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Medicare reverses course and opts not to revamp dialysis payments

Federal officials announce that they will reduce what the program's payment by less than 1 percent over the next two years.

26 Nov 2013

Healthcare.Gov progress reports and post-mortems

KHN report looks forward, about what is next in the queue in efforts to fix the website -- including possible fixes that would allow insurers and web-based brokers to enroll customers directly into subsidized coverage.

26 Nov 2013

More adults are undergoing minimally invasive surgery for diseased kidneys

More children, like adults, are undergoing minimally invasive surgery for diseased kidneys, with most of the procedures being performed at teaching hospitals to treat non-cancerous conditions.

26 Nov 2013

Administration moves health plan sign-ups to mid-November in 2015

On Friday, the Obama administration announced that starting next year, it will push back the start of the sign-up period for those buying insurance until mid-November, rather than mid-October. Republicans called the shift a blatantly political move.

25 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 25, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about how political concerns and strategies are taking shape as a result of healthcare.gov's difficulties.

25 Nov 2013

Capsules: Obamacare deadline for Jan. 1 coverage extended one week

Millions of consumers have been frustrated by their inability to sign up for coverage through healthcare.gov, the federal website for residents of 36 states, which went public Oct. 1. While the administration has said the site will work smoothly for most customers by Nov. 30, some advocates had been concerned that consumers still might not have enough time to sign up for coverage that would take effect Jan. 1.

25 Nov 2013

State roundup: Candidate Berwick floats 'single payer;' Minn. reps pushing against med device tax; restore Medi-Cal cuts?

A roundup of state health policy news, today from Iowa, Minnesota, Massachusetts and California.

25 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Opposition to Medicaid dooming the South; Obama's 'blank check' for insurers; one woman's quest for coverage

As inapt as those comparisons are, what is distressingly similar today is how the South is once again committed to taking a backward path. By refusing to expand health care for the working poor through Medicaid, which is paid for by the federal government under Obamacare, most of the old Confederacy is committed to keeping millions of its own fellow citizens in poverty and poor health. They are dooming themselves, further, as the Left-Behind States (Timothy Egan, 11/21).

25 Nov 2013

Consumers given more time to get healthcare.gov coverage that starts in January

Administration officials announced Friday that consumers would be permitted to enroll in a health insurance plan on healthcare.gov as late as Dec. 23 for coverage that begins on Jan. 1 next year.

25 Nov 2013

As popularity of health law 'sinks,' some marketing will wait until new year

In the meantime, a new poll suggests the problems with the health law rollout have harmed the public's view of the law as a whole, and a second poll suggests the public sees addressing health care costs as the central issue.

25 Nov 2013

Financial analysts say in addition to political turmoil, website problems could send stocks into turmoil

Wall Street health care analysts warned Thursday that a failure to successfully launch HealthCare.gov by Nov. 30 could send Democrats fleeing from Obamacare and industry stocks into turmoil. "If the website is not functioning on Nov. 30, then I think you see a stampede of Democratic legislators in risky elections next year," said Carl McDonald, a senior analyst at Citi Investment Research, at a conference organized by the Center for Studying Health System Change (Cheney, 11/21).

23 Nov 2013

First Edition: November 22, 2013

Today's headlines include reports that the Obama administration will push back 2015 Obamacare enrollment by a month, starting Nov. 15, 2014, instead of Oct. 15, 2014.

22 Nov 2013

EYLEA Injection gets approval in Japan for treatment of macular edema following CRVO

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that EYLEA (aflibercept) Injection has received approval for the treatment of Macular Edema Following Central Retinal Vein Occlusion from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

22 Nov 2013

Patients to have online access to their prescription data for improved safety

As part of its mission to accelerate the adoption of health information exchange throughout California, the UC Davis Institute for Population Health Improvement's California Health eQuality program awarded $400,000 to L.A. Care, the nation's largest publicly operated health plan, to develop Blue Button functionality.

22 Nov 2013

Longer looks: Parents' crusade on rare diseases; fighting obesity; experts' view of alternative medicine

In the beginning, Chris Hempel noticed the clumsiness. Her girls tripped over toys on the floor. Their grandfather said he couldn't teach them to pedal their tricycles. … The Hempels learned of people who called themselves citizen-scientists. Many shared research papers and their day-to-day experience. Some talked of their willingness to try any promising drug. Others sought a role as equal partners with researchers. Scientists, while sympathetic, generally believe their work should be left to experts. Families are encouraged to raise money if they want to help, but the traditional view is that amateurs can't shape research or find cures. The Hempels found a maddening gap between the search for scientific knowledge and the search for treatments (Amy Docker Marcus, 11/2013).

22 Nov 2013

Narrow choices for doctors and hospitals could keep costs down but add to consumer concerns

The Associated Press offers examples of limited networks that exclude some of the most prestigious hospitals in the Chicago and New York City areas.

22 Nov 2013

Investigation into Medicare payment decision spotlights issues of insider trader and 'political intelligence'

Investigators are hitting a wall in an insider-trading probe of how a government funding decision made its way to investors before it was officially released, according to people familiar with the probe.

22 Nov 2013

Study: Patients staying on medications does not lower hospital readmission rates

A targeted effort to help high-risk heart failure patients stay on their medications did improve adherence to drug regimens, but had surprisingly little effect lowering hospital readmission rates, according to a study at Duke Medicine.

21 Nov 2013

State highlights: Mo. doctors propose Medicaid payment reform project; N.C. Medicaid billing problems persist; Calif. nursing home pays $48M to settle fraud case

Some doctors want to make Missouri's Medicaid program a little more like a health club. A proposal outlined by a pair of doctors Tuesday would create a pilot project in which primary care physicians would be paid a flat monthly amount for each Medicaid patient they accept (Lieb, 11/19).

21 Nov 2013

Administration tech official says about 40% of HealthCare.gov remains to be built

Henry Chao, who has overseen much of the work on healthcare.gov, said much of the "back office" work, including the system to send insurers their payments, has not been completed.

21 Nov 2013

Medicare News and Research

Medicare reverses course and opts not to revamp dialysis payments

Healthcare.Gov progress reports and post-mortems

More adults are undergoing minimally invasive surgery for diseased kidneys

Administration moves health plan sign-ups to mid-November in 2015

First Edition: November 25, 2013

Capsules: Obamacare deadline for Jan. 1 coverage extended one week

State roundup: Candidate Berwick floats 'single payer;' Minn. reps pushing against med device tax; restore Medi-Cal cuts?

Viewpoints: Opposition to Medicaid dooming the South; Obama's 'blank check' for insurers; one woman's quest for coverage

Consumers given more time to get healthcare.gov coverage that starts in January

As popularity of health law 'sinks,' some marketing will wait until new year

Financial analysts say in addition to political turmoil, website problems could send stocks into turmoil

First Edition: November 22, 2013

EYLEA Injection gets approval in Japan for treatment of macular edema following CRVO

Patients to have online access to their prescription data for improved safety

Longer looks: Parents' crusade on rare diseases; fighting obesity; experts' view of alternative medicine

Narrow choices for doctors and hospitals could keep costs down but add to consumer concerns

Investigation into Medicare payment decision spotlights issues of insider trader and 'political intelligence'

Study: Patients staying on medications does not lower hospital readmission rates

State highlights: Mo. doctors propose Medicaid payment reform project; N.C. Medicaid billing problems persist; Calif. nursing home pays $48M to settle fraud case

Administration tech official says about 40% of HealthCare.gov remains to be built

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