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The political implications of the Wyden-Ryan plan

Republicans believe they have a 6-and-a-half-foot shield to fend off attacks that they want to end Medicare.

30 Jan 2012

State roundup: Uninsured not the usual suspects in Texas, Calif.; Hopkins swanky new hospital; Georgia Medicaid

Nearly a quarter of the Texas population lacked health insurance in 2010, according to the most recent data released by the American Community Survey, which the U.S. Census Bureau conducted.

30 Jan 2012

Health policies in the fray of GOP presidential primary debate

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was challenged on the 2006 Massachusetts health law as his rivals pressed its similarities to the 2010 federal law.

30 Jan 2012

Study: Electronic health records can improve care, outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes

Use of electronic health records shows promise for improving care and outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes, but still has considerable room for improvement, according to a new study in the journal Health Services Research.

30 Jan 2012

Democrats 'practically drooling' to use Medicare policies against GOP in campaigns

News outlets covered the congressional Democrats' retreat in Cambridge, Md. and a controversial ad in Florida, launched by a pro-Newt Gingrich PAC, accusing Mitt Romney of Medicare fraud earlier in his career.

30 Jan 2012

GAO: CMS should change how it calculates Medicare private plan payments

Insurers offering Medicare Advantage plans were overpaid by as much as $3.1 billion in 2010 because the government miscalculated how sick beneficiaries were, according to a review by the Government Accountability Office that was made public by congressional Democrats.

27 Jan 2012

Doctors press Boehner to stop mandated insurance code switch

The American Medical Association opposes implementation of the coding system known as ICD-10, saying it would require physician offices to deal with an estimated 68,000 insurance codes -- five times more than the current 13,000.

27 Jan 2012

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

Medicare News and Research

The political implications of the Wyden-Ryan plan

State roundup: Uninsured not the usual suspects in Texas, Calif.; Hopkins swanky new hospital; Georgia Medicaid

Health policies in the fray of GOP presidential primary debate

Study: Electronic health records can improve care, outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes

Democrats 'practically drooling' to use Medicare policies against GOP in campaigns

GAO: CMS should change how it calculates Medicare private plan payments

Doctors press Boehner to stop mandated insurance code switch

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

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