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Health stocks rise as worries ease about Medicare advantage payment rate cuts

Shares of Humana, UnitedHealth, Aetna and others went up Monday as estimates of the 2015 payment rate reduction estimates appeared to land closer to 4 percent than to the initial expectations around 7 percent or even deeper.

26 Feb 2014

Rep. John Dingell announces retirement

The Michigan Democrat, who was often at the center of health care debates as he sought universal health care benefits, says he will not seek a 30th term in Congress.

26 Feb 2014

Health law attack ads under the microscope

As congressional races heat up, political ads related to the health law move into the realm of fact-checking and demands for proof.

26 Feb 2014

First Edition: February 25, 2014

Today's headlines include stories exploring the political dynamics governors face regarding the health law's Medicaid expansion.

25 Feb 2014

New report reveals prevalence of heroin-related overdose deaths in Kentucky

A new report from the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC) reveals the prevalence and charges associated with drug overdose in the Bluegrass state.

25 Feb 2014

Regulators propose 1.9% cut to Medicare advantage payments

Federal regulators late Friday proposed cutting payments to private Medicare plans by 1.9 percent after recent lower health care spending growth. Insurers worry the cut could be much deeper than that after health law fees and other payment changes take effect, however, and say another cut could affect benefits for seniors.

25 Feb 2014

GOP readies new votes on health law mandate repeal, Medicare advantage cuts

In the meantime, one Democratic senator is pulling back from comments he made on repealing the health law.

25 Feb 2014

Pediatric docs argue against retail health care clinics

In the meantime, a big push for greater price transparency in what health care costs is readied, and the prominence of palliative care grows.

25 Feb 2014

First Edition: February 24, 2014

Today's headlines include continuing coverage of Medicare Advantage payment rates, as well as a range of stories about the health law's Medicaid expansion and online insurance marketplaces.

24 Feb 2014

Feds propose Medicare advantage payment cuts, could have election impact

Medicare Advantage is the managed care program, run by private insurance companies, for seniors and disabled people.

24 Feb 2014

Research roundup: Palliative care and ACOs; employers and Supreme Court case on contraception

In preparation for the new ACO environment, leaders recognized the contribution palliative care can make to health care "value," especially in the care of our sickest (and most expensive) patients ...

24 Feb 2014

GOP strategists prepare to pounce on Medicare advantage payment changes

The new payment rates for private Medicare Advantage plans -- expected to be announced Friday -- are likely to become political fodder in the midterm elections, reports Politico. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans come out against proposed changes in the Medicare prescription drug program which they say would increase seniors' costs.

24 Feb 2014

Political tactician applies skills to selling health insurance

The Washington Post profiles a White House staffer who went from being a field lieutenant in President Barack Obama's re-election campaign to helping oversee the effort to persuade people to sign up for insurance under the health law.

24 Feb 2014

Medicaid patients have longer lengths of stay for treatment of heart failure, shows study

Heart failure accounts for 6.5 million hospital days a year, and a new study reported in the Journal for Healthcare Quality showed that Medicaid patients and those with comorbid illnesses have longer lengths of stay for treatment of heart failure.

24 Feb 2014

First Edition: February 21, 2014

Today's headlines include reports checking the status of different state health exchanges as well as efforts to expand Medicaid.

21 Feb 2014

Highlights: Ky. malpractice bill; Texas punishes doc under abortion law; DOJ enters whistleblower case

A selection of health policy stories from Kentucky, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, California, Colorado and Florida.

21 Feb 2014

Va. GOP pushes state house vote on Medicaid expansion

The recorded vote, likely to be held Thursday, is designed to demonstrate the sweeping Republican opposition to the expansion, which is one of Gov. Terry McAuliffe's main legislative goals.

21 Feb 2014

Viewpoints: Democrats turn tail; amending ACA is tough; Belgium takes hard stance on dying kids

Democrats in competitive races seem to have gotten hall passes to try to dissociate themselves from ObamaCare heading into the midterm elections, but the White House must be ruing some of the liberties their party comrades are taking with this new political independence. Witness the parade of Democrats pleading for more money for that great liberal anathema, Medicare Advantage (2/19).

21 Feb 2014

Kindred Healthcare consolidated revenues decline 1% to $1.22 billion in Q4 2013

Kindred Healthcare, Inc. today announced its operating results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2013. The Company continues to benefit from its repositioning strategy through the planned exit from a nursing center and a transitional care hospital and the closure of another nursing center during the fourth quarter of 2013.

20 Feb 2014

Medicare beneficiaries discharged from nursing homes return to hospital within month

Nursing homes are widely used by Medicare beneficiaries who require rehabilitation after hospital stays. But according to a recent study led by a researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, a high percentage of Medicare patients who are discharged from nursing homes will return to the hospital or the emergency room within 30 days.

20 Feb 2014