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Report: Health law will make insurance more affordable to most

Meanwhile, CQ HealthBeat reports that the Department of Health and Human Services is bracing for a significant number of public comments regarding the health law's essential benefits provision.

28 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Medicare options and politics; high costs of care; health disparities

The Democratic Party is urging Americans to choose Medicare as we've always known it rather than a new plan by Rep. Paul Ryan that would enroll seniors in private health insurance beginning in 2022.

28 Apr 2011

Court's rejection of fast-track request raises questions, issues

The court's online order did not offer any legal reasoning, nor were dissenting opinions noted. However, Justice Elena Kagan did participate in the decision. Meanwhile, Politico Pro explores some of the key questions that will be at stake surrounding the law's "individual mandate" as the challenges now wind through through the federal appeals courts this summer.

27 Apr 2011

Reform policy news: High-risk pools, exchanges, IPAB

News outlets are reporting on various aspects of the health law, including the low level of interest seen so far in high-risk pools, the varying reactions states are having as they make decisions about health insurance exchanges and the ongoing efforts to repeal the measure's Independent Payment Advisory Board.

27 Apr 2011

Tufts Medical Center commits to offer quality and affordable patient care

Tufts Medical Center today reiterated its commitment to providing high quality care to patients following notification by the Massachusetts Nurses Association and its parent union National Nurses United of a walkout beginning May 6th.

26 Apr 2011

In the statehouses: Localities vs. unions in Mass.; supporters to rally for SustiNet in Conn.

Massachusetts House lawmakers kick off a busy week on Beacon Hill Monday with full chamber negotiations over the state budget. ... The biggest point of contention in the budget is the DeLeo-backed provision giving cities and towns the ability to alter employee health plans without union approval. At least 50 Democrats have reportedly signed on to an amendment that would soften that provision.

26 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Sebelius on medical mistakes; Stockman on solving deficit; Fox on Medicare's political history

A recent study found that as many as one out of three hospital patients is harmed by his or her care. And the Institute of Medicine estimates that as many as 100,000 Americans die each year from preventable medical errors in hospitals. That's about the number of annual deaths caused by auto accidents, AIDS, and breast cancer combined.

26 Apr 2011

Supreme Court declines to expedite Virginia suit against health law

Virginia's challenge of the health law will need to take the normal route through federal appeals courts.

25 Apr 2011

Now campaigning, Obama to ask voters to give health law a chance

Meanwhile, The Hill reports that health lobbying has dropped off compared to the level a year ago when Congress was in the midst of the health reform debate.

22 Apr 2011

Research roundup: New hips, Medicare & hospital stays; Medicaid update

JAMA: Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Medicare Patients Undergoing Total Hip Arthroplasty, 1991-2008 - "Total hip arthroplasty is a common surgical procedure but little is known about longitudinal trends," according to this study which found that "Between 1991 and 2008, the mean age for patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty increased from 74.1 to 75.1 years and for revision total hip arthroplasty from 75.8 to 77.3 years (P < .001)."

22 Apr 2011

Federal judge in N.J. dismisses health overhaul challenge

According to press reports, U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson ruled that Nicholas Purpura and Donald R. Laster Jr., who filed their lawsuit without a lawyer, lack legal standing to challenge the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

22 Apr 2011

Longer looks: Tommy Thompson on Medicare; Was WSJ Pulitzer undeserved?; IPAB and cost cutting

The law contains Medicare cuts, but the savings achieved are then used to pay for new federal spending, such as the Medicaid expansion and new subsidies to purchase health care in state-based exchanges.

22 Apr 2011

Obama administration urges new graduates to understand their health insurance options

Administration officials sent letters to college and university presidents and student body leaders reminding them to communicate to students about how, because of changes resulting from the health overhaul, they can remain on a parent's plan until age 26. In other health reform news, President Obama says that he is flexible on health reform, and the AP reports on how the absence of one Supreme Court justice on certain legal questions has been "no big deal."

22 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Medicare cuts & partisan politics; Colorado health exchange; NEJM on family planning

The debate over Paul Ryan's Medicare reform ideas has largely been healthy, even amid the liberal distortions. But why has there been so little scrutiny of President Obama's new Medicare proposal? Anyone worrying about more individual choice and responsibility in health care might be interested to learn that the alternative is turning every one of these decisions over to a 15-member central committee.

22 Apr 2011

Roundup: Idaho Gov.'s exchange/health law decision; Calif. exchange board meets; Iowa mental health plan

Republican Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter is no fan of the health care reform -- he was the first governor to sign legislation requiring his state to sue over President Obama's overhaul -- but said the bill state lawmakers passed in the 2011 session would have required Idaho to forego the creation of a state health insurance exchange.

22 Apr 2011

Roundup: Abortion opponents weigh strategy; Supreme Court reinstates case involving deaths at Va. hospitals

Republican legislatures across the country are passing tough new anti-abortion laws — and while abortion rights advocates believe the new laws are unconstitutional, they're not rushing to court to stop them. The reason: There's a decent chance they'd lose (Kliff, 4/20).

21 Apr 2011

House GOP seeks details from advocacy groups regarding health reform 'meetings and discussions'

Continuing their assault on the health care law, House Republicans Monday formally requested top advocacy groups detail their interactions with the Obama Administration during the congressional health care negotiations.

21 Apr 2011

Some states struggling with efforts to establish insurance exchanges

House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, who may hold the future of Colorado's health exchange in her hands, predicted Tuesday that Colorado lawmakers ultimately will support the online health insurance marketplace and said her coalition is not fractured.

21 Apr 2011

New poll show Americans oppose cuts to Medicare, Medicaid

Though concerns continue to mount regarding the nation's fiscal problems, a new poll finds most Americans would prefer to keep Medicare just as it is.

21 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: On debt, Medicaid, Medicare and the budget; planned parenthood; one couple's insurance rates

Sen. Marco Rubio said he wouldn't vote for an increase unless it included "a plan for fundamental tax reform, an overhaul of our regulatory structure, a cut to discretionary spending, a balanced-budget amendment, and reforms to save Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid" — everything on the conservative agenda, basically.

20 Apr 2011

Health Reform News and Research

Report: Health law will make insurance more affordable to most

Viewpoints: Medicare options and politics; high costs of care; health disparities

Court's rejection of fast-track request raises questions, issues

Reform policy news: High-risk pools, exchanges, IPAB

Tufts Medical Center commits to offer quality and affordable patient care

In the statehouses: Localities vs. unions in Mass.; supporters to rally for SustiNet in Conn.

Viewpoints: Sebelius on medical mistakes; Stockman on solving deficit; Fox on Medicare's political history

Supreme Court declines to expedite Virginia suit against health law

Now campaigning, Obama to ask voters to give health law a chance

Research roundup: New hips, Medicare & hospital stays; Medicaid update

Federal judge in N.J. dismisses health overhaul challenge

Longer looks: Tommy Thompson on Medicare; Was WSJ Pulitzer undeserved?; IPAB and cost cutting

Obama administration urges new graduates to understand their health insurance options

Viewpoints: Medicare cuts & partisan politics; Colorado health exchange; NEJM on family planning

Roundup: Idaho Gov.'s exchange/health law decision; Calif. exchange board meets; Iowa mental health plan

Roundup: Abortion opponents weigh strategy; Supreme Court reinstates case involving deaths at Va. hospitals

House GOP seeks details from advocacy groups regarding health reform 'meetings and discussions'

Some states struggling with efforts to establish insurance exchanges

New poll show Americans oppose cuts to Medicare, Medicaid

Viewpoints: On debt, Medicaid, Medicare and the budget; planned parenthood; one couple's insurance rates

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