Archive for the ‘health care reform’ Category
AHL’s TOP STORY: Bipartisan Policy Center Releases Health Care Spending Plan, Attempts To Bridge Partisan Divide
The Bipartisan Policy Center on Thursday released a health care cost containment plan that would reduce the federal deficit by about $560 billion over the next decade, including about $300 billion in Medicare savings, Kaiser Health News‘ “Capsules,” reports (Carey, “Capsules,” Kaiser Health News, 4/19). Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’s TOP STORY: Affordable Care Act Implementation Could Be a ‘Train Wreck’ Without More Outreach, Baucus Says
During a hearing on Wednesday, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) warned HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that her department has not adequately informed the public and small businesses about the Affordable Care Act, which could result in a “train wreck” during its implementation, the New York Times‘ “The Caucus” reports. Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’s TOP STORY: House GOP Fast-Tracking Bill To Redirect Funding Under ACA To Bolster Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan
House Republicans are fast-tracking a new bill (HR 1549) that would boost funding for the Affordable Care Act’s temporary high-risk insurance pool program and keep the program open through the end of this year, The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” reports. Read the rest of this entry »
AHL’s TOP STORY: Obama, Health Insurance Executives Meet To Discuss Exchange Implementation
President Obama on Friday met with several insurance industry executives at the White House to coordinate the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges and to discuss controlling premium rates, the New York Times reports. Read the rest of this entry »
POLL: Should Cancer Centers Be Granted Exemption From Sequester Cuts?
The mandated spending cuts under sequestration are having the unintended result of reducing the number of Medicare patients that can be treated at cancer clinics, according to a report by the Washington Post‘s “Wonkblog.”
AHL’s TOP STORY: ACA’s Potential Impact on Costs, Hiring Top Concerns Among Small Business Executives, Survey Finds
The Affordable Care Act and its potential effect on employee coverage costs and hiring trends has overtaken the general uncertainty about the U.S. economy as the top concern among a vast majority of U.S. small businesses, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s latest small-business survey, The Hill‘s “On The Money” reports (Needham, “On The Money,” The Hill, 4/4).
AHL’s TOP STORY: States Will Need Waiver for Alternative Private Option to Medicaid Expansion, HHS Says
States that want to use federal funds to shift Medicaid-eligible residents into private health plans — an approach that several states are considering as an alternative to participating in the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion — will have to obtain a waiver from HHS to do so, the department announced Friday, The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” reports.
BLOGGER VS. BLOGGER: Ryan’s Budget Proposal — Ambitious or Bogus?
Bloggers are taking aim at House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan’s fiscal year 2014 budget proposal, which was released last Tuesday.
AHL’s TOP STORY: House Committee Debates Effect of ACA’s Age-Rating Provision
Republican and Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on Friday debated whether certain provisions in the Affordable Care Act would significantly increase health insurance premiums, particularly for young adults in the individual and small-group markets, The Hill‘s “Healthwatch” reports (Viebeck, “Healthwatch,” The Hill, 3/15).
POLL: Should HHS Have Given Ark. Medicaid Expansion Plan the Go-Ahead?
The Obama administration recently approved a plan in Arkansas to use federal Medicaid expansion dollars to purchase private insurance for more than 200,000 uninsured state residents.
In addition, HHS indicated that other states might be allowed to implement similar plans.
Now other Republican-led states might see the plan as an opportunity to expand coverage without making the political move of accepting the Affordable Care Act.
For example, in Florida — where Gov. Rick Scott (R) recently proposed expanding Medicaid — the state Legislature recently rejected expansion; instead, a panel suggested following Arkansas’ example.
However, critics of the plan note that adding an individual to Medicaid costs about $6,000 while buying private coverage would cost about $9,000 per person, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates.
