The Health Care Blog

Obama’s Medicare Half-Truth

By AUSTIN FRAKT Obama was called a liar during his recent address to a joint session of Congress. Actually, he was not fully truthful about the implications of cuts to Medicare. Obama repeated that his health reform plan includes payment...
September 20, 2009 in Economics, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Obama, The Speech | Permalink | Comments (43)

The Chairman's Mark - Good Ideas, Potentially Fatal Flaws

By ROGER COLLIER So, at long last, Senator Max Baucus has released his Chairman’s Mark draft health care reform bill for discussion by the full Senate Finance Committee. The 223-page draft bill is generally consistent with the “Framework for a...
September 16, 2009 in Medicare Advantage, Reform, Roger Collier, Senate Finance Committee | Permalink | Comments (3)

Expect to hear a whole lot about this...

By Matthew Holt Seniors care about death panels (apparently) but they usually really care about drug prices and costs. Part of the political rationale for the Republicans passing Medicare drug coverage in 2003 was to deny the Democrats the ability...
August 30, 2009 in Matthew Holt, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Policy, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (10)

Please, do not ban reference-based pricing

By Rick Peters, MD & Karl Luber, MD We were stunned (yes, we're naïve and idealistic) to read in The Kaiser Family Foundation newsletter and The Wall Street Journal article last week that CMS (surprise) and the now former the...
January 25, 2009 in Economics, Medicare Advantage, Obama administration, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (3)

Shocker--Karen Ignagni almost tells the truth

The NY Times' Robert Pear has an article on the politics of the Obama Administration introducing a public plan as part of FEHBP. As you might expect a boat load of Republicans who were told in grade school that private...
January 8, 2009 in Economics, Health Plans, Hospitals, Medicare Advantage, Obama administration, Policy, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (21)

The demise of Medicare Health Support

By Matthew Holt I guess we knew it, but here’s the confirmation in the analysis of the first 18 months from CMS. The summary: DM companies in Medicare Health Support enrolled healthier than average populations; they had limited to no...
January 6, 2009 in Medicare Advantage, Policy, Policy/Politics, Quality | Permalink | Comments (4)

Viciously Vladeck

The new Health Affairs is out and with it a lovely piece of vintage Vladeck. In a review of a new book on Medicare by old Brookings warhorse Henry Aaron and fast rising UT Longhorn star Jeanne Lambrew, Bruce Vladeck...
January 6, 2009 in Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Policy, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (0)

Slicing the health reform pie

By Robert Laszewski I doubt anyone would disagree with the statement that America’s health care costs are too high, continue to grow at an unsustainable rate, and reform is critical to control costs, get everyone covered, and improve quality. In...
December 12, 2008 in Economics, Medicare Advantage, Obama administration, Policy/Politics, Robert Laszewski | Permalink | Comments (15)

Now, Sleepless in San Francisco

By Matthew Holt Having returned from Seattle, the persistent itching from the sand-fly bites of Roatan has awakened me at 5 a.m. So I’m commenting on three pieces of news, which I've commented on before here and at Spot-On. First,...
December 5, 2008 in Health 2.0, Health Plans, Hillary Clinton, Marketplace, Matthew Holt, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Policy, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sleepless in Seattle

By Matthew Holt In a 36 hour span I left the mountains of Copa Ruinas in Western Honduras, had dinner in South Beach, Miami and after stopping off to see that Health 2.0 central in SF hadn’t collapsed, ended up...
December 4, 2008 in Conferences, Economics, Health Plans, Matthew Holt, Medicare Advantage | Permalink | Comments (9)

Private Medicare plans face uphill battle to prove efficiency

By Robert Laszewski I have been struck by the optimism regarding private Medicare presented by health plan executives during the recent earnings season and the analysts failure to press them on just how their numbers will add-up to sustain the...
September 9, 2008 in Health Plans, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Robert Laszewski | Permalink | Comments (2)

The problem with Medicare Advantage

By Maggie Mahar Everyone understands why Congress was so reluctant to cut physicians’ fees. Reimbursements for primary care physicians are very low—so low that 30 percent of Medicare recipients who are looking for a new medical home can’t find one....
July 10, 2008 in Maggie Mahar, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (13)

Senate votes to reign in private Medicare

By Robert Laszewski Robert Laszweski has been a fixture in Washington health policy circles for the better part of three decades. He currently serves as the president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates of Alexandria, Virginia. You can read more...
July 9, 2008 in Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Policy/Politics, Robert Laszewski | Permalink | Comments (5)

AMA and AHIP go head to head with TV ads

By Sarah Arnquist The American Medical Association this week began a television ad campaign, lambasting Republican Senators who failed to prevent the July 1 automatic 10.6 percent Medicare physician fee cut. In the one-minute ad, AMA President Nancy Nielsen says,...
July 2, 2008 in Medicare Advantage, Policy/Politics | Permalink | Comments (3)

Run for the hills: the doctors are coming

By Robert Laszewski What is the one thing no human being should want to be next week? A Republican Senator at a Fourth of July Picnic. In the most amazing turn of events I have seen in 20 years of...
June 30, 2008 in Medicare Advantage, Physicians, Policy/Politics, Robert Laszewski | Permalink | Comments (5)

MA plans won this round but future looks bleak

By Robert Laszweski Congressional Democrats tried to take a big bite out of private Medicare last week in an attempt to pay for an 18-month fix to the upcoming July 1 10.6 percent reduction in Medicare physician payments. The effort,...
June 20, 2008 in Health Plans, Medicare Advantage, Policy/Politics, Robert Laszewski | Permalink | Comments (1)

Four Big Trends - Brian Klepper

Several events and trends emerged over the last year that will reverberate throughout the health care marketplace in 2008 and going forward. While none of these dominated the trade press like some other issues - electronic and personal health records,...
January 16, 2008 in Brian Klepper, Health 2.0, Health Plans, Hospitals, Medicare Advantage, Patient Safety, Physicians, Policy/Politics, The Industry | Permalink | Comments (9)

UPDATE: Medicare, SCHIP and Kids by Maggie Mahar

Last night the Senate voted 68 to 31 to renew and expand the State Children'€™s Health Insurance Program SCHIP). A day earlier the House voted 225-204, largely along party lines, to approve a larger expansion of the SCHIP program. As...
August 3, 2007 in Maggie Mahar, Medicare Advantage, SCHIP | Permalink | Comments (2)

HEALTH PLANS: SCHIP and Medicare Advantage by Maggie Mahar

You'll be seeing more and more of Maggie Mahar here as she works blogging into her new role at The Century Foundation. But of course, she's not the only one who's made this connection. If you want to see more...
August 2, 2007 in Health Plans, Maggie Mahar, Medicare Advantage | Permalink | Comments (50)