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Dem lawmakers, advocates push to save CLASS Act

The Hill reports that backers of this long-term care program, including congressional Democrats, say the administration can continue working on its developments using money from the health law.

27 Sep 2011

GOP lawmakers show no sign in letting up on controversy surrounding health reform waivers

Even though the Obama administration decision to end health law exemptions for businesses and unions has now kicked in, Republicans say they will keep up their criticism. Politico Pro explores some of the questions that still surround this waiver program.

27 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 26, 2011

In today's headlines, KHN kicks off a three-day series, "The Big Money World Of Kid's Care."

26 Sep 2011

Administration faces Monday deadline on health lawsuit

Obama administration lawyers face a decision by Monday that carries a high political risk and will probably determine whether the Supreme Court decides on the constitutionality of the healthcare law before next year's presidential election. ... Under the appeals court's rules, the Justice Department must notify the 11th Circuit by Monday whether it will seek a full court review.

26 Sep 2011

New poll reveals continued public confusion about health law, little faith in 'Super Committee'

A second survey, this one from National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, found that public opinion opposes cutting Medicare and Social Security to reduce the deficit, and that this view cuts across partisan lines.

23 Sep 2011

Health law legal action moves to D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

Politico Pro reports that, although this case is unlikely to be the "one" that goes to the Supreme Court, both sides have a lot at stake in the outcome: "the potential to chalk up another appeals court victory and maybe 'flip' a prominent appeals judge."

23 Sep 2011

Medicare, health reform hot topics as Romney, Perry spar in GOP presidential debate

GOP hopefuls across-the-board criticized President Obama's policies while Mitt Romney and Rick Perry accused each other of flip-flopping on health care issues.

23 Sep 2011

DOJ faces strategic decisions in next steps on health law challenges

The Obama administration has to decide by Monday whether it wants to directly ask the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of its signature health reform legislation. Since the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the health law in August, the administration can either ask the full court to take another look at the case or ask the Supreme Court to review it and issue a final decision.

23 Sep 2011

Young adults take advantage of health law, make gains in health coverage

New data indicate as many as a million young adults have signed up for health insurance in the last year, offering evidence that this 2010 health law benefit is proving to be popular.

23 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Ron Paul, USA Today on individual mandate; NYT's Greenhouse on court challenges to health law

Massachusetts leads the nation in health insurance coverage of its citizens, and Texas is dead last. You'd think that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney would be bragging about his role in making his state No. 1, and that Texas Gov. Rick Perry would be embarrassed by how poorly his state is doing. But that's not how the script is playing out … That's odd, though, because the mandate was born as a conservative response to President Clinton's much maligned health reform proposal.

23 Sep 2011

Caregivers under financial and emotional strain

Family members or friends caring for aging or disabled individuals in California are under both financial and emotional strain and are likely to face even greater burdens, given recent cuts in state support for programs and services that support in-home care, write the authors of a new policy brief by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

22 Sep 2011

State-federal tensions surround plans for health exchanges

At a meeting this week, state regulators offered their objections to the Obama administration's plans. One focus was the partnership model which would utilize joint state-federal operation of some exchanges. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, GOP lawmakers step-up their criticism of the state's efforts.

22 Sep 2011

HHS spending bill stalled by House impasse

The Senate Appropriations Committee's consideration of the spending measure will likely be largely symbolic and the actual spending it covers will be handled later this year. The appropriations process, however, has been used by Republicans to attack the health law's funding.

22 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Progressives relish fight for 'shared sacrifice;' Desmond Tutu seeks to renew battle against HIV

To get our books in order, Obama would raise taxes on the rich while gaining savings by ending the wars abroad and reducing Medicare and Medicaid's unnecessarily high payments to drug companies. Republicans rise in defense of tax cuts for the wealthy and insist that deficit reduction come solely from cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and other "entitlements." The president stands for shared sacrifice; the Republicans for sheltering the privileged few. Progressives will have no problem standing with the president in this fight.

22 Sep 2011

MedPAC offers possible offsets for Medicare physician pay fix

Still, Obama's deficit-reduction plan, released yesterday, includes no funding for the doc fix. Some are eyeing a Medicaid adjustment that will garner $13 billion in savings as a possible cash cow - but competition is stiff for these funds.

21 Sep 2011

Obama budget plan includes $320 billion in Medicare, Medicaid cuts over 10 years

The squeeze will be felt by future Medicare recipients, in reduced payments to drug companies and hospitals, and with higher costs to states. And, though many parts of the health sector are grumbling about the proposal, some advocates say the president's vision is less painful than some of the ideas that have recently been on the table.

21 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Mixing politics and deficit cutting; transparency in health care; doctors' salaries

On the spending side, the president's plan takes a sensible approach toward saving money in Medicare and Medicaid. More than 90 percent of the $248 billion in Medicare cuts over 10 years would come from reducing payments to drug companies and health care providers that are unnecessarily high.

21 Sep 2011

Roundup: HIPAA enforcement; Brownback blasted for rejecting federal grant; nurses strike in Calif.

Only two state attorneys general have pursued the authority Congress gave them two years ago to prosecute privacy and security breaches of health information - despite training from federal agencies and a consensus among privacy groups that enforcement needs to improve. The expansion of jurisdiction to state attorneys general was awarded in concert with a $27 billion stimulus program initiated in 2009 to reward health care providers for switching from print to computerized health records.

21 Sep 2011

Many still find insurance unaffordable and employer-sponsored insurance unavailable

Despite the implementation of the Massachusetts health care reform designed to bolster employer-based insurance and to provide no-cost or low-cost insurance to those unable to afford it, the uninsured in Massachusetts remain predominantly the working poor, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School just published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

20 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Controlling entitlement spending; irrationality of bashing health overhaul; need for changes to state workers' benefits; Va. abortion rules

Entitlement spending - Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the rest - is the long-term problem. … But Social Security is the easy case. Medicare and Medicaid have much bigger problems. The rise in their spending is fueled by the aging population and ever-more-expensive advances in medical care. Their problems cannot be solved with taxes unless American workers want government to take an ever-increasing share of their pay.

20 Sep 2011

Health Reform News and Research

Dem lawmakers, advocates push to save CLASS Act

GOP lawmakers show no sign in letting up on controversy surrounding health reform waivers

First Edition: September 26, 2011

Administration faces Monday deadline on health lawsuit

New poll reveals continued public confusion about health law, little faith in 'Super Committee'

Health law legal action moves to D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

Medicare, health reform hot topics as Romney, Perry spar in GOP presidential debate

DOJ faces strategic decisions in next steps on health law challenges

Young adults take advantage of health law, make gains in health coverage

Viewpoints: Ron Paul, USA Today on individual mandate; NYT's Greenhouse on court challenges to health law

Caregivers under financial and emotional strain

State-federal tensions surround plans for health exchanges

HHS spending bill stalled by House impasse

Viewpoints: Progressives relish fight for 'shared sacrifice;' Desmond Tutu seeks to renew battle against HIV

MedPAC offers possible offsets for Medicare physician pay fix

Obama budget plan includes $320 billion in Medicare, Medicaid cuts over 10 years

Viewpoints: Mixing politics and deficit cutting; transparency in health care; doctors' salaries

Roundup: HIPAA enforcement; Brownback blasted for rejecting federal grant; nurses strike in Calif.

Many still find insurance unaffordable and employer-sponsored insurance unavailable

Viewpoints: Controlling entitlement spending; irrationality of bashing health overhaul; need for changes to state workers' benefits; Va. abortion rules

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