Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Temp Agencies See Opportunity In Health Law
Some employers — worried about the cost of health coverage — are eyeing staffing agencies to fill jobs. But these arrangements could leave gaps in the health law’s expanded coverage.
Large Companies Are Increasingly Offering Workers Only High Deductible Health Plans
Firms with 1,000 employees or more once offered a variety of coverage options, but a recent survey found nearly 15 percent today provide simply these plans and a savings account for medical expenses.
Connecticut Races To Reach Uninsured, Open Health Insurance Marketplace
Officials hope to ‘make history’ by signing up two-thirds of those without coverage after the marketplaces launch nationwide Oct. 1.
IOM Panel Raises Concerns About Lowering Medicare Pay For High Spending Areas
The report suggests that cutting payments in areas that pay more per beneficiary, such as Manhattan and Florida, could hit hospitals and doctors who are not providing expensive care.
Health Law Covers Breast Pumps, But Not All Moms Get The Best
Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans are required to give new mothers equipment and services to enable them to breast feed. What the law doesn’t say, however, is what kind of equipment has to be provided.
Group Appointments With Doctors: When Three Isn’t A Crowd
More doctors are holding appointments with multiple patients, a trend some say may help ease a forecasted shortage of physicians.
This list includes various sources for hospital ratings.
Hospital Ratings Are In The Eye Of The Beholder
With an expanding number of groups offering a stamp of approval, consumers find a confusing array of quality awards to consider when choosing a hospital.
Small Businesses Pursue Health Law ‘Loophole’
Self-insurance, once the purview of only large companies, is becoming popular with small employers, too. But it could be a threat to the Affordable Care Act, since self-insured companies are exempt from many of the health law’s requirements.
Medicare Revises Readmissions Penalties
More than 1,200 hospitals are receiving good news
Consumers Don’t View Curbing Costs As Their Job When Choosing Treatments, Study Finds
Researcher says she and colleagues were “surprised at how firmly and frequently people talked about not wanting cost considerations to factor into decision-making at all.”
Osteopathic Physicians: An Answer To Rural Health Care Needs?
The growing number of osteopathic doctors could help fill the primary care niche in medically underserved areas.
The Mainstreaming Of Osteopathic Medicine
For years, osteopathic physicians were viewed differently than their medical-doctor counterparts, but this distinction is disappearing.
Minnesota Senate Passes Exchange Bill
Much of the 12 hours of debate focused on whether or not industry officials could serve on the exchange’s board of directors.
Access To Primary Care Is A Challenge For Some Texas Medicare Patients
The annual congressional battles over the “doc fix” and the threat of lower reimbursements have left some Texas doctors insecure and unwilling to take on more Medicare patients.
Caveat For Contraceptive Coverage; Early Retirees May Get Cheaper Plans On Exchanges
Columnist answers readers’ questions about birth control provisions and subsidized coverage on state-based insurance marketplaces.
Hospitals Crack Down On Tirades By Angry Doctors
For many years, hospitals were reluctant to address physicians who berated nurses, threw scalpels or demeaned co-workers. But increasingly such actions bring discipline.
Medical Research, FDA And Mental Health Programs Face Budget Bite
Federal funding for Medicaid is untouched but doctors, hospitals and other Medicare providers will see a 2 percent reduction.
Hospital Executive Bracing For Budget Cuts Says ‘We Need To Deal With Medicare’
David Blom, the president of OhioHealth, talks about the effects of sequestration and the need to find a long-term fiscal remedy.
Key Long-Term-Care Insurer To Raise Women’s Premiums
Although the Affordable Care Act seeks to end health plans’ use of gender to set prices, the new rules don’t apply to policies for long-term care.
