Experts Ponder ‘Plan B’ Options For The Individual Mandate
If the courts were to strike down the provision of the health law requiring consumers to buy insurance, some experts say there are other ways to get people covered.
All Coverage
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State Insurance Officials Approve Rules For Descriptions Of Health Policies
Under the health overhaul law, insurers will be required to provide their benefits information on a standardized chart using the same plain English terms as other companies to help shoppers understand and compare complicated policies.
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Opinion Column
Is The Individual Mandate Really A Lynchpin In The New Health Law?
The individual mandate as included in the health overhaul isn’t even close to what it has been made to be — a provision that would protect the integrity of the health insurance market by forcing people to buy health insurance before they became sick.
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Opinion Column
Is There Any Hope For Medicaid Reform?
Recent coverage of the proposals offered by President Obama’s debt commission managed to gloss over a huge factor adding to the nation’s deficit — Medicaid. But the problem wasn’t just in the coverage, but in the report, too. The final version ignored the massive expansion of the Medicaid program included in the new health care lawand didn’t push for structural reforms to the program.
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Virginia Panel: Implement Health Law And Improve Care
A panel appointed by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell strongly recommended Tuesday that the state move to implement the health overhaul law and take other steps to significantly improve health care in the state.
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Video: Should You Buy A Long Term Care Insurance Policy?
Experts say that only about 10 percent of seniors bought a long-term health care policy and are covered. That could be because it’s tough to decide whether they’re right for you. As Michelle Andrews explains, they have many moving parts: After a waiting period, they generally pay a set daily benefit for a certain number of years, depending on how much you pay and at what age you start paying in. And, they also tend to be expensive.
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Few Seniors Have Long-Term Care Insurance
Given the complexity of these high-cost policies, experts agree it’s tough to decide whether they’re right for you.
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Transcript: Stuart Taylor On Health Law Decision
Jackie Judd talks with attorney and journalist Stuart Taylor about the ruling today by U.s. District Court Judge Henry Hudson that one part of the new health law is unconstitutional.
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Americans’ Opinions Of Health Law Shifts – Just A Little
A new tracking poll finds the public is sharply divided over the new health law. However, seniors’ opposition has dropped since the bill passed in March.
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Video: ‘Individual Mandate’ In Health Law Is Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules
Lawyer and journalist Stuart Taylor discusses today’s development in health care reform. U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson in Virginia struck down a key part of the new health law, saying that the mandate on most Americans to buy health coverage is unconstitutional.
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Want To Avoid Unnecessary Tests? Stick To One ER, Researchers Say
New study in Massachusetts finds that too often patients go to multiple emergency rooms for treatment but health records often don’t follow.
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Text: Judge Hudson’s Decision Striking Down Part Of Health Law
Text: Federal judge Henry Hudson in Virginia on Monday struck down part of the health care law that mandates most Americans buy health insurance or face paying a penalty. Here’s his decision.
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Democrats Ramp Up War On GOP Health Benefits
While Republicans continue to plot ways to reverse the Affordable Care Act when they take over the House Jan. 5, Democrats are stepping up their attack on Republicans’ own health benefits.
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New Rules Spell Out Protections For Consumers With ‘Limited Benefit’ Insurance Policies
HHS says that employers and insurers have 60 days to send out detailed notices to consumers on the limitations of their health insurance policies, which could have effects on so-called ‘mini-med’ policies.
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A New Nursing Home Population: The Young
Young people ages 31 to 64 now make up 14 percent of the nursing home population, an analysis of federal data from the Department of Health and Human Services by NPR’s Investigative Unit found.
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Video: Senate Reaches Deal On 12-Month Medicare ‘Doc Fix’
Lawmakers have a deal to stop scheduled Medicare physician payments for one year. Meanwhile, in Texas a new study shows that the state would lose $15 billion of federal funds in one year if it left the Medicaid program.
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Opinion Column
How The Health Reform Game Has Changed
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.
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Big Health Insurers Seek To Boost DC Influence
Five large health insurers are shopping for a public relations firm as they build a coalition to influence implementation of the health law and congressional action on it.
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Checking In With Dr. Arthur Garson On ‘Health Care Half Truths’
KHN interviews Dr. Arthur Garson, Jr., on health care sound bites and myths. He says that the massive amount of confusion plaguing reform efforts confirms just how pervasive such myths can be.
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Care At Stake As Congress Nears ‘Doc Fix’ Deal
Lawmakers are close again to delaying a 25 percent cut in reimbursement to doctors who serve Medicare patients. It’s the fifth time this year Congress has faced down the cuts, which could have dire consequences for the program if enacted.
