Health Reform News and Research

RSS

Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike are anxious for health law briefings

As a senior White House official heads to Capitol Hill to brief House Democrats on the health law's implementation -- especially the troubled rollout of healthcare.gov, Republicans want the same opportunity.

24 Oct 2013

Defending health exchange's rollout puts Sebelius in the hot seat

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is being called to Capitol Hill by Republican lawmakers who want her to explain what went wrong with the Oct. 1 unveiling of healthcare.gov. She is also facing calls for her resignation. Still, according to Politico, her job is safe.

24 Oct 2013

First Edition: October 23, 2013

Today's headlines include continuing coverage about the problems with the healthcare.gov website, how Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is in the hot seat and how the White House has called in reinforcements -- a glitch czar.

23 Oct 2013

Ohio board OKs Medicaid expansion, lawsuits loom

The state Controlling Board agreed Monday to Republican Gov. John Kasich's proposal to accept federal money to expand Medicaid to more than 275,000 Ohioans. Conservatives, however, are planning lawsuits over Kasich's circumvention of state lawmakers.

23 Oct 2013

Republicans attacking Sebelius on insurance exchange rollout

News outlets covered the Sunday talk show circuit.

21 Oct 2013

AP: Obama administration says almost 500,000 have applied for health insurance

Administration officials say about 476,000 health insurance applications have been filed through federal and state exchanges, the most detailed measure yet of the problem-plagued rollout of President Barack Obama's signature legislation.

21 Oct 2013

Longer looks: Making Romneycare work for other states; primary care's new challenge; Boston Marathon first responders continuing battle

Every week reporter Ankita Rao selects interesting reading from around the Web.

18 Oct 2013

New report examines impact of health reform on community health centers and patients

A new report by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services examines the impact of health reform on community health centers and their patients.

17 Oct 2013

Congressional health coverage at center of House GOP concerns

Conservatives argue that federal contributions to their health insurance, which the health law requires them to purchase in the new online marketplaces, is an unfair subsidy. But Democrats say the government is just providing the same support that it has in the past and what other big employers give workers.

17 Oct 2013

Senate leaders close in on deal that leaves health law intact

The agreement could include a one-year delay in the health law's reinsurance tax, as well as a measure to tighten income verification standards for qualifying for health insurance subsidies.

16 Oct 2013

Viewpoints: Marketplaces' 'technical foibles' may keep young people from coming back; health law may be ushering in era of narrow networks

The encouraging view is that the overwhelming number of visitors to the site indicates high demand for insurance in the new system. That's critical, because the more people who participate, the better the system works. The danger is that the technical foibles since Oct. 1 will discourage people from coming back, particularly the young and healthy customers the system needs to keep rates reasonable. With some big deadlines approaching, the Obama administration needs to fix the bugs, and fast. People who need insurance from the federal marketplace have until mid-December to buy coverage that begins Jan. 1. If enrollment figures aren't robust by then, the new health-care system will have a problem even bigger than a frustrating Web (10/11).

15 Oct 2013

Medicare open enrollment starts Tuesday

Beneficiaries are encouraged to take a close look at their options during their upcoming enrollment period, which is separate from the sign-up in the health law's marketplaces.

15 Oct 2013

GOP lawmakers probe marketplace bugs

Republicans on both sides of the Capitol are investigating technical problems with the health law's online health insurance marketplaces -- with one senator going so far as to call for the resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Others bemoan the lost opportunity to publicize the balky rollout because public attention was focused instead on the government shutdown.

15 Oct 2013

Experts worry about other trouble spots with health law marketplaces

Politico reports that other steps in the online enrollment process, including computing subsidies and transferring signup information to insurers may also have bugs. The Associated Press reports that some insiders predicted the problems well before the website launch, while The Washington Post notes that paper applications are increasingly popular because of the problems.

15 Oct 2013

Budget talks moving further from GOP's health law concerns

Republicans blame Democrats for throwing up new roadblocks to a compromise, but at the same time Sen. Lindsey Graham says making changes to the health law is "unrealistic."

14 Oct 2013

US health care spending to grow at an average annual rate of 5.8% for 2012-22

New estimates released 9/18/13 from the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project that aggregate health care spending in the United States will grow at an average annual rate of 5.8 percent for 2012-22, or 1.0 percentage point faster than the expected growth in the gross domestic product.

11 Oct 2013

Lawmakers grill IRS chief on Obamacare rollout

Media outlets report that a House panel questioned Sarah Hall Ingram, the Internal Revenue Service official running the agency's Obamacare office, who testified the health law rollout is going smoothly. Another House panel heard conflicting views of the law's impact on businesses.

11 Oct 2013

State public health departments do not lose funding when merged with Medicaid programs

State public health departments do not necessarily lose funding when merged with larger Medicaid programs, according to a just-released study. The findings from this first-of-a-kind research should help allay concerns that when such mergers occur they automatically lead to cutbacks in public health, says lead author Paula Lantz, PhD, who is chair of the Department of Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS).

10 Oct 2013

Hill GOP blasts coverage costs, seeks numbers of Obamacare enrolees

The GOP on Capitol Hill is continuing targeted attacks on the health law.

9 Oct 2013

Doctors concerned about electronic health records

Being able to provide high-quality health care is a primary driver of job satisfaction among physicians, and obstacles to quality patient care are a source of stress for doctors, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

9 Oct 2013