The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Adults need vaccines to protect against serious diseases, including shingles, pneumonia and hepatitis. The health reform law, with its emphasis on prevention, will expand coverage to improve vaccination rates, currently too low.
A ruling is expected this month from a Republican-appointed judge on the heart of the new health law – the mandate to buy insurance. It could illustrate the growing prevalence of party-line judging in this country.
The project, designed to aid research into costs and trends, will collect claims filed by federal workers and others. OPM says privacy will be paramount, but some advocates are worried.
A new survey from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) finds doctors aren’t actually following through on threats to drop seniors from their patient rosters – at least not yet.
Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, is making a “paradigm shift” in his division to focus more on care-at-home cases.
A ruling is expected this month from a Republican-appointed judge on the heart of the new health law – the mandate to buy insurance. It could illustrate the growing prevalence of party-line judging in this country.
The new health law appears to threaten the future of many health insurance brokers, but they say the service they provide is worth the money.
One of the bigger debates raging in health policy circles at the moment is about the value of “mini-med” plans.
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform released its long-awaited report on recommendations to cope with the national debt, now and into the future, “The Moment of Truth.” Seven of the 66 pages concerned health care spending, especially focusing on Medicare.
The upper chamber’s recent consideration of legislation to repeal a small revenue-raising provision within the health overhaul offers insights into why a more sweeping repeal effort would be a very difficult task.
New documents reveal that the drug industry’s chief lobbyists, PhRMA, raised and spent at least $101.2 million in 2009 during the contentious health care debate.
Controlling Medicare costs is key to conquering the deficit, experts say, but there are few cost-containment measures that are politically viable.
For years, the state paid private providers who care for people with disabilities to handle their clients’ case management. But an 11th-hour change inserted into the budget last session stripped them of that responsibility, giving it instead to quasi-governmental Mental Retardation Authorities – and potentially creating a conflict of interest.
As Congress resumed its lame duck session, the House passed a one-month extension of a Medicare physician payment “fix” that would stop scheduled cuts for another month. Meanwhile, the Senate rejected a repeal of the so-called “1099” tax reporting provision in the health law that requires that businesses file a form for any purchase of goods or services worth more than $600.
As Congress resumed its lame duck session, the House passed a one-month extension of a Medicare physician payment “fix” that would stop scheduled cuts for another month. Meanwhile, the Senate rejected a repeal of the so-called “1099” tax reporting provision in the health law that requires that businesses file a form for any purchase of goods or services worth more than $600.
More employers are moving toward coverage in which consumers’ out-of-pocket medical costs are based on the value of a medical service to their health, rather than its price.
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.
A new study shows that the emergency department use of computerized tomography scans has increased nearly six-fold since 1995 and shows no sign of tapering off.
Health economist Uwe Reinhardt critiques the new health care law, talks about cost containment and gives his reasons why a single-payer system health system couldn’t work in America.
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.
