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Nearly all seniors are covered through Medicare, but legislators still need their support for a health care overhaul bill. Democrats have packed their bills with perks for seniors in an effort to win their backing, but they’re not doing a good p.r. job, one public opinion expert says. This story comes from our partner NPR News.
In drafting national standards on how health insurers should be able to use age to set premium rates, congressional committees agree that older people should pay more. But they differ widely on just how much. Ultimately, it comes down to how many young adults get into the pool.
As part of the economic stimulus, the government offered subsidies so laid-off workers could keep their health insurance. For some, the subsidies are running out.
With growing signs that health reform bills would do little to “bend the cost curve,” Sens. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., want a bipartisan commission to control future Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security costs.
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and Eric Pianin talk about new optimism among liberal Democrats that a public option will be included in the final health overhaul bill. They also discuss Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s determination to have a bill soon.
KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey and Eric Pianin talk about new optimism among liberal Democrats that a public option will be included in the final health overhaul bill. They also discuss Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s determination to have a bill soon.
When Congress tried to fix a glitch in Medicare that threatens to cut payments to doctors, senators refused to take up the bill because it didn’t include a way to offset the estimated $245 billion, 10-year cost. Both Democrats and Republicans are claiming that previous “fixes” for the Medicare doctor fee problem were paid for, but actually they weren’t.
We’ll never keep everyone at home. But if we work at it, we can postpone the transition for months or even years.
Seventy-six year old Frank Morrow is not only having his knee replaced at Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He’s also helping to test a Medicare payment system.
At Hillcrest Medical Center, which is testing a “bundled” Medicare payment system, some seniors get paid up to $1,157 for having surgery. The pilot program aims to save money and improve care by paying doctors and hospitals a lump sum and rewards the patients with part of the savings.
Advocates for women are fighting to end gender rating in larger businesses as health overhaul legislation moves through Congress. But insurers say it’s necessary to use gender as a means of setting rates for this market.
The relationship between the Democrats and health insurers has turned ugly since the industry began to spurn the health care makeover it once supported. Now, some members of Congress Democrats want to strip the industry’s exemption from federal antitrust laws.
This brief explainer examines the number of uninsured illegal immigrants, where they go for health services and how they would fare if current health reform proposals pass.
While top members of the House and Senate are struggling to put together health care overhaul bills on Capitol Hill, elsewhere in Washington, patient advocates and other groups are trying to take apart some of the deals already cut with top health care industry groups.
The Senate Finance Committee calls for cuts in private Medicare plans to help pay for health reform. Some senators on the panel, worried about the 10.5 million seniors in the plans
Trying to discredit the Dartmouth data is a distraction from the real work that’s needed to understand and remedy the extraordinary amount of money spent on care that does not appear to make a difference in health.
It’s not clear how many Democrats would back a public option – a government insurance program that competes with private insurers – in the final health overhaul bill.
Pharmaceutical companies have found a way around higher insurance copays for brand-name drugs. They offer coupon cards so patients don’t have to pay more. But insurance companies say that if everyone uses the cards to get pricier name-brand drugs, premiums will rise. This story comes from our partner NPR News
Legislation to ‘fix’ Medicare’s formula for physician payments is stalled in the Senate with opposition mounting to the fact that the bill comes with a hefty cost, but no plan to pay its price tag.
Medicare payments to doctors are scheduled to be cut more than 20 percent on Jan. 1, which could lead many doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients altogether. To stop the cuts, Congress must find a way to offset the estimated $245 billion cost over 10 years. This story comes from our partner NPR News
