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President's budget expected to outline health law spending

President Barack Obama's proposed budget will lay out steps to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining Medicare and is expected to lay out how much has been spent to carry out the health law so far.

5 Mar 2014

Medicare drug program falls short in tracking fraud

Medicare's massive drug program continues to be in the news, from a report finding that it fails to adequately track fraud, to continued opposition to an administration proposal that would revamp the program.

5 Mar 2014

Is another health law delay on the horizon?

The Hill reports that the Obama administration is preparing to announce as early as this week a directive that would allow insurers to continue offering plans that do not meet the overhaul's minimum coverage requirements.

5 Mar 2014

Gentiva Health Services' total net revenues increase 14% to $486.1 million in Q4 2013

Gentiva Health Services, Inc., one of the largest providers of home health, hospice and community care services in the United States, today reported fourth quarter and full-year 2013 results.

4 Mar 2014

First Edition: March 4, 2014

Today's headlines include highlights and themes from President Barack Obama's 2015 budget to be released today.

4 Mar 2014

Highlights: Fla. restaurant's health law surcharge; Fla. faces ER Medicaid fines; early-elective deliveries drop

A selection of health policy stories from Florida, California, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

4 Mar 2014

Viewpoints: Frightening seniors; regulating e-cigarettes; waiting for black lung drugs

The Obama administration's proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage plans - the private insurance plans that cover almost 30 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries - are fair and reasonable. As it happens, they are also mandated by law. Yet Republicans, sensing a campaign issue, are telling older and disabled Americans that the administration is "raiding Medicare Advantage to pay for Obamacare." The health insurance industry, for its part, is warning that enrollees will suffer higher premiums, lower benefits and fewer choices among doctors if the cuts go into force (3/1).

4 Mar 2014

Study finds significant reduction in hospital admissions with Medicare Part D prescription coverage

A new study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Illinois at Chicago finds that Medicare Part D prescription coverage significantly reduced hospital admissions and program expenditures totaling $1.5 billion annually.

4 Mar 2014

Majority of Medicare home health beneficiaries are old, poor and more likely to be women

New analyses completed by Avalere Health and Dobson DaVanzo & Associates released today by the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare find that the majority of Medicare home health beneficiaries and caregivers, both skilled and informal, are women and that Medicare home health beneficiaries are among the most vulnerable of all Medicare beneficiaries.

4 Mar 2014

March marks the final month of the health law's open enrollment period -- and the rush is on!

News outlets report that the White House -- facing high political stakes -- is attempting to increase the enrollment numbers with a targeted push aimed at African Americans, Latinos, young people and residents of cities with the highest uninsured rates.

4 Mar 2014

Plan to revamp Medicare drug plans meets resistance

A bipartisan group of senators are criticizing the Obama administration's efforts to make significant changes to Part D drug plans.

4 Mar 2014

Administration offers fix for consumers tangled up in health exchange flaws

Late last week, the Obama administration announced that some people who, because of technical issues, sought health coverage through the private market -- not the health law's online insurance marketplaces -- would still be able to get tax subsidies.

4 Mar 2014

Prospects for bipartisan budget deal seen as dim

As President Barack Obama prepares to release his budget proposal Tuesday, he is expected to reverse course on efforts to curb spending on Social Security. House Republicans, meanwhile, plan to release a proposal that would make sweeping changes to antipoverty programs, including Medicaid.

4 Mar 2014

Insurers gather new customers' health information -- a critical step in calculating prices for next year's plans offered on exchanges

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that chronically ill consumers who obtain coverage from the online insurance marketplaces may still face high drug costs despite the health law's ban on discriminatory insurance practices. Also, news outlets report on Time magazine's cover story that details how the Obama administration almost shutdown healthcare.gov during its early, fitful days.

3 Mar 2014

Bayer Yakuhin submits marketing authorization application in Japan for EYLEA Injection

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that Bayer HealthCare's Japanese subsidiary, Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd., has submitted an application for marketing authorization for EYLEA (aflibercept) Injection for the treatment of patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

3 Mar 2014

First Edition: March 3, 2014

Today's headlins include stories detailing ongoing challenges with state-run exchanges as well as previews of what's next regarding the federal budget process.

3 Mar 2014

Research roundup: Medicaid peer support; doctor Jokes; ACA's asset rules for coverage

Since 2009, the eight states (Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin) participating in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Maximizing Enrollment program have worked to streamline and simplify enrollment systems, policies, and processes for children and those eligible for coverage in 2014. ... States [focused] on five key areas: 1) applications, 2) eligibility determinations, 3) renewals and transfers, 4) notices, and 5) business processes.

3 Mar 2014

In states with failing exchanges, CMS opens door to retroactive premium subsidies

A ruling by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will make it possible for consumers in some states to get federal subsidies even when they buy insurance outside of the Obamacare insurance marketplaces.

3 Mar 2014

Viewpoints: The evolution of Medicare; generic drugs and patient safety; new food labels

About half a century ago, organized medicine and the hospital industry in this country struck a deal with Congress that in retrospect seems as audacious as it seems incredible: Congress was asked to surrender to these industries the keys to the United States Treasury. In return, the industries would allow Congress to pass a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act .... We have come to know it as Medicare.

3 Mar 2014

State highlights: N.C. Medicaid reform plan unveiled; cutting back Medicaid estate recoveries

A selection of health policy stories from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Florida, New York, and North Carolina.

3 Mar 2014

Medicare News and Research

President's budget expected to outline health law spending

Medicare drug program falls short in tracking fraud

Is another health law delay on the horizon?

Gentiva Health Services' total net revenues increase 14% to $486.1 million in Q4 2013

First Edition: March 4, 2014

Highlights: Fla. restaurant's health law surcharge; Fla. faces ER Medicaid fines; early-elective deliveries drop

Viewpoints: Frightening seniors; regulating e-cigarettes; waiting for black lung drugs

Study finds significant reduction in hospital admissions with Medicare Part D prescription coverage

Majority of Medicare home health beneficiaries are old, poor and more likely to be women

March marks the final month of the health law's open enrollment period -- and the rush is on!

Plan to revamp Medicare drug plans meets resistance

Administration offers fix for consumers tangled up in health exchange flaws

Prospects for bipartisan budget deal seen as dim

Insurers gather new customers' health information -- a critical step in calculating prices for next year's plans offered on exchanges

Bayer Yakuhin submits marketing authorization application in Japan for EYLEA Injection

First Edition: March 3, 2014

Research roundup: Medicaid peer support; doctor Jokes; ACA's asset rules for coverage

In states with failing exchanges, CMS opens door to retroactive premium subsidies

Viewpoints: The evolution of Medicare; generic drugs and patient safety; new food labels

State highlights: N.C. Medicaid reform plan unveiled; cutting back Medicaid estate recoveries

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