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Health insurers launch TV campaign opposing Medicare Advantage cuts

The ads, including a 30-second TV spot that will run in a dozen states and Washington, D.C., are designed to increase pressure on Congress and the Obama administration to stop proposed 2.3 percent cuts to these private plans. In addition, some analysts predict earnings drops for some insurers if the cuts go forward.

8 Mar 2013

Recession not to blame for cost increases at not-for-profit hospitals, study says

Most not-for-profit hospitals did not offset investment losses from the Great Recession by raising prices, according to a new study.

8 Mar 2013

House Republicans, Senate Democrats to release competing budget plans next week

As President Barack Obama courts Republican lawmakers who might be interested in a "grand bargain," the chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees are expected to release competing budget proposals. Some hope a conference committee might be able to work out the differences on taxes and spending, including changes to Medicare.

8 Mar 2013

Link between outdoor heat and hospitalization for respiratory disease in the elderly

Outdoor heat is associated with a significantly increased risk of emergency hospitalization for respiratory disorders in the elderly, according to a large epidemiological study of more than 12.5 million Medicare beneficiaries.

8 Mar 2013

African-American women with breast cancer more likely to develop heart failure

African-American women who survive breast cancer are more likely to develop heart failure than other women who have beaten the disease, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session.

8 Mar 2013

Weekend reading: Deciding if it's 'time to let mom die,' a cancer hospital's controversial admission procedures

My father, sister and I sat in the near-empty Chinese restaurant, picking at our plates, unable to avoid the question that we'd gathered to discuss: When was it time to let Mom die? ... My father and sister looked to me for my thoughts. In our family, after all, I'm the go-to guy for all things medical. I've been a health care reporter for 15 years: at the Dallas Morning News, the Los Angeles Times and now ProPublica.

7 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Ryan's efforts on Medicare leave Republicans 'howling;' Retirement may be too expensive for seniors

Paul Ryan is one of the few considering the long-term trajectory of federal spending who is also preparing a solution without artificial fiscal cliffs. Perhaps surprisingly, his ideas for structural budget and entitlement reform have some Republicans howling even before Democrats get an opportunity to speak up.

7 Mar 2013

Minn. House's exchange bill faces challenges with Senate and Governor

The plan to create a state insurance marketplace includes some abortion restrictions that are expected to meet resistance.

7 Mar 2013

Obama reaches out to rank-and-file Republicans to make deal

Though the Obama administration and congressional Republicans are working to minimize the pinch of the sequester's short-term spending cuts, both sides are preparing for another Medicare battle.

7 Mar 2013

Ryan's Medicare plan said to back away from age cutoff

News organizations report that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is expected to exempt people 55 years old and older from his Medicare overhaul - despite his personal preference to raise that age to 56.

7 Mar 2013

Feds to kick off campaign to reach uninsured in July

Politico reports that the Obama administration will begin a pitch to enroll the uninsured beginning in July.

7 Mar 2013

Technology aids, such as electronic alerts, may help prevent missed diagnoses

But the authors of the analysis of past studies on electronic-based patient safety efforts say few of those studies have tracked direct improvements to patient health, Reuters reports.

7 Mar 2013

Emerging healthcare policy aims at reducing preventable hospital readmissions

Reducing preventable hospital readmissions is a cornerstone of emerging healthcare policy. The U.S. government has developed payment policies that will decrease payments to hospitals with excess patient readmission levels, for example.

7 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Doctors, nurses not reaping same health care 'bonanzas' as other providers; House GOP spending plan doesn't solve budget problems

When I followed the money trail in Time magazine's story "A Bitter Pill" behind the drugs, medical devices or CT scan equipment that the patients or their insurance companies were billed for, the profit margins for the hospitals that supplied them, as high as they were, were eclipsed by the margins of the manufacturers that sold them to the hospitals.

6 Mar 2013

Improved bariatric surgery outcomes not due to restricted Medicare coverage

Substantial improvements in perioperative outcomes of bariatric surgery over the past decade are not attributable to a restriction in Medicare coverage to patients receiving the weight loss operation at centers of excellence, report researchers.

6 Mar 2013

After sequester, what comes next?

News outlets report that the next step for some GOP lawmakers will revolve around a budget plan that will end deficits by 2023. Along those lines, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has suggested a change in his Medicare plan.

6 Mar 2013

Activists, lawmakers wrestle with Medicaid expansion

This aspect of the health law is a hot topic in Texas, Florida, California and Missouri -- among other places.

6 Mar 2013

Explaining the factors behind health care spending's modest increases

USA Today analyzes this trend and details some of the reasons that could be driving it.

6 Mar 2013

Inspector General finds unclear definition, enforcement of 'conflict of interest' may alter Medicare coverage decisions

Deciding which drugs will be covered by Medicare can influence huge amounts of spending, but government officials do little to police conflict of interest among doctors and pharmacists who make those decisions, federal investigators said Monday.

6 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Disappointing 'surprises' in health law; Cuts in graduate medical training threatens physician supply; Va. can afford Medicaid expansion

The proposed 2.3 percent reduction in (Medicare Advantage plan) payments, which comes on top of cuts already scheduled under the Affordable Care Act, pays no mind to the potential impact on quality of care throughout the program. These cuts will apply to all plans no matter the value they bring in providing quality care to beneficiaries or offering innovative solutions that could ultimately be scaled and applied to the broader program.

5 Mar 2013

Medicare News and Research

Health insurers launch TV campaign opposing Medicare Advantage cuts

Recession not to blame for cost increases at not-for-profit hospitals, study says

House Republicans, Senate Democrats to release competing budget plans next week

Link between outdoor heat and hospitalization for respiratory disease in the elderly

African-American women with breast cancer more likely to develop heart failure

Weekend reading: Deciding if it's 'time to let mom die,' a cancer hospital's controversial admission procedures

Viewpoints: Ryan's efforts on Medicare leave Republicans 'howling;' Retirement may be too expensive for seniors

Minn. House's exchange bill faces challenges with Senate and Governor

Obama reaches out to rank-and-file Republicans to make deal

Ryan's Medicare plan said to back away from age cutoff

Feds to kick off campaign to reach uninsured in July

Technology aids, such as electronic alerts, may help prevent missed diagnoses

Emerging healthcare policy aims at reducing preventable hospital readmissions

Viewpoints: Doctors, nurses not reaping same health care 'bonanzas' as other providers; House GOP spending plan doesn't solve budget problems

Improved bariatric surgery outcomes not due to restricted Medicare coverage

After sequester, what comes next?

Activists, lawmakers wrestle with Medicaid expansion

Explaining the factors behind health care spending's modest increases

Inspector General finds unclear definition, enforcement of 'conflict of interest' may alter Medicare coverage decisions

Viewpoints: Disappointing 'surprises' in health law; Cuts in graduate medical training threatens physician supply; Va. can afford Medicaid expansion

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