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The new Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee says the GOP will chip away at Obamacare “piece by piece.” Still, he says he will work with Democrats to continue funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and overhauling Medicare pay for doctors.
The majority of people choosing the private plans for Medicare coverage were switching out of the traditional program, research in the journal Health Affairs finds.
In California, hundreds of thousands of low-income elderly and disabled people receive daily care in their homes from their children, spouses, relatives and others. And, through a program called In-Home Supportive Services, the state pays many of those caregivers about $10 an hour to do the job.
KHN’s consumer columnist answers a reader’s question about whether coverage from the health law’s online exchanges is compatible with Medicare and another question on Medicare drug coverage options when seniors move.
Federal officials handle most of the requests in 2014 from beneficiaries seeking a hearing before a judge and cut into the heavy backlog. But cases from hospitals, doctors and other providers are still on hold.
In 2015, some seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans will be allowed to switch if they lose their doctors.
Medicare is reducing payments to 721 hospitals with high rates of infections or other medical complications. About 1,400 hospitals, including all in Maryland, are excluded from the program and Medicare did not assess their rates of patient harm.
The 1 percent penalty, mandated by the health law, will hit one of every seven hospitals in the country and fall particularly hard on academic medical centers.
The data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks six types of frequently occurring infections in hospitals as part of an effort to reduce them.
More insurers selling Affordable Care Act plans will charge consumers higher rates for medicines that treat multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C and other serious illnesses, Avalere studies say.
The government’s proposed rule addresses many concerns of accountable care organizations.
Advocates say many poor seniors who need dialysis and cancer treatments will have few transportation options.
Gary Cohen, a former deputy administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, says the challenge for regulators and insurers is to create networks that not only save money but also deliver better patient outcomes.
Experts say low reimbursements and restrictions on providers have hampered the Medicare program.
The Commonwealth Fund finds cost barriers and limits on care for Medicare beneficiaries consistently places the U.S. low on the list of an 11-nation ranking of how older people fare in industrialized nations.
Nearly half of those eligible for a combined Medi-Cal and Medicare program are opting out.
Among the tools: penalties for admitting patients too soon after they were discharged and a focus on reducing hospital-acquired infections.
Though not a part of the health law’s open enrollment period, Medicare’s enrollment period runs during some of the same time period. Changes to Medicare advantage and the so-called Medicare prescription drug “doughnut hole” are taking center stage.
Beneficiaries who have a 30-year, pack-a-day smoking history would be eligible for this screening test.
Medicare announced Thursday it would continue covering devices that patients themselves can upgrade.
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