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House Republicans keep target on health law's insurance subsidies

Meanwhile, a new GOP lawmaker from Texas renews his pledge to undo "ObamaCare" while a senator focuses on workforce issues.

31 Jan 2013

Nursing-home operators face credit crunch

The Wall Street Journal reports that instability in the health care environment is making banks hesitant to give mortgages to nursing homes.

From Elekta 31 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Gov. Jindal calls Medicaid an 'outdated model;' GOP's opposition to 'Big Government' hurts effort to revamp entitlements

As the implementation of Obamacare unfortunately nears, every governor must decide whether to expand Medicaid. This is not a simple question. Expanding Medicaid will significantly burden state budgets across the country.

29 Jan 2013

Democrats defend safety net, propose modest adjustments

That partisan gibe was telling. He defended two programs, Medicare and Medicaid, begun nearly a half-century ago, and a third, Social Security, that dates from the Great Depression. The federal welfare commitments that Mr. Obama praised in observing that "a great nation must care for the vulnerable" also date back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's time.

29 Jan 2013

Harkin's retirement leaves hole in Senate health care leadership -- and parties are scrambling

The retirement of Sen. Tom Harkin -- a key health care figure in the Senate -- has both parties scrambling to field someone to fill the seat.

29 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Debating P4P; ‘Tactical retreat' by GOP; The virtues of across-the-board spending cuts

Instead of granting automatic pay increases, N.Y. City's public hospital system will pay them based on how well they reduce costs, increase patient satisfaction and improve the quality of care. The Health and Hospitals Corporation, which runs the city's 11 public hospitals, deserves praise for an ambitious proposal that will need to be refined as it is put into practice.

28 Jan 2013

Poll: 6 in 10 oppose cutting Medicare to lower deficit

A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that most of the public wants deficit reduction, but they want it without cutting major social programs like Medicare and Medicaid. On health care, the public favors requiring drug makers to give the government 'a better deal' on medications for low-income seniors and making higher-income seniors pay more for coverage to reduce the deficit. Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Foundation.

28 Jan 2013

GOP vows to stick to principles, including Medicare and Medicaid

News outlets covered the winter meeting of the Republican National Committee, where party members said they needed to adjust their tone, but not their conservative positions, including on entitlements.

28 Jan 2013

Lawmakers target fiscal cliff's provision aiding Amgen for elimination

The fiscal cliff legislation approved earlier this month excluded Amgen's Sensipar, which is used by kidney dialysis patients, from Medicare price controls for an additional two years.

28 Jan 2013

Medicare foots $120 million bill for patient groups not eligible for the program

According to two government reports, the Medicare program was billed for more than $33 million in inmate care and more than $91 million for illegal immigrant care between 2009 and 2011. Medicare generally does not pay for services for either of these patient groups.

28 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Medicare obligation is heavy future obligation; Mental health's 'elephant in the room'

A growing body of empirical evidence points to increasing dependency on state largess. The evidence documents as well a number of perverse and disturbing changes that this entitlement state is imposing on society. ... Social Security and Medicare have already made tens of trillions of dollars in future promises that are not covered by their expected funding streams. If and when outside resources are required to honor their promises, these entitlements become transfer programs, not insurance programs.

28 Jan 2013

First Edition: January 25, 2013

Today's headlines include various state-level reports about how budget issues are impacting health policy decisions.

28 Jan 2013

Research roundup: Does higher Rx drug spending lower Medicare costs?; Price transparency doesn't affect radiological decisions

Researchers aimed to find a relationship between geographic variation in Medicare Part D spending and medication-taking behavior among patients with diabetes or heart failure.

28 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: GOP's hope to end deficits in 10 years will mean 'dramatic cuts' in entitlements; Mass. health overhaul brings need for more taxes

Ryan has a daunting new assignment that may make that message even more difficult to sell. He's been charged by House Speaker John A. Boehner with drawing up a new budget that will erase the federal deficit within 10 years (the first Ryan budget, written in 2011, needed 30 years) solely through spending cuts

25 Jan 2013

Medicare News and Research

House Republicans keep target on health law's insurance subsidies

Nursing-home operators face credit crunch

Viewpoints: Gov. Jindal calls Medicaid an 'outdated model;' GOP's opposition to 'Big Government' hurts effort to revamp entitlements

Democrats defend safety net, propose modest adjustments

Harkin's retirement leaves hole in Senate health care leadership -- and parties are scrambling

Viewpoints: Debating P4P; ‘Tactical retreat' by GOP; The virtues of across-the-board spending cuts

Poll: 6 in 10 oppose cutting Medicare to lower deficit

GOP vows to stick to principles, including Medicare and Medicaid

Lawmakers target fiscal cliff's provision aiding Amgen for elimination

Medicare foots $120 million bill for patient groups not eligible for the program

Viewpoints: Medicare obligation is heavy future obligation; Mental health's 'elephant in the room'

First Edition: January 25, 2013

Research roundup: Does higher Rx drug spending lower Medicare costs?; Price transparency doesn't affect radiological decisions

Viewpoints: GOP's hope to end deficits in 10 years will mean 'dramatic cuts' in entitlements; Mass. health overhaul brings need for more taxes

SGR fix on House Subcommittee's to-do list

Roundup: Lessons from Mass. health reform; Berwick moves closer to gov. bid; Jindal reverses Medicaid hospice cut

House GOP seeks steep spending cuts, but postpones moment of reckoning

Employer-insurer coalition asks HHS to pare essential benefits

State roundup: Legislatures tackle health budget gaps, worker pay

Supreme Court dashes hospitals' hopes for recovering underpayments

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