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Manchin may back Democrats on individual mandate delay

News outlets are reporting that Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, said Thursday he'd be willing to support a year-long delay in the health law's individual mandate if it came before the Senate -- and then walked those comments back. Some other Democrats support modest tweaks to the law, The Wall Street Journal reports.

30 Sep 2013

Patients treated by ID physicians less likely to die in hospital

In a first-of-its-kind study to evaluate the impact of a medical specialty on patient outcomes, researchers found that hospitalized patients with severe infections such as meningitis and Clostridium difficile are significantly less likely to die if they receive care from an infectious diseases specialist. The study, which analyzed nearly 130,000 Medicare patient cases, is now available online and will be published in the December 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

30 Sep 2013

Notices about Medicare advantage changes coming

Medicare Advantage plans are informing seniors of changes to their plans by mail this week. Meanwhile, KHN's Mary Agnes Carey talks about what Obamacare changes older Americans can expect.

29 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 27, 2013

Today's headlines include the latest updates on the congressional brinksmanship related to current budget battles and efforts to defund the health law, as well as reports about President Barack Obama's campaign-style speech about the law and details on another implementation delay.

27 Sep 2013

Opinions on Cruz: GOP fight obscures harms from sequester; dramatic stand reaffirms Republican resolve; fundraising bonanza for both parties

The budget crisis manufactured by Congressional Republicans will never succeed at halting health care reform, but it has already caused long-lasting harm. It will preserve the deeply damaging spending cuts, known as the sequester, that are costing jobs and hurting the lives of millions (9/25).

27 Sep 2013

GOP considers shutdown alternatives

Republicans are exploring a possible new strategy: shifting the fight over President Barack Obama's health-care law to a separate bill that would raise the nation's debt limit. Other media outlets report that the debt limit deadline is Oct. 17 -- about two weeks earlier than had been anticipated.

27 Sep 2013

D.C.'s Obamacare insurance exchange hits technology snag

The District of Columbia's online health exchange will not be able to immediately calculate a person's subsidy to help them buy coverage or sign up for Medicaid when the health law exchange opens Oct. 1. Instead, such determinations will be done offline as officials try to fix the problems.

27 Sep 2013

ACS, ASMBS disappointed with CMS' decision on bariatric surgery for Medicare patients

Despite strong opposition from leading surgical and medical groups, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has ruled it will no longer require Medicare patients to undergo bariatric surgical procedures at accredited facilities.

26 Sep 2013

Affinity Health Plan's Medicare Advantage plans to be expanded into five counties

On October 1, 2013, Affinity Health Plan's Medicare Advantage plans, currently offered in the five boroughs of New York City, will become available in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties.

26 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 26, 2013

Today's headlines include details regarding the ongoing congressional battle over the future of the health law in the context of avoiding a government shutdown, as well as the developments on the ground as the Oct. 1 launch of the health law's insurance marketplace nears.

26 Sep 2013

Viewpoints: Health law premium rates reveal 'mostly good news' but renew critics arguments; 'Cruz-ing for a bruising;'

President Obama, President Clinton, and Senator Ted Cruz all spent a lot of time talking about Obamacare on Tuesday. But the real news came just as the day was ending, right at midnight, when the Department of Health and Human Services released data on insurance premiums available through the new Obamacare marketplaces. Several states had already released their data. With this report, HHS provided premium information for most of the rest. Overall, the numbers are pretty consistent with previous reports, albeit with some new and interesting wrinkles. It seems like mostly good news, though the law's critics would argue it vindicates some of their arguments, as well (Jonathan Cohn, 9/25).

26 Sep 2013

Consumer Reports launches web-based tool that offers personalized guidance on health insurance

Consumer Reports, the nonprofit consumer service organization empowering consumers for more than 75 years, today announced the launch of HealthLawHelper.org, an innovative web-based tool that offers personalized guidance to help consumers better understand how they may be affected by the Affordable Care Act.

26 Sep 2013

State highlights: N.M. officials seek less Medicaid money next year

The agency managing New Mexico's largest health care program is asking for less -- not more -- state money to operate in the upcoming budget year. It's the first time in more than a decade the Human Services Department isn't seeking an increase in state aid for Medicaid, which provides health care for a fourth of New Mexico's population (Massey, 9/24).

26 Sep 2013

Threatened shutdown may not officially slow health law's implementation but could trigger technical difficulties

Many aspects of the health law will be mostly untouched by the looming federal government shutdown. But some officials are concerned that it could jam up the exchanges' data hub.

26 Sep 2013

Older women living in poorest areas of Appalachia have higher incidence of later stage breast cancer

Older women living in the poorest areas of Appalachia in the U.S. fail to get regular breast cancer screening and have a higher incidence of later stage breast cancer, reports a new study in Health Services Research.

26 Sep 2013

Majority of qualified patients fail to receive lifesaving treatment for sudden cardiac arrest: Study

A new study of patients who died of sudden cardiac arrest, a usually fatal condition that causes the heart to stop beating, shows the majority who qualified to receive potentially lifesaving treatment did not receive it.

25 Sep 2013

Viewpoints: GOP's 'charge into the fixed bayonets;' Republican health plan is superior to Obama's; Congressional hypocrisy on its health policy

So House Republicans have passed and sent to the Senate a budget that includes no funding for the Affordable Care Act, setting up a political showdown that could result in a government shutdown. We wish the GOP luck, since we support the policy if not the strategy. But however this charge into the fixed bayonets turns out, we hope the folks who planned it will take responsibility for what happens now (9/23).

25 Sep 2013

$Repeating BMD tests after four years provides no clinical benefit of fracture risk in older adults$

Repeating BMD tests after four years provides no clinical benefit of fracture risk in older adults

Repeating bone mineral density (BMD) tests after four years provides little clinical benefit when assessing bone fracture risk in seniors age 75 and older, according to a recent study led by researchers at the Harvard Medical School-affiliated Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife. The study appears in the Sept. 25 online issue of JAMA.

25 Sep 2013

Medicare: Judge dismisses observation care lawsuit; Medicare penalizes every D.C. hospital, 5 in VA. suburbs;

A federal court judge dismissed a lawsuit Monday which was filed against the government by 14 Medicare beneficiaries who were denied nursing home coverage because they had been kept in the hospital under "observation status."

25 Sep 2013

As opening day approaches, confusion continues about health exchanges

With the Oct. 1 launch of the health law's online insurance marketplaces just days away, news outlets examine questions such as who will use them, what will make them a success, how long will it take to judge whether they are working, and other key issues.

25 Sep 2013

Medicare News and Research

Manchin may back Democrats on individual mandate delay

Patients treated by ID physicians less likely to die in hospital

Notices about Medicare advantage changes coming

First Edition: September 27, 2013

Opinions on Cruz: GOP fight obscures harms from sequester; dramatic stand reaffirms Republican resolve; fundraising bonanza for both parties

GOP considers shutdown alternatives

D.C.'s Obamacare insurance exchange hits technology snag

ACS, ASMBS disappointed with CMS' decision on bariatric surgery for Medicare patients

Affinity Health Plan's Medicare Advantage plans to be expanded into five counties

First Edition: September 26, 2013

Viewpoints: Health law premium rates reveal 'mostly good news' but renew critics arguments; 'Cruz-ing for a bruising;'

Consumer Reports launches web-based tool that offers personalized guidance on health insurance

State highlights: N.M. officials seek less Medicaid money next year

Threatened shutdown may not officially slow health law's implementation but could trigger technical difficulties

Older women living in poorest areas of Appalachia have higher incidence of later stage breast cancer

Majority of qualified patients fail to receive lifesaving treatment for sudden cardiac arrest: Study

Viewpoints: GOP's 'charge into the fixed bayonets;' Republican health plan is superior to Obama's; Congressional hypocrisy on its health policy

Repeating BMD tests after four years provides no clinical benefit of fracture risk in older adults

Medicare: Judge dismisses observation care lawsuit; Medicare penalizes every D.C. hospital, 5 in VA. suburbs;

As opening day approaches, confusion continues about health exchanges

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