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House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., set the tone for a very-supportive Senate Finance Committee hearing on Marilyn Tavenner’s nomination to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. But others questioned Tavenner, who is acting administrator, on a variety of other issues. Here are video excerpts of the hearing.
Marilyn Tavenner, the acting head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and President Obama’s nominee to keep the job, found both Democratic and Republican support during a Senate Finance Committee hearing today. KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about the hearing and when the Senate could vote on the confirmation.
As other states continue to debate the merits of the Affordable Care Act or race to implement it, the Bay State is moving on to the next big challenge: curbing health care costs.
Even when states legalize gay marriage, couples may have to pay extra federal taxes on the value of health policies and not get some protections because the federal government is barred from recognizing such unions.
Few consumers know what they’ll need to do to sign up for the new health insurance marketplaces. Advocates worry about the outreach strategy and funding in states that defaulted to the federal government to run the exchanges.
Some experts say the pool of psychologists, psychiatrists and others is too small and the federal effort could jeopardize understaffed local centers.
Extending benefits to ex-offenders will provide health coverage to a group that is generally in worse health than the overall population. Researchers say it could also keep some from sliding back into crime.
By moving up renewal dates on plans sold directly to consumers, insurers could delay meeting law’s requirements for up to a year.
Jose Chavez Gonzalez was working construction but had eight years of medical training in El Salvador. A UCLA program finds its candidates working in warehouses, meat packing plants and behind the counter at McDonalds.
Stores in 18 states to use nurse practitioners, physician assistants to expand services to include diagnosis and treatment for chronic conditions such as diabetes and asthma.
A clinic in a Camden, N.J., apartment building makes slow progress persuading patients not to use hospital emergency rooms for primary care.
These critical access hospitals, which are often in rural areas, get paid more generously by Medicare and are exempt from some federal reporting standards. But those exemptions may be hiding quality issues at the facilities.
Health policy reporters weigh in on what’s changed since the Affordable Care Act became law three years ago for consumers, businesses, state governments, and what’s next for expanding Medicaid and launching exchanges.
