Medicare News and Research

RSS

Miami-area seniors get 'white-glove' treatment from private plans

The Miami Herald reports that seniors in southern Florida have benefited from the highly lucrative and super competitive world of privately managed Medicare Advantage plans

27 Nov 2013

Health law coverage bringing changes to an array of consumers

News outlets explore some of these issues, including new costs for people with "Cadillac" coverage, "narrow networks" of doctors and other health providers, new options for part-time workers and unexpected effects on smokers.

27 Nov 2013

Medical advances, teaching hospital procedures inflate health care costs

Hospitals are examining "post-intensive-care syndrome" and other elements of their procedures to measure the impact on their bottom lines.

27 Nov 2013

Chances for small-bore budget deal said to improve

Despite a polarized Congress, The Associated Press reports that the prospects for a modest, end-of-year budget deal are looking up. Neither party would achieve its biggest priority with such an agreement, however.

27 Nov 2013

Administration: HealthCare.gov on target to work for most by Nov. 30

Administration officials and consumer advocates say that the enrollment website serving residents of 36 states is becoming easier for people to use, but insurers warn that flaws continue to hinder health plans. Officials acknowledge that some users will continue to experience outages and error messages. Meanwhile, Bloomberg looks at the president's efforts to monitor the situation.

26 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Senate should reconsider treaty on protections for people with disabilities; HHS treading wrong way on payments for bone marrow donors

About a year ago the Senate fell five votes short of ratifying an international treaty that would improve protections for the disabled. It was an ignoble spectacle as the opponents rebuffed Bob Dole, a former colleague and disabled veteran, who came to the Senate floor to lobby for it.

26 Nov 2013

Health law commentaries: 'A reader's guide' to possible 'traumas to come;' California shows the way to success

Commentators look at the rollout of the health law and the implications for the nation and individual states.

26 Nov 2013

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