Some States Seeking Health Care Compact
The interstate compact, which has been adopted by four states, would replace federal programs – including Medicare and Medicaid – with block grants. It cannot be implemented without congressional approval.
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The interstate compact, which has been adopted by four states, would replace federal programs – including Medicare and Medicaid – with block grants. It cannot be implemented without congressional approval.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans are particularly unhappy with recent regulations governing insurance exchanges. Insurers want time to build benefit structures and create complex health information technology systems so they can be ready for government testing by the end of 2012.
Administration says dire predictions of damage from the health law have not materialized.
The real impact of reform will ultimately be measured by the health of the nation — and by that measure, few decisions are more important than what is included in the essential benefit package. How this package takes shape will determine whether health reform delivers on its promise.
Current “one-size-fits-all” health plans, in which beneficiaries face the same out-of-pocket payment for every doctor visit, test and prescription drug, should be be replaced by plans based on the health benefit gained in the particular clinical circumstance. By using this nuance, health plans can offer more comprehensive and effective coverage while addressing the affordability of health insurance.
As implementation of the 2010 health law unfolds, one of the most important questions surrounds how he essential benefits package will be determined. The answer will have a significant impact on the cost of coverage, both inside and outside the law’s insurance exchanges.
KHN asked the National Partnership for Women and Families’ Debra Ness, Republican Utah State Rep. James Dunnigan and Dr. A. Mark Fendrick from the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design what they think should steer the development of the health law’s essential benefits package. Read their perspectives.
Stuart Taylor puts the chances at about 25 percent to 33 percent that the health law’s individual mandate will be overturned, and adds that the court seems even less likely to sweep away the rest of the 975-page law.
Leading hospital systems didn’t apply for Medicare reform tailor-made by the Obama administration to reward such organizations.
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