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Obama's budget eyes provider cuts to save money

The president's proposal would save $402 billion from Medicare and Medicaid over 10 years, mostly from lower reimbursements to health care providers and drugmakers.

5 Mar 2014

First Edition: March 5, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about President Barack Obama's 2015 budget as well as the latest state-level Medicaid expansion developments.

5 Mar 2014

Highlights: Fla.'s new Medicaid hospital formula; Kan. health coverage, autism bills; Va. hospitals expand in Richmond

A selection of health policy stories from Florida, Kansas, Virginia, California and Georgia. The funding formula in Florida's Medicaid reform law means hospitals across the state will see millions of dollars in cuts, the Tampa Bay Times reports, while a handful will see funding increase ...

5 Mar 2014

Oregon's troubled health exchange, Oracle begin 'transition' agreement; Maryland's marketplace wrestled with what to do next

Updates on state-based exchanges in Minnesota and Washington as well as news from Wyoming regarding the Medicaid expansion.

5 Mar 2014

New analysis offers insights for hospitals in implementing community health improvement programs

A new analysis led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health offers insights for nonprofit hospitals in implementing community health improvement programs. In a special issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved that focuses on the Affordable Care Act, a multidisciplinary team of Pitt researchers explore published research on existing community benefit programs at U.S. hospitals and explain how rigorous implementation of such programs could help hospitals both meet federal requirements and improve the health of the populations they serve.

5 Mar 2014

In final enrollment push, president Obama focuses on Latinos

President Barack Obama will participate in a Thursday town hall meeting with Latinos, which will include an in-depth discussion about the law's impact on this population. News outlets also report on outreach efforts to sign-up cab drivers in Chicago and Cambodian immigrants in Long Beach, Calif. Still, some consumers -- many of whom might fall into the coveted young adult category -- are getting health coverage outside of the state and federal health exchanges.

5 Mar 2014

Viewpoints: Ryan's attack on Medicaid; time to fix Medicare's doc pay

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., obviously is a great adherent of the adage, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." On Monday his committee released another attack on Medicaid, one of the linchpins of the Affordable Care Act and one that for some reason is especially detested by conservatives, like the majority members of Ryan's committee (Michael Hiltzik, 3/3).

5 Mar 2014

Motivating kids to be more physically active

Parents can help motivate kids to be more physically active, but the influence may not result in an improvement in their children's body mass index (BMI), finds a new evidence review in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

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

3.5 million estimated Medicaid signups under health law

Avalere Health projects that of the 8.9 million people "determined eligible" for Medicaid starting last Oct. 1, the number of new enrollees under the health law is likely much smaller -- between 2.4 million and 3.5 million. Other reports look at how health insurance could result in nearly half a million more Americans getting tested for HIV by 2017 -- but how 60,000 people with the virus will be left uninsured in states not expanding Medicaid.

5 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

Health reform gives people with history of jail time access to continuous health care

Under the Affordable Care Act, an estimated 4 million people who have spent time in jail will have better access to health coverage for conditions that might-if left untreated-result in higher health care costs and an increased risk of recidivism.

4 Mar 2014

Upper-bracket homeowners who make profits on home sale begin feeling effect of health law tax

The controversial tax became effective Jan. 1, 2013. It kicks in for couples who make more than $500,000 in profit on a primary residence sale and single people who make more than $250,000. In other health law implementation news, media outlets report on issues that might impact small businesses, physicians and married couples.

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

Shoppers confront more glitches, frustrations from state health exchanges

Whether it is long waits for marketplace helplines or news that some people in California will have to redo their applications, problems persist. News outlets offer more examples and updates with reports from Maryland, Oregon, Washington, Georgia and Colorado.

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

Medtronic, Aetna team up to help insured members with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes

Beginning this month, Aetna and Medtronic, Inc. will work with doctors in a new program to reach up to 300 fully insured members with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes who may improve their health using insulin pump therapy.

From Medtronic 4 Mar 2014

Experts recommend several steps to improve care for prisoners

The very premise of prison invites members of society to think of the people there as walled-off and removed. But more than 95 percent of prisoners will return to the community, often carrying significant health burdens and associated costs with them. In an article in the March issue of the journal Health Affairs, several experts who participated in a scientific workshop convened by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine recommend several steps and ideas consistent with health reform to improve care for prisoners while they are incarcerated and after they return to society.

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

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

Health Insurance News and Research

Obama's budget eyes provider cuts to save money

First Edition: March 5, 2014

Highlights: Fla.'s new Medicaid hospital formula; Kan. health coverage, autism bills; Va. hospitals expand in Richmond

Oregon's troubled health exchange, Oracle begin 'transition' agreement; Maryland's marketplace wrestled with what to do next

New analysis offers insights for hospitals in implementing community health improvement programs

In final enrollment push, president Obama focuses on Latinos

Viewpoints: Ryan's attack on Medicaid; time to fix Medicare's doc pay

Motivating kids to be more physically active

Is another health law delay on the horizon?

3.5 million estimated Medicaid signups under health law

First Edition: March 4, 2014

Health reform gives people with history of jail time access to continuous health care

Upper-bracket homeowners who make profits on home sale begin feeling effect of health law tax

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

Shoppers confront more glitches, frustrations from state health exchanges

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

Medtronic, Aetna team up to help insured members with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes

Experts recommend several steps to improve care for prisoners

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

Administration offers fix for consumers tangled up in health exchange flaws

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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