthening. President Barack Obama’s approval rate hit 50% in the poll, its […]
Obama Announces $3B Food Initiative For Africa
May 21, 2012
Morning Briefing
In a Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security on Friday, President Barack Obama “announced a plan to accelerate investments in developing world agriculture to meet rising food demands and improve nutrition, calling the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition a moral, economic and security imperative,” IIP Digital reports (Porter, 5/18). The new program, unveiled “in conjunction with African leaders from Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania, will parlay more than $3 billion in private assistance into a public-private partnership with an ambitious goal: lifting 50 million people from poverty over 10 years,” according to USA Today’s “The Oval” (Wolf, 5/18). The initiative “will constitute the next phase of a groundbreaking program begun during the 2009 G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy,” Inter Press Service writes (Brion, 5/18). More than 45 companies have pledged to invest in the initiative, Devex notes (Ravelo, 5/10). A fact sheet on the New Alliance is available on the White House website (5/18).
Document: GOP Payroll Tax Bill – Summary, Text Of Health Care Sections
December 11, 2011
KFF Health News Original
On Friday, Dec. 9, House Republicans unveiled the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act,” which avoid the scheduled cut to Medicare reimbursement rates for physicians – the “doc fix.”
State Roundup: Mass. Health Cost Control Bill Could Save $8B To $34B
May 2, 2012
Morning Briefing
News outlets report on health policy issues in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Oregon.
Today’s Headlines – March 6, 2012
By Stephanie Stapleton
March 6, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Good morning, here are your morning headlines to get your day started: The Washington Post: In Ohio, Santorum Blasts Romney For Ad Spending, Says Voters Don’t Trust Him On health care, Santorum made the claim that Romney — because of his overhaul of Massachusetts’ health-care system while governor, which included an individual mandate to purchase […]
Today’s Headlines – March 19, 2012
By Stephanie Stapleton
March 19, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! Another week starts and more health policy news for you to read: The New York Times’ The Caucus: Health Care Debate Returns With Intensity This week is the two-year anniversary of Mr. Obama’s health care law, and Republicans in Washington are planning to celebrate with a series of attacks. Next week, the Supreme […]
Abbott Agrees To $1.6B Settlement With States, Feds
May 8, 2012
Morning Briefing
Abbott Laboratories will pay the federal government and 45 states $1.6 billion after admitting to marketing its anti-seizure drug Depakote for off-label uses over 10 years.
Mass. Senate Passes Health Care Cost Measure With Eye On Saving $150B
May 18, 2012
Morning Briefing
The Massachusetts Senate passed a health care cost containment bill Thursday that aims to cut costs by $150 billion over 15 years. The bill, which now goes to the Massachusetts House, would eventually align cost growth with gross state product, would move toward paying for health care with global payments and would change the state’s medical malpractice lawsuit system.
Today’s Headlines – December 9, 2011
By Lexie Verdon
December 9, 2011
KFF Health News Original
Happy Friday! Here are your morning headlines: The Los Angeles Times: Boehner Defies Obama Veto Threat With New Payroll Tax Plan The package Boehner has been compiling for more than a week was not made publicly available, but it includes the payroll tax holiday as well as an extension of long-term unemployment benefits, which also […]
Today’s Headlines – March 27, 2012
By Stephanie Stapleton
March 27, 2012
KFF Health News Original
Good morning! It’s day two of the Supreme Court hearings on the health law. There’s lots to read — The New York Times: Most Oppose At Least Part Of Overhaul, Poll Finds Two-thirds of Americans want the Supreme Court to overturn some or all of the health care law, even though large majorities support a […]
The New Jersey Experience: Do Insurance Reforms Unravel Without An Individual Mandate?
By Jonathan Cohn
March 20, 2012
KFF Health News Original
New Jersey attempted reforms without imposing a mandate. The outcome in that state offers reasons why supporters say the individual mandate is necessary if the federal health law is to achieve its goals.
