HHS report: 'ObamaCare' keeping Medicare costs low
The Hill
January 10, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/276517-hhs-report-obamacare-is-keeping-medicare-costs-low
Medicare's costs are rising at historically low rates while seniors are getting more benefits, the Health and Human Services Department said in a new report Thursday.
HHS said Medicare's spending for each senior rose by just 0.4 percentage points last year — the third straight year with low cost increases. The report credits President Obama's signature healthcare law for the change.
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CMS announces over 100 new ACO contracts
Modern Healthcare
January 10, 2013
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130110/NEWS/301109950/cms-announces-over-100-new-aco-contracts
Medicare nearly doubled the size of one accountable care program as of Jan. 1 with 106 new ACO contracts (PDF) that offer hospitals and doctors financial incentives to improve quality and slow health spending. The CMS announced its latest and largest round of accountable care organizations under the Medicare shared-savings program, which launched in April last year with 27 ACOs. Another 89 ACOs were named to the program last July. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation separately launched 32 Medicare ACOs known as Pioneers roughly one year ago. CMS said half of ACOs are physician-led and care for less than 10,000 Medicare enrollees.
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Calif. governor says Medicaid expansion will cost $350 million
The Hill
January 10, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicaid/276553-calif-governor-says-medicaid-expansion-will-cost-350-million
Participating in the Medicaid expansion in President Obama's signature healthcare law will cost California about $350 million, according to the budget Gov. Jerry Brown (D) released Thursday.
The costs to the state come mostly from people who are eligible for the program now but not enrolled, and are expected to join once the high-profile expansion takes effect.
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HHS approves 106 new 'accountable care' groups under health law
The Hill
January 10, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/276505-hhs-approves-106-new-accountable-care-groups-under-health-law
A new program to improve the coordination of healthcare services got a big boost Thursday as the federal Medicare agency approved 106 new Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).
ACOs were created under President Obama's healthcare law with the goal of improving quality and lowering costs. As many as 4 million seniors now have access to care through ACOs, the Health and Human Services Department said Thursday.
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Obama signs Medicare bill
The Hill
January 10, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/276621-obama-signs-medicare-bill
Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) took a victory lap Thursday as President Obama signed a bipartisan Medicare bill. The legislation changes the way Medicare collects money from people whose negligence caused a patient to incur medical bills. Murphy said the new law will streamline an outdated process, making it easier to close cases and bring money into the Medicare program.
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Gov. Scott slashes cost
The Hill
January 10, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/276503-gov-scott-slashes-cost-estimate-for-medicaid-expansion
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has shaved more than $20 billion off of his cost estimate for the Medicaid expansion in President Obama's healthcare law.
The Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday night that Scott has acknowledged the expansion would only cost the state about $5 billion over the next decade — a big drop from the $25 billion estimate he has been using to argue that the policy was unaffordable.
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Health care expert may run for Mass. governor
The Boston Globe
January 9, 2013
http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/01/09/donald-berwick-former-obama-health-care-official-mulling-run-for-governor/DDUSrJUQvt2SVKFZGF121N/story.html
A former Obama administration official whose nomination to a powerful health care post was derailed by Senate Republicans said Tuesday that he is strongly considering a run for governor in 2014. If he decides to run, Dr. Donald M. Berwick would follow a path charted by Elizabeth Warren, who began her term as senator this week, two years after her nomination to lead a federal consumer protection agency was shelved amid Republican opposition.
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Study says Obama law will reshape health industry in 2013
The Hill
January 9, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/276309-study-says-obama-law-will-reshape-health-industry-in-2013
President Obama's signature healthcare law will prompt major health-industry changes this year, according to a new study. Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) named seven aspects of the Affordable Care Act as part of its top-10 list of issues facing the healthcare industry in 2013.
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Mont. senators challenge HHS redefining ‘frontier’
The Hill
January 9, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/276319-mont-senators-challenge-hhs-redefining-frontier
Montana Sens. Max Baucus (D) and Jon Tester (D) have asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reconsider its decision to change the definition of “frontier” from population density to a community's distance from a major city.
The senators sent a letter to HHS’s Office of Rural Health Policy on Monday explaining how the change would negatively affect small towns in rural areas get access to doctors and services.
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Sebelius to stay on as HHS secretary
The Hill
January 9, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/politics-elections/276387-sebelius-to-stay-on-as-hhs-secretary
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will stay in her post, a White House official said Wednesday. Several of President Obama's top Cabinet officials have either stepped down or announced their plans to do so relatively soon, as is common at the beginning of a president's second term.
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Minn. lawmakers prep federal health care changes
San Francisco Chronicle
January 9, 2013
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Minn-lawmakers-prep-federal-health-care-changes-4180524.php
A bipartisan group of Minnesota lawmakers unveiled preliminary plans on Wednesday for the state health insurance exchange that will be a key piece of carrying out the federal health care overhaul. Lawmakers said during a news conference at the Capitol that they expect about 1.2 million Minnesotans — or one out of five — to obtain health care through the exchange, an online marketplace that will offer the uninsured an opportunity to compare and shop for private coverage. Federal subsidies also will be available for those purchases, depending on the income of the person getting coverage.
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Judge dismisses Notre Dame lawsuit regarding health-care mandate
South Bend Tribune
January 9, 2013
http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-judge-dismisses-notre-dame-lawsuit-regarding-healthcare-mandate-20130109,0,1413901.story
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by the University of Notre Dame challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requiring employers to provide birth-control coverage. The lawsuit, filed last May, challenges federal regulation requiring religious organizations to provide health insurance coverage for contraception and abortion-inducing drugs. The suit argues that such a regulation goes against Catholic Church teachings.
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CMS Limits Maine's Medicaid Reductions
Becker’s Hospital Review
January 9, 2013
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/racs-/-icd-9-/-icd-10/cms-limits-maines-medicaid-reductions.html
Maine can cut about 15,000 low-income residents from its Medicaid program, CMS told state officials, but the federal government protected another 21,000 from rollbacks sought by Gov. Paul LePage (R), according to a report in the Maine Sun Journal. Facing a $20 million budget gap, Gov. LePage's administration had requested permission last year to lower the state's Medicaid income cutoff to the poverty line instead of 200 percent of poverty line, which would have potentially closed its deficit, according to the report.
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CO-OP Health Plans a Fiscal Cliff Victim
Forbes
January 9, 2013
http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2013/01/09/co-op-health-plans-a-fiscal-cliff-victim/
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) must establish a Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) in every state to compete as a nonprofit-like entity against health care insurers. The ACA originally allocated the Secretary of HHS a $6 billion budget for the new health insurers, although Congress later reduced that to $3.8 billion, for establishing, at minimum, one CO-OP in each state. If additional funds are available, there may be multiple CO-OPs financed in any given state. However, that seems all but impossible now that under the fiscal cliff passed by Congress on January 1, more than $1.4 billion in additional funding was cut.
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Fla. agency drops cost of health care overhaul
Miami Herald
January 9, 2013
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/09/3175199/fla-house-stick-with-facts-on.html
Just two days ago, Florida Gov. Rick Scott was in Washington declaring that the potential cost of the federal health care overhaul to state taxpayers would be as much as $26 billion. But on Wednesday, Scott's own health care agency released new cost estimates of as little as $3 billion over the next decade.
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Former CMS Head Berwick Eyes Run For Mass. Governor
Kaiser Health News
January 9, 2013
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2013/January/09/Berwick-Massachusetts-Governor-Run.aspx
The former director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was a lightning rod for debate in Congress after Republicans accused him of supporting health care rationing, but he remains a respected health care expert.
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CMS: Record $1.2B in Meaningful Use Pay Distributed Last Month
iHealthBeat
January 9, 2013
http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2013/1/9/cms-record-12b-in-meaningful-use-pay-distributed-last-month.aspx
A record $1.2 billion in meaningful use incentive payments were distributed in December 2012, according to a CMS official, Modern Healthcare reports.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
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Feds scale back Maine Medicaid purge
The Hill
January 9, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicaid/276229-feds-scale-back-maine-medicaid-purge
The Obama administration will not allow Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) to drop more than 37,000 low-income people from Medicaid, approving plans that will affect coverage for about 20,000 Mainers. President Obama's acting Medicare chief cited healthcare reform Monday in denying LePage's plan to eliminate coverage for parents whose incomes fall between the federal poverty level and 133 percent of that number. LePage also sought to cut insurance for 19- and 20-year-olds to save a total of $23 million.
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New Mexico to expand Medicaid program
Modern Healthcare
January 9, 2013
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130109/INFO/301099984/new-mexico-to-expand-medicaid-program
Republican Gov. Susana Martinez says New Mexico will follow provisions of a federal healthcare law to expand the state's Medicaid program to potentially provide medical services to 170,000 low-income adults. New Mexico will join at least 15 other states and Washington, D.C., in broadening eligibility for the healthcare program under terms of a healthcare overhaul championed by President Barack Obama.
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Taming the Health Care Monster
Real Clear Politics
January 9, 2013
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/01/09/taming_the_health_care_monster_116626.html
Are we finally controlling health spending? Few issues loom larger in the economic outlook. For years, spiraling health costs -- mainly for Medicare and Medicaid, which serve the elderly and the poor -- have consumed a growing share of the federal budget. Meanwhile, rapid increases in premiums for employer-provided insurance have squeezed take-home pay. So it's good news that, for the third straight year, health spending rose modestly in 2011. To some analysts, this signals a new era of cost containment. Well, maybe -- and maybe not. First, let's examine the numbers, then what they mean.
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Sebelius, Fla. Gov. Scott Have Health Care Chat With No Immediate Results
Kaiser Health News
January 8, 2013
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2013/January/08/reform-states-and-implementation.aspx
A meeting Monday between HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Florida Gov. Rick Scott on the health care law didn't seem to yield any immediate results on whether the GOP governor will implement parts of the law, but his willingness to meet may signal he is willing to do just that.
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Three approaches for managing pre-Obamacare healthcare costs
Reuters
January 8, 2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/08/us-moneypack-family-healthcare-idUSBRE9070PE20130108
Having just earned his master's degree in written communication, Eric Kaplan should feel triumphant. But his academic success has been tempered by a failure outside the classroom: He can't find health insurance he can afford on his earnings as a freelance writer. Like many other Americans waiting for key provisions of the Affordable Care Act to kick in, Kaplan, 32, of Chicago, is adopting a novel strategy for protecting his health. He applied for another master's degree, this time in social work, because his target school offers health insurance to students.
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Taming the health-care monster?
The Washington Post
January 8, 2013
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/robert-j-samuelson-health-care-spending-remains-a-fearsome-foe/2013/01/08/c10eb156-59b8-11e2-9fa9-5fbdc9530eb9_story.html
Are we finally controlling health spending? Few issues loom larger in the economic outlook. For years, spiraling health costs — mainly for Medicare and Medicaid, which serve the elderly and the poor — have consumed a growing share of the federal budget. Meanwhile, rapid increases in premiums for employer-provided insurance have squeezed take-home pay. So it’s good news that, for the third straight year, health spending rose modestly in 2011. To some analysts, this signals a new era of cost-containment. Well, maybe — and maybe not.
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Feds approve LePage cuts to health care for low-income Mainers
Portland Press Herald
January 8, 2013
http://www.pressherald.com/news/Feds-approve-some-LePage-health-care-cuts-leaving-.html
More than 20,000 low-income Mainers will lose health care coverage on March 1 because of Medicaid cuts sought by Gov. Paul LePage and approved this week by the federal government. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a split decision on the LePage administration’s plan to eliminate health insurance for about 37,000 Medicaid recipients and save more than $20 million in state spending.
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Health Care and Profits, a Poor Mix
The New York Times
January 8, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/business/health-care-and-pursuit-of-profit-make-a-poor-mix.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Writing about his colleagues’ research in his 1988 book “The Nonprofit Economy,” the economist Burton Weisbrod provided a straightforward explanation: “differences in the pursuit of profit.” Sedatives are cheap, Mr. Weisbrod noted. “Less expensive than, say, giving special attention to more active patients who need to be kept busy.” This behavior was hardly surprising. Hospitals run for profit are also less likely than nonprofit and government-run institutions to offer services like home health care and psychiatric emergency care, which are not as profitable as open-heart surgery.
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Affordable Care Act addresses mental health issues
USA Today
January 7, 2013
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/07/affordable-care-act-mental-health/1566106/
While the Affordable Care Act won't fix every problem in the system, it will expand health care coverage to 30 million previously uninsured Americans. New health exchanges will be required to cover mental health care and substance abuse treatment, says Rachel Garfield, senior researcher at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
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Florida’s Scott Talks Health Overhaul With Sebelius
The Wall Street Journal
January 7, 2013
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/01/07/floridas-scott-talks-health-overhaul-with-sebelius/?KEYWORDS=medicaid
Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott is no fan of the health overhaul law, with his state having led the Supreme Court fight against it. But on Monday, he sat down in Washington with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to talk about whether the Sunshine State will work with federal officials to implement it. So far, Gov. Scott has refused to set up Florida’s own health-insurance exchange, which would leave the federal government in charge of the marketplace where consumers can start shopping for plans this fall and later tap subsidies. The Florida governor also said last summer that opting out of the health law’s Medicaid expansion was the right decision for the state’s citizens.
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VNAA Sends Letter to CMS on Dual Eligible Demonstrations
VNAA
January 7, 2013
http://vnaa.org/article_content.asp?edition=3§ion=1&article=107
This week, VNAA sent a letter to Melanie Bella the Director of the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The letter lays out specific recommendations and concerns from the VNAA regarding the dual eligible financial alignment demonstrations. In total, 25 states submitted proposals to CMS on dual eligible demonstrations. Of those proposals, 17 state submitted capitated proposals for 2013 and 2014, 6 states offered FFS plans, and 2 states proposed both a capitated and FFS plan.
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Health Care Spending Growth Is Slow For Third Straight Year: Report
The Huffington Post
January 7, 2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/07/health-care-spending-growth-report_n_2426407.html
U.S. health care spending rose at the lowest rates in more than half a century between 2009 and 2011, according to a report issued by federal auditors Monday. The federal government, state governments, businesses and households combined to spend $2.7 trillion in 2011, an increase of 3.9 percent over 2010. The increase is the same rate at which health care spending grew in 2009 and 2010, according to the report, which was authored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' nonpartisan Office of the Actuary and published in the journal Health Affairs. Health care spending made up 17.9 percent of gross domestic product in 2011, the same as during 2010. Economic growth and health care spending grew at about the same rate, the report says.
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Florida governor meets Sebelius on healthcare, bridles at cost
Reuters
January 7, 2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/08/usa-florida-healthcare-idUSL1E9C800020130108
Florida Governor Rick Scott kept up his attacks on Obamacare on Monday even after meeting U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, complaining that federal healthcare reforms could cost Florida $26 billion over the next decade. Scott, a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare, told reporters following the meeting in Washington that Medicaid program costs, which state officials say could mushroom over the next 10 years, continue to be his major concern.
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Healthcare costs grew at near-record lows in 2011
The Hill
January 7, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/other/275963-2011-saw-slow-growth-in-healthcare-spending
Healthcare spending grew at near-record lows in 2011, according to data released Monday by the Health and Human Services Department. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius credited parts of President Obama's signature healthcare law with the smaller increase.
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Study predicts Obama healthcare law will raise premiums on young adults
The Hill
January 7, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/275873-study-predicts-health-law-will-raise-premiums-on-young-adults
The study says a provision linking prices for older and younger patients could raise costs on the young. Young adults will see higher health insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) because of a provision that links prices for older and younger patients, according to a new study.
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CMS misses its own Sunshine Rule deadline | MassDevice.com On Call
Mass Device
January 7, 2013
http://www.massdevice.com/news/cms-misses-its-own-sunshine-rule-deadline-massdevicecom-call
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services missed its own end-of-the-year deadline to issue final guidelines on the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. The healthcare regulators have missed several of their own deadlines already, adding to those a promise to issue a final implementation rule before the end of 2012.
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Scorecard on Health Insurance Exchanges
The New York Times
January 6, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/opinion/scorecard-on-health-insurance-exchanges.html?_r=0
Twenty-three states, most led by Republican officials, have declared that they will not set up their own health insurance exchanges to help individuals and small businesses find affordable coverage. Instead, they want to offload that task to the federal government. In the short run it will not matter much who runs the exchanges. Consumers will be able to buy essentially the same policies and receive the same consumer protections either way. But in the long run, it would be best if states took on the job because they have the knowledge needed to mesh state and federal programs and encourage participation by local insurers and health care providers.
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Obamacare’s “shared decision-making” rules take money from docs without helping patients
MedCityNews
January 6, 2013
http://medcitynews.com/2013/01/obamacares-shared-decision-making-rules-take-money-from-docs-without-helping-patients/
This week's New England Journal of Medicine contains a perspective piece by Emily Oshima Lee, M.A., and Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D. entitled "Shared Decision Making to Improve Care and Reduce Costs." The original paragraph of the piece sets the tone:
"A sleeper provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) encourages greater use of shared decision making in health care. For many health situations in which there's not one clearly superior course of treatment, shared decision making can ensure that medical care better aligns with patients' preferences and values. One way to implement this approach is by using patient decision aids — written materials, videos, or interactive electronic presentations designed to inform patients and their families about care options; each option's outcomes, including benefits and possible side effects; the health care team's skills; and costs. Shared decision making has the potential to provide numerous benefits for patients, clinicians, and the health care system, including increased patient knowledge, less anxiety over the care process, improved health outcomes, reductions in unwarranted variation in care and costs, and greater alignment of care with patients' values.
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Will Boomers Gain Most from Health Care Law?
Senior Housing News
January 6, 2013
http://seniorhousingnews.com/2013/01/06/will-boomers-gain-most-from-health-care-law/
Progressive changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) slated for 2014 look to benefit baby boomers more so than any other age group, reports USA Today. The recession has victimized boomers the most, USA Today suggests, as retirement “nest egg” funds continue to shrink as health care costs rise, not to mention increases in unemployment for the aging demographic. But as the federal government moves forward with upcoming changes to the ACA, boomers might begin to see some turnaround in their health care benefits, largely by way of less discrimination in age and payment.
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The Best Way to Reform Health Care—and Cut the Deficit
The Daily Beast
January 6, 2013
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/06/the-best-way-to-reform-health-care-and-cut-the-deficit.html
With the tax portion of the fiscal-cliff deal done—for better or worse—Washington's attention will now turn to deficit reduction. And there's one way that Obama can keep deficit hawks happy without sacrificing entitlements. It’s the least painful way to lower health-care costs, because it actually increases quality. It’s bipartisan, because it adopts deregulatory reforms that should appeal to Republicans. And best of all, it can be done through executive action, and thus spares us the agony of trying to pass another health-care statute.
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Wyoming lawmakers face major health care decisions
Star Tribune
January 6, 2013
http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-lawmakers-face-major-health-care-decisions/article_a30ef933-8933-5042-ba6b-0e1f51a353ad.html
Wyoming leaders spent 2012 hoping federal health reform would just go away. This year, they’ll have to learn to live with it. They don’t have a choice anymore. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld most parts of the Affordable Care Act and President Barack Obama won a second term in office.
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Obama Medicare Reform May Turn Into Wider Health Care Debate
The Huffington post
January 6, 2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/06/obama-medicare-reform_n_2420777.html
President Barack Obama could seek common ground with Republicans in the looming battle over Medicare spending by broadening the debate over entitlement reform to encompass the spiraling healthcare costs that confront a wide range of Americans. In recent public remarks the president has identified the U.S. healthcare system's sky-high price tag - by far the highest in the world - as a driving force for Medicare reform.
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Proceedings | Highlights from the Law Blog
Wall Street Journal
January 6, 2013
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323689604578222103721784948.html?user=welcome&mg=id-wsj
Corporations, like people, have free-speech rights, according to the Supreme Court. But do they have religious rights, too? A ruling by a federal appeals court in Chicago late last month has law professors buzzing about a possible expansion of "corporate personhood," the idea that companies share some legal rights and protections with in-the-flesh people. The case concerns a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health-care overhaul law, that requires companies to carry insurance for their employees that includes birth-control services.
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NYers to save $500M on health insurance premiums
Newsday
January 6, 2013
http://newyork.newsday.com/news/health/nyers-to-save-500m-on-health-insurance-premiums-1.4412753
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says new state power to limit rate hikes will save New Yorkers more than $500 million on health insurance premiums in 2013. Cuomo announced Sunday that health insurers requested average increases of about 12.4 percent, but the state Department of Financial Services cut the average increase to 7.5 percent.
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Incoming Mont. governor includes Medicaid expansion in budget
Modern Healthcare
January 5, 2013
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130105/INFO/301059934/incoming-mont-governor-includes-medicaid-expansion-in-budget
Montana's Gov.-elect Steve Bullock unveiled budget changes Friday that include increased education funding and keeping intact a proposed expansion of Medicaid under the federal healthcare law. Bullock released the changes to outgoing Gov. Brian Schweitzer's two-year budget proposal as lawmakers arrived in Helena in advance of next week's start to the Legislature. Bullock's proposal, which largely mirrors fellow Democrat Schweitzer's offering, faces a tough road through Republican-run legislative chambers.
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Health Care, Consuming and Politics in America
Des Moines Register
January 5, 2013
http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2013/01/05/health-care-consuming-and-politics-in-america/viewart
We know that escalating healthcare costs are a huge threat to our national solvency, to budget deficits and the national debt. It is the major political issue as we have seen over the battle for and against ObamaCare. It continues to simmer in the form of coming battles over Medicare and Medicaid.
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More states cleared to operate health insurance exchanges
Los Angeles Times
January 4, 2013
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-na-healthcare-states-20130104,0,4957751.story
The Obama administration has cleared what could be the final group of states to open their own health insurance exchanges this fall, advancing a key goal of the 2010 healthcare law to provide Americans with new options to shop for coverage.
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Bargain Over Fiscal Cliff Brings Changes To Health Care
NPR
January 4, 2013
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/01/04/168533375/bargain-over-fiscal-cliff-brings-changes-to-health-care
The bill that prevented the nation from plunging over the fiscal cliff did more than just stop income tax increases and delay across-the-board spending cuts. It also included several provisions that tweaked Medicare and brought bigger changes to other health care programs. The health care change that got the most attention saved doctors who treat Medicare patients from a cut in their pay. A really, really big cut, says David Bronson, president of the American College of Physicians and an internist in Cleveland.
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States Confront Myriad Of Health Law Implementation Issues
Kaiser Health News
January 4, 2013
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2013/January/04/states-and-health-law-implementation.aspx
States face fallout from decisions on whether to implement key parts of the health law, including exchanges in California and Washington -- where dental insurance will be mandated in plans offered in the marketplaces -- and Florida, which missed out on co-ops and faces a decision on expanding Medicaid in 2013.
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Congress kills voluntary long-term-care program
Modern Healthcare
January 3, 2013
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130103/INFO/301039994/congress-kills-voluntary-long-term-care-program
President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed legislation that ends a healthcare reform law provision that would have established a voluntary long-term-care program. Under the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program, participants would have paid a monthly premium for five years, after which they would have become eligible for a cash benefit of at least $50 a day that could be used to offset the cost of long-term care services. The law directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary to establish automatic enrollment procedures that employers could have used, forcing employees to opt out if they didn't want to participate.
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HHS approves healthcare exchanges in 8 states
The Hill
January 3, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/275413-hhs-approves-healthcare-exchanges-in-8-states
Eight more states won conditional approval Thursday to operate healthcare exchanges under President Obama's healthcare law. California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Vermont and Utah will run state-based exchanges, while Arkansas will run a partnership exchange, officials said.
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Obama team clears states for health care exchanges
USA Today
January 3, 2013
http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2013/01/03/obama-health-care-law-state-exchanges/1807349/
Re-election safely behind them, President Obama's team is moving forward to put its health care law into place. The administration said Thursday it has cleared more states to develop their own insurance markets, including such Republican-leaning places as Idaho, Nevada and Utah.
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Red States, Too, Get Health Care Nod From Obama
NPR
January 3, 2013
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=168541196
Injecting a rare shot of bipartisanship in the nation's contentious health care overhaul, the Obama administration Thursday cleared four Republican-led states to build their own consumer-friendly insurance markets. With open enrollment for millions of uninsured Americans just nine months away — Oct. 1, 2013 — the four GOP-led states became part of a group totaling 17 states plus Washington, D.C., that have gotten an initial go-ahead to build and run insurance exchanges. Seven were approved Thursday.
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Utah Faces Off With Obama Over Health Care Reform
The Huffington Post
January 3, 2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/03/utah-health-care-reform_n_2403294.html
President Barack Obama's administration has given a tentative go-ahead to Utah to allow the state to operate its own health insurance exchange under the federal health care reform law, but it has made clear that the state will have to go beyond the services it already offers. Utah and Massachusetts are the only states that already had health insurance exchanges in place before Obamacare became law in 2010. But unlike the exchange in Massachusetts, Utah's exchange doesn't perform crucial functions intended by the federal health law, and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) doesn't want the state to take on core responsibilities such as distributing health insurance tax credits to lower- and middle-class people. Utah and six other states received conditional approval Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced during a conference call with reporters.
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House rules aim to block controversial healthcare board's Medicare cuts
The Hill
January 3, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/275389-house-rules-aim-to-block-controversial-healthcare-boards-medicare-cuts
House Republicans signaled Thursday they will not follow rules in President Obama's healthcare law that were designed to speed Medicare cuts through Congress.
The House is set to vote Thursday afternoon on rules for the 113th Congress. The rules package says the House won't comply with fast-track procedures for the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) — a controversial cost-cutting board Republicans have long resisted.
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Universal healthcare vs. universal control
The Hill
January 3, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/275355-universal-healthcare-vs-universal-control
ObamaCare is the official the law of the land. We will now begin the process of unmasking many of the costs hidden deeply within this massive bill. A decade from now there will be significant buyer’s remorse. The cost will affect not only consumers, but the healthcare providers as well.
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Colorado governor proposes Medicaid expansion
Modern Healthcare
January 3, 2013
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130103/INFO/301039984/colorado-governor-proposes-medicaid-expansion
Some 160,000 Colorado adults with low incomes could become eligible for public healthcare assistance under a plan announced Thursday by Gov. John Hickenlooper. Hickenlooper's plan expands Medicaid coverage for adults as called for by President Barack Obama's federal healthcare law. Hickenlooper said the expansion would cost Colorado some $128 million over the next 10 years. But he says he has identified more than $280 million in cuts and savings to Medicaid to more than pay for the change.
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Link between health care spending, quality unclear
Reuters
January 2, 2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/02/us-healthcare-quality-idUSBRE9010NW20130102
Whether states, hospitals and smaller practices that spend more money on health care provide better treatment is still an open question, according to a new review of past studies. The topic is especially pressing because although the United States spends more of its budget on health care than any other wealthy nation - and is spending more each year - the World Health Organization ranks its health system 37th.
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Court ruling clears Ohio to pen Medicaid contracts
Modern Healthcare
January 2, 2013
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130102/INFO/301029919/court-ruling-clears-ohio-to-pen-medicaid-contracts
Ohio is prepared to move forward with certain Medicaid contracts after a court ruled in the state's favor in a dispute over how the contracts were awarded. Amerigroup, a company that claimed it was improperly denied a contract under what it said was a flawed process, had sued the state's Department of Job and Family Services alleging abuse of discretion in how the state scored applications.
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Pete Stark, Health Policy Warrior, Leaves A Long Legacy
NPR
January 2, 2013
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/01/02/168133216/pete-stark-health-policy-warrior-leaves-a-long-legacy
The 113th Congress will be the first one in 40 years to convene without California Rep. Pete Stark as a member. Stark was defeated in November by a fellow Democrat under new California voting rules. Stark may not be a household name, but he leaves a long-lasting mark on the nation's health care system.
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Healthcare Impact of the 'Fiscal Cliff' Deal
Government Health IT
January 2, 2013
http://www.govhealthit.com/blog/healthcare-impact-fiscal-cliff-deal
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have voted by 257-167, with 172 Democratic votes and only 85 Republicans voting in favor, to approve the previously Senate-passed bill that will avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax increases and mandated spending cuts. Under the plan, taxes will increase for individuals making more than $400,000 a year and couples earning more than $450,000, as well as on investment profits and dividends, the first U.S. income tax increase in 20 years. The package will extend unemployment benefits for a year and boost taxes on large inheritances. It also allows payroll taxes to go back up to 6.2% this year from 4.2 percent in 2011 and 2012, amounting to a $1,000 tax increase for someone earning $50,000 a year. The "fiscal cliff" bill is the result of two days of marathon negotiations between the White House and Senate Republicans. It was passed in an unusual vote early on New Year's Day, 89-8. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the compromise was an "imperfect agreement" that will keep tax hikes from affecting most Americans. There are significant effects on healthcare as part of this package.
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Fiscal cliff deal averts deep Medicare reimbursement cuts to doctors
Healthcare Finance News
January 2, 2013
http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/fiscal-cliff-deal-averts-deep-medicare-reimbursement-cuts-doctors
Despite objections of a large block of fiscally conservative Republicans, the House yesterday approved a fiscal cliff compromise crafted in the Senate in the first hours of the new year by a vote of 257 to 167, which also averted steep Medicare payment cuts to doctors for yet another year. While physicians may be cheered by the $30 billion included in the fiscal cliff compromise to avert the 26.5 percent cut in Medicare payments as dictated by the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula passed in the late 1990s, hospitals have been asked to “pay” for a significant portion of the payment cut delay over 10 years through reduced Medicare and Medicaid payments.
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Companies Prepare for Health Law
The Wall Street Journal
January 1, 2013
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323300404578205480475990970.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
One of the biggest decisions for many companies this year will be what to do about their health benefits. They have just 12 months before the major provisions of the federal overhaul law take effect on Jan. 1, 2014, reshaping health coverage in the U.S. Employers with at least 50 workers will owe penalties if they don't cover full-time employees. Most Americans will face a parallel "individual mandate" to obtain insurance. And new online marketplaces called exchanges will sell insurance plans in each state, paired with federal subsidies for lower-income people.
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Hobby Lobby Plans To Defy Health Care Mandate
NPR
January 1, 2013
http://www.npr.org/2013/01/01/168397486/hobby-lobby-plans-to-defy-health-care-mandate
The federal health care law requires employee insurance plans to cover emergency contraceptives. That's something the owners of the craft store chain Hobby Lobby say they can't do. An attorney for the stores said the Christian owners consider the emergency contraceptives tantamount to abortion. Starting Tuesday, the company could be fined as much $1.3 million a day for defying the mandate.
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House OKs bill to avert fiscal cliff, doc pay cut
Modern Healthcare
January 1, 2013
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130101/NEWS/301019979/fiscal-cliff-package-covers-doc-pay-fix-with-cuts-to-other-medicare&utm_source=frontpage&utm_medium=newsitem309&utm_campaign=carousel-traffic
The House of Representatives late Tuesday approved the Senate's last-minute fiscal cliff package (PDF) that staves off a sharp Medicare physician pay cut by cutting billions from other Medicare providers, including hospitals, pharmacies and dialysis clinics. Early on New Year's Day, the Senate voted 89-8 to approve the American Taxpayer Relief Act, an amended version of a tax bill that House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) introduced last summer. House members on Tuesday considered the Senate-passed legislation in meetings during the day and floor debate in the evening. In a vote of 257 to 167, the House passed the measure, which permanently extends middle-class tax cuts and postpones the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester for two months. The legislation also averts the expected 26.5% Medicare physician payment cut and extends current Medicare payment rates for doctors through Dec.31, 2013.
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A Year-End Affordable Care Act Litigation Round-Up
Health Affairs
December 31, 2012
http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2012/12/31/a-year-end-affordable-care-act-litigation-round-up/
Undoubtedly the biggest health reform news of 2012 was the June 28 decision of the United States Supreme Court narrowly upholding the Affordable Care Act’s individual responsibility provision as a constitutional exercise of Congress’ power to tax. The Court also held that Congress lacked authority under the spending clause to require the states to extend Medicaid coverage to all adult citizens with incomes under 138 percent of the federal poverty level, although it upheld the Medicaid expansion as an option.
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Reps. Kingston, Aderholt to lead approps subpanels on HHS, FDA
The Hill
December 31, 2012
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/other/275005-reps-kingston-aderholt-to-lead-approps-subpanels-on-hhs-fda
Reps. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) and Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) will lead two key Appropriations subpanels in the 113th Congress, House leaders announced Monday. Kingston and Aderholt will lead the subcommittees that govern the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), respectively.
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That Shocking Age and Health Care Spending Chart is Wrong
Slate
December 31, 2012
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/12/31/age_and_health_care_spending_the_chart_is_wrong.html
There's a phrase in the business "too good to check" and that's what happened to me this morning when I picked up a striking chart on age and health care spending in international context from Austin Frakt. The chart is based on an old Laurence Kotlikoff article about government spending that's really just making the banal point that the federal government doesn't spend much on health care for the non-elderly (because if Medicare) and I think there may be other problems with the data as well.
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Employers Must Offer Family Care, Affordable or Not
The New York Times
December 31, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/health/employers-must-offer-family-health-care-affordable-or-not-administration-says.html?_r=0
In a long-awaited interpretation of the new health care law, the Obama administration said Monday that employers must offer health insurance to employees and their children, but will not be subject to any penalties if family coverage is unaffordable to workers.
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Gov. Scott, GOP Leaders To Address Healthcare Reforms In 2013
CBS
December 30, 2012
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/12/30/gov-scott-gop-leaders-to-address-healthcare-overhaul-in-2013/
The new year will bring challenges to Gov. Rick Scott and Republican legislative leaders as they as they try to figure out how to move forward with a long-awaited overhaul of the Medicaid system and how to carry out the federal Affordable Care Act.
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NRA fingerprints in landmark health-care law
The Washington Post
December 30, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/nra-fingerprints-in-landmark-health-care-law/2012/12/30/e6018656-5066-11e2-950a-7863a013264b_story.html
The words were tucked deep into the sprawling text of President Obama’s signature health-care overhaul. Under the headline “Protection of Second Amendment Gun Rights” was a brief provision restricting the ability of doctors to gather data about their patients’ gun use — a largely overlooked but significant challenge to a movement in American medicine to treat firearms as a matter of public health.
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Individual mandate in healthcare was year's top consumer story
Los Angeles Times
December 30, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20121230,0,1556559.column
This was the year of the healthcare mandate. No other consumer story of 2012 comes close. In a split decision, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. casting the deciding vote, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the cornerstone of President Obama's healthcare reform law, the most sweeping overhaul of our dysfunctional medical system in decades.
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Health Care Reform Forces Republican Governors To Walk Fine Line
The Huffington Post
December 30, 2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/30/health-care-reform-republican-governors_n_2384647.html
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who made a fortune as a health care executive, long opposed President Barack Obama's remake of the health insurance market. After the Democratic president won re-election, the Republican governor softened his tone. He said he wanted to "have a conversation" with the administration about implementing the 2010 law. With a federal deadline approaching, he also said while Florida won't set up the exchange for individuals to buy private insurance policies, the feds can do it.
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Medicaid Waiver Presents Structuring Challenges
The New York Times
December 29, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/us/medicaid-waiver-presents-structuring-challenges-for-texas-health-care.html
By year’s end, health care providers across Texas will have submitted proposals to state leaders to transform the way they care for the poor and the uninsured. They have been spurred by a Medicaid waiver Texas officials sought and received in 2011 from the federal government, one that ties financing to cooperation, cost efficiency and better patient outcomes.
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2013: How health care will affect you
CNN
December 28, 2012
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/28/opinion/carroll-health-care/
There's a lot that will happen in 2013 with respect to health care, but the truth of the matter is that most of it will be in preparation for 2014. That's the year the Affordable Care Act really kicks into effect. Here are my guesses for what to watch in 2013.
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CMS to hospitals: Ready to report quality measures electronically?
Modern Healthcare
December 28, 2012
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20121228/NEWS/312289955/cms-to-hospitals-ready-to-report-quality-measures-electronically
The CMS wants to know whether hospitals will be able to begin submitting some previously established quality measures through their electronic health-record systems by 2014.
The agency published a request for information (PDF) Friday asking hospitals and information technology vendors about the feasibility of using certified EHRs to submit patient-level data on clinical quality measures.
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Hobby Lobby faces millions in fines for bucking Obamacare
Fox
December 27, 2012
http://myfox8.com/2012/12/27/hobby-lobby-faces-millions-in-fines-for-bucking-obamacare/
Craft store giant Hobby Lobby is bracing for a $1.3 million a day fine beginning January 1 for noncompliance with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare. The company opposes providing some contraceptives to employees through its company health care plan on religious grounds, saying some contraceptive products, like the morning after pill, equate to abortion.
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Health care law may help Baby Boomers
USA Today
December 27, 2012
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2012/12/27/boomers-obamacare-health-reform/1717009/
With the presidential election and Supreme Court decision behind us, the federal government is moving forward with the Affordable Care Act. Baby Boomers stand to gain the most. Since the recession, Boomers have been hard hit by unemployment, shrinking nest eggs and rising health care costs. During those years, about 8.6 million Boomers were without health insurance, according to a special 2009 report by Commonwealth Fund.
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Illinois governor backs insurance 'co-ops' under healthcare law
The Hill
December 26, 2012
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/274535-illinois-gov-welcomes-insurance-co-op-under-obamas-healthcare-law
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) is embracing a new type of insurance plan under President Obama's signature healthcare law. The State Journal-Register reported that Quinn praised a new healthcare "co-op," which announced last week it would seek a license to operate in Illinois.
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Hospitals, insurers back Illinois Medicaid expansion
Modern Healthcare
December 26, 2012
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20121226/INFO/312269983/hospitals-insurers-back-illinois-medicaid-expansion
Illinois lawmakers soon will face two critical decisions over how to fully carry out President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul. With attention turning in 2013 to how states will implement the health law, Gov. Pat Quinn is pushing legislation to establish a state-run health insurance exchange to help middle-class citizens and small businesses, along with a multi-billion-dollar expansion of Medicaid to cover the poor. While the state's Democratic leaders generally have supported the new healthcare law, neither proposal will be a slam dunk for passage.
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Five ways your health care will change in 2013
The Washington Post
December 26, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/26/five-ways-your-health-care-will-change-in-2013/
The Affordable Care Act’s biggest year is, without a doubt, 2014: That’s when the federal subsidies to purchase health insurance roll out. It’s also when penalties for not buying coverage kick in. But many of the big changes will start gradually in 2013. They range from increasing payments to Medicaid doctors to upping Medicare taxes to the exchanges’ very first open-enrollment period. Here’s a quick guide to what will happen in health care in the next year.
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Health-care sector vulnerable to hackers, researchers say
The Washington Post
December 25, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/health-care-sector-vulnerable-to-hackers-researchers-say/2012/12/25/72933598-3e50-11e2-ae43-cf491b837f7b_story.html
As the health-care industry rushed onto the Internet in search of efficiencies and improved care in recent years, it has exposed a wide array of vulnerable hospital computers and medical devices to hacking, according to documents and interviews. Security researchers warn that intruders could exploit known gaps to steal patients’ records for use in identity theft schemes and even launch disruptive attacks that could shut down critical hospital systems.
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Who Should Provide Our Medical Care?
The New York Times
December 23, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/opinion/who-should-provide-our-medical-care.html
As millions obtain health insurance and can gain access to continuing health care, the American Medical Association supports physician-led health care teams that ensure that health care professionals work together to meet the surge in demand (“When the Doctor Is Not Needed,” editorial, Dec. 16).
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Top Ten Healthcare Quotes for 2012
Forbes
December 23, 2012
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2012/12/23/top-ten-healthcare-quotes-for-2012-2/
For those who thought the Mayan’s might provide some relief to our healthcare woes there is clearly some bad news. We still have The Grand U.S. Healthcare Reformation to deal with. Before we get to the road less traveled ahead, however, this seemed like a good time to take one last glance in the rear-view mirror for a sampling of soundbites we heard in 2012. Here are ten quotes – and one bonus track – that made me grab a keyboard.
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What 'Health Care Costs' Really Means
The Atlantic
December 22, 2012
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/12/what-health-care-costs-really-means/266522/
No fiscal policy event is complete without the plaintive cry that health care costs are out of control. The phrase has become a form of rhetorical boilerplate that is often used to imply that policy makers are helpless in the face of market forces, and that the only way to reduce "costs" is either cutting benefits or rationing. Let's take a look at what the phrase "health care costs" really means. It turns out, everybody uses the term to mean something different. Politicians talk about costs in reference to federal and state spending on health care. When hospital administrators and physicians talk about health care costs, they are usually referring to their costs of production, the money they spend on the resources needed to care for patients. Business leaders use the term health care costs when what they really mean is the price of insurance, or the amount they spend on their employees' health care insurance plans. Meanwhile, everybody bemoans out of pocket costs, the amount patients must fork over at the doctor's office and pharmacy counter over and above whatever portion of the bill their insurance covers.
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The Cost of Health Care: 1958 vs. 2012
Forbes
December 22, 2012
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisconover/2012/12/22/the-cost-of-health-care-1958-vs-2012/
Mark Perry has posted some interesting comparison of how prices have plummeted between 1958 and 2012 when measured in terms of the hours of work required to purchase items. He concludes that today’s consumer working at the average wage of $19.19 would only have to work 26.6 hours (a little more than three days) to earn enough income ($511) to purchase a toaster, TV and iPod. The equivalent products (in terms of their basic function, not their quality) would have required 4.64 weeks of work in 1958. In short, the “time cost” of these items has massively declined by 86% in less than 5 decades.
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CMS Announces Value-Based Purchasing Winners, Losers
Becker’s Hospital Review
December 21, 2012
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/racs-/-icd-9-/-icd-10/cms-announces-value-based-purchasing-winners-losers.html
CMS has announced that 1,557 hospitals will receive higher Medicare payments for quality ratings as part of the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Payments will be reduced to 1,427 hospitals, according to CMS data. The maximum rate adjustment up or down is 1 percent of a hospital's regular Medicare payments, and about about $1 billion of Medicare payments are tied to the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program.
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Feds OK Health Insurance Exchange Plans For Three More States
Kaiser Health News
December 21, 2012
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2012/December/21/state-health-reform-issues.aspx
The Obama administration gave conditional approvals to Delaware, Minnesota and Rhode Island, saying they will be ready to open new insurance markets in 2014, as required under the health care law. Meanwhile, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper indicates he's likely to push for a Medicaid expansion.
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Driving a hard bargain for healthcare
The Hill, by Gov. Brian Schweitzer
December 21, 2012
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/274297-driving-a-hard-bargain-for-healthcare
I’m wrapping up my term as Governor here in Montana, and we’ve had a great run – eight years of record budget surpluses, huge investments in education, tax cuts for most everyone, the largest increase in college graduation rates in America, and one of the lowest jobless rates in the country. We’ve brought this about by doing the opposite of what the U.S. Congress does: thinking out of the box, challenging expenses small and large, and driving hard bargains for whatever the government must purchase.
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We Succeeded In Controlling Health Care Spending And Everyone Hated It
Slate
December 21, 2012
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/12/21/hmos_and_health_care_spending_control_the_experiment_worked_and_everyone.html
Remember the nineties? Remember HMOs? People hated HMOs. And for a little while health care politics stopped being about expansion of insurance coverage and started being about various "patients bill of rights" initiatives designed to throttle HMOs efforts to throttle health care spending.
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Jerry Brown wants assurances from Washington on healthcare law
Los Angeles Times
December 21, 2012
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2012/12/jerry-brown-medical-obamacare-affordable-care-act-healthcare.html
Gov. Jerry Brown says he wants to continue to move aggressively to expand healthcare coverage in California under the federal law signed by President Obama in 2010, but wants to ensure Washington does not try to stick the state with the bill for covering millions of people now without health insurance. “My concern is that as we add 1-2 million new people to Medi-Cal, the federal government says they’re going to pay 100 percent of the costs, but now suddenly if they’re saying they may only pay 70 percent or something else …” Brown said in an interview Thursday. “That would be a huge threat to the [state’s] general fund.”
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