Opinion Column
Health Care Cost Control Is Hard, And Humbling
Though lots of different approaches to controlling health care costs have been discussed, it’s hard to know which of them will really work.
All Coverage
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With Newly-Elected Governors, GOP Gains Clout To Fight Health Reform Law
New state officials could slow the pace of implementation, seek waivers from some provisions, veto state legislation and appoint like-minded people to important positions, such as insurance commissioner slots.
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Republican’s Controversial Proposal To Mend Medicare
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s ideas
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House Takeover Will Give GOP Ways To Attack Health Law
With their House majority, Republicans plan to use all available legislative tools to challenge and change the health reform law.
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Bending The Health Care Cost Curve: Pay-For-Results Insurance
Though it seems like an idea that can be easily attacked as a way to ration care, so-called value-based insurance design couples GOP principles of market-based incentives and consumer choice with the Democratic reformers’ goal of eliminating costly and unnecessary care.
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Text: The Republican ‘Pledge’ On Health Care
In late September, led by Minority Leader John Boehner, some House Republicans released “A Pledge to America” — an outline of their plan should they gain control of Congress. Here is the excerpt that deals with health care.
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Seniors Should Consider Changes in Medicare Part D Plans
Open season begins Nov. 15 and beneficiaries need to check their options to make sure they are signed up for the plan that best meets their needs.
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Insurance Commissioners Loom Large In Health Law
Voters don’t give much thought to who runs their state department of insurance. And in many places no one can name the person holding this office. But as key provisions of the new federal health law begin to take effect, insurance commissioners will become paramount.
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AMA Head Readies New Medicare ‘Doc Fix’ Push
No matter what the outcome of the midterm elections, the American Medical Association is hard at work on a new proposal to fix the Medicare physician payment system. The AMA wants to stave off cuts of up to 30 percent, slated to begin taking effect Dec. 1. AMA chief Cecil B. Wilson talks with Kaiser Health News to talk about the looming cuts, why it’s increasingly difficult for doctors to see Medicare patients in America and how the AMA will soon try to lobby lawmakers for a permanent fix to the system.
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3 States To Vote On Health Insurance Mandate
Voters in Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma will decide whether to accept constitutional amendments prohibiting the federal health law’s keystone individual mandate – the provision to require everyone have health insurance beginning in 2014.
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Mixed Signals On Medicare Pilot Savings Projects
After five years, 10 Medicare pilot projects showed mixed results. Leading group physician practices were measured on quality, patient satisfaction, and cost savings. They all scored well on quality, but only half made the cut on savings.
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Health Law Hardly At Fault For Rising Premiums
When health insurance companies delivered the bad news this fall about next year’s premium increases, many blamed the new health overhaul law. But industry experts say that the health law accounts for only a small part of the increases.
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Health On The Hill Transcript: The Campaigns And Health Reform
With the elections less than one week away, ads making claims about the health law are flooding the airwaves. Many Democrats continue to not mention health reform, while Republicans criticize the law as too large, too expensive and intrusive into Americans’ lives.
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Opinion Column
What If The President Had Changed His Priorities? A Pre-Election Analysis From An Alternate Universe
Many politicos say the current political landscape would be very different if President Obama would have shifted his legislative priorities to put the economy in front of health reform. But would it really?
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Physician-Owned Hospitals Racing To Meet Health Law Deadline
Nationwide, new physician-owned hospitals are scrambling to open by the end of the year. Beginning Jan. 1, the health law bans them from taking part in Medicare, making it hard for the facilities to survive.
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Health On The Hill – October 27, 2010
With the elections less than one week away, ads making claims about the health law are flooding the airwaves. Many Democrats, concerned that voters view the measure in a negative light, continue to not mention health reform. Republicans, predicted to take control of the House and increase their ranks in the Senate, continue to criticize the law as too large, too expensive and intrusive into Americans’ lives. But President Barack Obama and some Democrats are promoting the law’s immediate consumer benefits and say it will improve the quality of health care for all Americans.
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Dems And GOP Galaxies Apart On Health Law
Three top pollsters – two Democrats and a Republican – have very different takes on what impact the health law will have on the election.
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Little-Known AMA Group Has Big Influence On Medicare Payments
Since 1991, a committee of doctors has submitted more than 7,000 recommendations to CMS on the value of physician work. The group is unknown to much of the medical profession. Yet the committee has had a powerful influence on Medicare payment rates.
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Debate Over Health Reform Soon To Change Gears, Expert Predicts
Former Kennedy staffer says GOP will back off talk of repeal after the election.
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High Risk Pools For People With Medical Issues Start Slowly
Response has been modest and reviews are mixed for insurance plans set up by the federal health law for people with medical problems.
