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CMS officials focus on health care innovation

At yesterday's 'Summit,' officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services advanced the notion that finding new ways to improve quality of care is also the best way to address high health care costs.

27 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 27, 2012

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Christian Torres reports on a speech given at the Care Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C., by Marilyn Tavenner, the president's nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, about the health law's accomplishments: "Tavenner will likely make some of the same arguments for the law and CMS initiatives when – or if – she encounters a grilling at her yet-to-be scheduled Senate confirmation hearing.

27 Jan 2012

State of the Union redux: Reading between the lines for health policy impact

News reports analyze why President Barack Obama gave only scant reference to the health law in his State of the Union address, how his push for regulatory reform may play out in the health care sector and how the speech represents his return to familiar themes.

27 Jan 2012

An examination of the premium support concept

Henry Aaron, who helped create the concept of premium support back in 1995, doesn't like its latest incarnation: Wyden-Ryan. Joseph Antos says the bipartisan odd couple has given Medicare - and taxpayers and beneficiaries - a real chance at fiscal sustainability. Two politely dueling essays in this week's New England Journal of Medicine dissect the proposal made by Republican Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon.

27 Jan 2012

Republican leadership prepares 'replace' plan should Supreme Court strike health law

Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., who chairs the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee, said Republicans will be ready with a replacement package if the health law is ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Also in the news, CQ HealthBeat reports the insurance industry expects to see legislation in the Senate to exempt brokers' fees from the medical-loss ratio. Meanwhile, Sen. Jon Kyl, R- Ariz., wants to use war savings to pay for the Medicare "doc fix."

27 Jan 2012

Longer looks: The Obama memos on health reform, Romney's Medicare mistake?, Flu 2012

The President's caution, and his concern about business, can be seen in the way he dealt with major interest groups. ... His health-insurance bill was crafted by building support from a delicate alliance of interest groups, and Obama personally guided the effort.

27 Jan 2012

Viewpoints: Massachusetts' health care success; Employers are key to curbing health costs

It's too bad former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney doesn't want to talk about his state's health care reform legislation on the campaign trail. If he did, he'd have a pretty good story to tell. The reform plan, which President Obama used as a model for the national reform, lifted the number of insured residents in the Bay State from 86.6 percent in 2006 to 94.2 percent in 2010, according to a new study published today by Health Affairs.

27 Jan 2012

The health law's moving parts: Essential benefits, innovation and consumer-friendly plan information

News outlets report on a variety of health law implementation news, ranging from how a new center is testing ways to improve care and cut costs, to efforts to salvage consumer information requirements for health plans and to define essential benefits.

27 Jan 2012

State roundup: Conn. home worker demand soars; Family planning providers dwindle in Texas; Florida legislation on health budgets, prices, abortion

Ensuring that there are enough direct care workers to meet the growing demand is one of the most significant challenges facing state officials as they try to dramatically expand the availability of home-based long-term care. ... Home care work is often sensitive, challenging and poorly compensated.

27 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 26, 2012

Today's health policy headlines include reports about House GOP plans to offer a 'replace' bill after the Supreme Court rules on the health law.

26 Jan 2012

In State of the Union speech, health law gets short shrift

President Barack Obama's State of the Union address was light on health policy references, but he did say he would not "go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny your coverage or charge women more than men." News outlets also reported on Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels Republican response and looked forward to what Obama is doing today to spin his speech.

25 Jan 2012

Congressional negotiators begin talks on payroll tax cut, 'doc fix'

Although Demcratic and Republican lawmakers differ on how to pay for it, they seem to agree there needs to be a deal in order to prevent a deep, scheduled cut in Medicare physician payments.

25 Jan 2012

States continue to wrestle with politics surrounding the development of health exchanges

Iowa should debate a key health-reform program in public so the program doesn't get twisted in favor of the insurance industry, consumer-group advocates said today. Legislators last year failed to reach agreement on how to set up a state health-insurance exchange.

25 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 25, 2012

Kaiser Health News listened to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address with an ear out for health policy references. He made just one explicit mention of the 2010 health law, and KHN has a transcript of the few parts of his speech that mentioned health care issues.

25 Jan 2012

Medicare Part D: A flashpoint in Florida GOP primary debate

Medicare is a testy subject in Florida, home to 3.3 million seniors. Romney charged that Gingrich lobbied lawmakers to approve legislation creating a new prescription drug benefit under Medicare. Gingrich denied lobbying, but - aware of his audience - Gingrich expressed pride in having supported Medicare Part D. "It has saved lives," Gingrich said. "It's run on a free enterprise model."

25 Jan 2012

Targeted repeal votes part of House GOP health agenda

Some specific provisions the Republican leadership plans to hold repeal votes on include the Medicare advisory panel and the CLASS Act. Meanwhile, the AMA is pointing to "war savings" as a possible way to pay for the fix to the Medicare physician payment formula.

25 Jan 2012

Medicare math and the GOP candidates

News outlets report on some of the specific health policy positions being advanced by the GOP presidential primary field.

25 Jan 2012

Some states' hesitancy on health law implementation could delay insurance exchange development

At issue is what some see as the law's uncertain future -- which many link to the outcome of the upcoming election and the Supreme Court's decision. The Minneapolis Star Tribune offers a case study.

25 Jan 2012

Viewpoints: Obama and liberal Catholics; Growing 'charity care'; Cutting costs on physician referrals

A Health and Human Services mandate that forces every employer to provide employees with health coverage that not only covers birth control and sterilization, but makes them free ... has drawn fire from the Catholic bishops. Less predictable - and far more interesting - has been the heat from the Catholic left, including many who have in the past given the president vital cover. In a post for the left-leaning National Catholic Reporter, Michael Sean Winter minces few words. Under the headline "J'ACCUSE," he rightly takes the president to the woodshed for the politics of the decision.

25 Jan 2012

Aquilent awarded new IT contracts by the HHS

Aquilent, the recognized leading provider of Web-based solutions shaping the next generation of technology for the federal government, today announced it has been awarded more than a dozen new contracts within the past several months supporting numerous operating divisions and programs within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

24 Jan 2012

Medicare News and Research

CMS officials focus on health care innovation

First Edition: January 27, 2012

State of the Union redux: Reading between the lines for health policy impact

An examination of the premium support concept

Republican leadership prepares 'replace' plan should Supreme Court strike health law

Longer looks: The Obama memos on health reform, Romney's Medicare mistake?, Flu 2012

Viewpoints: Massachusetts' health care success; Employers are key to curbing health costs

The health law's moving parts: Essential benefits, innovation and consumer-friendly plan information

State roundup: Conn. home worker demand soars; Family planning providers dwindle in Texas; Florida legislation on health budgets, prices, abortion

First Edition: January 26, 2012

In State of the Union speech, health law gets short shrift

Congressional negotiators begin talks on payroll tax cut, 'doc fix'

States continue to wrestle with politics surrounding the development of health exchanges

First Edition: January 25, 2012

Medicare Part D: A flashpoint in Florida GOP primary debate

Targeted repeal votes part of House GOP health agenda

Medicare math and the GOP candidates

Some states' hesitancy on health law implementation could delay insurance exchange development

Viewpoints: Obama and liberal Catholics; Growing 'charity care'; Cutting costs on physician referrals

Aquilent awarded new IT contracts by the HHS

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

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