High Risk Pools For People With Medical Issues Start Slowly
Response has been modest and reviews are mixed for insurance plans set up by the federal health law for people with medical problems.
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Response has been modest and reviews are mixed for insurance plans set up by the federal health law for people with medical problems.
Nationwide, new physician-owned hospitals are scrambling to open by the end of the year. Beginning Jan. 1, the health law bans them from taking part in Medicare, making it hard for the facilities to survive.
Sweeping agreement with Georgia points to new Obama administration campaign to ensure people with mental illness and developmental disabilities get community services and are not forced into institutions.
The real problem facing our emergency care system is not overuse, it's the lack of a financial and administrative infrastructure to properly support it.
Communities and companies are devising innovative ways to help older Americans work longer, and age gracefully and affordably in their own homes.
State insurance regulators have defined one of the thorniest provisions of the new health overhaul law: the requirement that insurers spend at least 80 percent of revenue on direct medical care.
In states like Illinois, parents can provide at-home care for children with severe illnesses and Medicaid foots the bill. But the funding disappears the minute they turn 21, forcing families to make a painful choice: Find the money to pay for sometimes exorbitant health care costs or send their children to a nursing home.
The health reform law is likely to spur more hospital mergers, fueling a trend that experts say has led to higher hospital prices and insurance premiums.
Health reform critics cite recent developments regarding insurance premium cost increases as proof that their suspicions about the overhaul were on target. But are they right? Don't be so sure.
Less than 24 hours after Republicans won control of the House, soon-to-be-speaker John Boehner denounced the new health care law, saying it would "kill jobs in America, ruin the best health care system in the world, and bankrupt our country" -- and renewed his vow to try to repeal it. Kaiser Health News asked people around the country to answer the following question: "If you ended up in an elevator with Rep. Boehner, what single thing would you urge him to do about health care in this country?"
Since Medicare began, how to best pay for beneficiaries' medical services has been a persistent question.
The Obama administration has issued McDonald's (among others) a waiver on some regulations in the health law. But that hasn't stopped the McDonald's story from becoming propaganda in the campaign to discredit and, eventually, repeal health care reform.
In medical home model, a primary-care doctor leads a team responsible for coordinating and managing all of your care, whether it's making sure you're on top of routine lab tests to keep your diabetes in check or being available in off hours to handle unexpected problems.
Critics say Medicare Advantage plans are inefficient and costly. But those same critics oppose vouchers for Medicare -- even though that approach would set up a direct competition between the private plans and the traditional fee-for-service program.
In neighborhoods across the country, groups of people are banding together to help the elderly stay in their homes. These non-profit "villages" help provide seniors with security, practical help and companionship.
Many reformers undoubtedly believe that passage of the health overhaul law laid the issue to rest. But policy's wheels continue to turn, and the process is anything but over.
It takes some work, but patients can help control health care costs by avoiding unneeded care and negotiating prices, among other things.
Today, in almost every other sector besides health, electronic information exchange is the way we do business. Health care providers may agree with the benefits of electronic health records. But they've also believed that adopting them was too difficult and expensive.
Lawmakers have largely avoided discussion of Medicaid rescissions and Medicaid abuses in the debate over health reform.
For the 11 million people signed up for private Medicare Advantage plans, their future with the popular program that has been designated for cuts in federal funding may depend on where they live.
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