Medicare News and Research

RSS

Businesses and individuals grapple with decisions about coverage, penalties

News organizations preview what's to come in 2013 as provisions of the Affordable Care Act are put in place.

3 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Republicans reject their own market-based ideas; Analyzing entitlement spending; Access to after-hours care reduces ER visits

It's harder and harder for politicians on the right to think straight about health care. Conservatives once genuinely interested in finding market-based ways for the government to expand health insurance coverage have, since the rise of Obamacare, made choices that are dysfunctional, even from their own perspective. Start with the decision of the vast majority of Republican governors to refuse to set up the state insurance exchanges required under the law.

2 Jan 2013

First Edition: January 2, 2013

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a number of reports about congressional efforts to avert the "fiscal cliff."

2 Jan 2013

Study highlights value of defibrillators in typical medical settings

Patients who received an implantable heart defibrillator in everyday practice had survival benefits on par with those who received the same devices in carefully controlled clinical trials, according to a new study that highlights the value of defibrillators in typical medical settings.

1 Jan 2013

Tentative 'fiscal cliff' deal reported between White House, Senate Republicans

President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans sealed a budget deal late on the final day of the year to avert the fiscal cliff that would raise income-tax rates for the first time in nearly 20 years, maintain unemployment benefits to millions of people and extend a number of tax breaks for families of modest means.

1 Jan 2013

Senate talks on 'fiscal cliff' moving slowly

Negotiations over a last-ditch agreement to head off large tax increases and sweeping spending cuts in the new year appeared to resume Sunday afternoon after Republican senators withdrew their demand that a deal must include a new way of calculating inflation that would lower payments to beneficiaries programs like Social Security and slow their growth.

31 Dec 2012

As fiscal cliff nears, there's a 'flurry of activity,' but hope for a deal is still slim

News outlets report that a patch to prevent a scheduled cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients is among the items that could wind up in a last-minute fiscal deal.

29 Dec 2012

Hospitals that provide uncompensated care may undergo unintended cuts

The decision by several states not to expand Medicaid health insurance for the poor may create unintended cuts for hospitals that provide uncompensated care, according to a study by John Graves, Ph.D., a Vanderbilt policy expert in the Department of Preventive Medicine.

28 Dec 2012

Group health approved for PCORI research awards to study care for back pain

Group Health has been approved for two research awards from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study ways to improve care for back pain and to connect patients with community resources. The projects are part of a portfolio of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research that addresses PCORI's National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda.

28 Dec 2012

Survey reveals significant improvement in delivery of underused care

An analysis of nationally representative survey data found significant improvement in the delivery of underused care, but more limited changes in the reduction of inappropriate care in ambulatory health care settings between 1998 and 2009, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

25 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: Playing chicken on entitlements; 'Getting serious' about mental illness; Hospital labs devastated by Sandy

This is no time for a Grand Bargain, because the Republican Party, as now constituted, is just not an entity with which the president can make a serious deal. If we're going to get a grip on our nation's problems - of which the budget deficit is a minor part - the power of the G.O.P.'s extremists, and their willingness to hold the economy hostage if they don't get their way, needs to be broken. And somehow I don't think that's going to happen in the next few days (Paul Krugman, 12/20).

21 Dec 2012

Medicare rolls out quality bonuses and penalties

Under a new program created by the health law, hospitals can get larger payments -- or payment cuts -- based on the quality of care they provide.

21 Dec 2012

GAO raises concerns about spending on new Medicare programs

The government may be duplicating efforts under several programs and paying for the same services to test new payment and treatment delivery models, a study finds.

21 Dec 2012

'Doc fix' unlikely without fiscal deal

Lawmakers have assumed that whatever deal is negotiated by President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner would include a patch to avoid the 26.5% cut to physicians who treat Medicare patients, which takes effect next month. Without a deal, however, providers face a double whammy, since they would also see 2 percent pay cuts under sequestration.

21 Dec 2012

Boehner fails to rally GOP, pulls his tax plan back

House speaker was under pressure from conservatives who wanted bigger cuts in entitlement spending.

21 Dec 2012

Research Roundup: Health law's under-26 coverage 'significantly increased' access to care; Thousands of surgical 'never events' occur each year

The health law allows young adults to remain under their parents' health insurance plans until age 26, raising questions about the law's overall impact on access to care. Researchers used data from two nationally representative surveys to compare young adults who've gained access to dependent coverage to a control group of individuals (ages 26-34) unaffected by the new policy.

21 Dec 2012

First Edition: December 21, 2012

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the House Republicans' failure to pass Speaker John Boehner's tax and federal debt plan.

21 Dec 2012

As clock runs down, 'fiscal cliff' negotiations stall

Speaker John Boehner pledged to bring his alternative option to a House vote as early as today. Meanwhile, the issue of savings in the Medicare program continue to be examined.

21 Dec 2012

House passes bio-threat vaccines, Medicare coverage bills

The House passed several health measures Wednesday including bills on developing vaccines to thwart bio-threats and on Medicare coverage for immune deficiency care.

21 Dec 2012

CMS awards $306M to states for enrolling more kids in Medicaid

The Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services on Wednesday awarded $306 million in bonuses to 23 states for enrolling more children in Medicaid. The move is meant to help offset the expense of covering more kids in the state-federal health care program.

21 Dec 2012