Millions of low-income people could be required to pay more for health care under a proposed federal policy that would give states more freedom to impose co-payments and other charges on Medicaid patients. Hoping to persuade states to expand Medicaid, the Obama …
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Gov. Jan Brewer called it “one of the most difficult decisions” of her 30 years in public service. If she chose to expand Medicaid, the federal and state program that provides health care to poor and disabled people, she risked antagonizing her conservative …
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The Obama administration gave conditional approval on Monday to health insurance marketplaces being set up by six states led by Democratic governors eager to carry out President Obama’s healthcare overhaul. The six are Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington. At …
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In the ongoing battle over the fiscal cliff, Democrats and Republicans have exchanged plenty of words about what they would or wouldn’t do to Medicare. The same can’t be said about Medicaid. But behind the scenes, they’re going to have …
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When economists and policymakers worry about the long-term fiscal crisis, what they’re mostly worried about is Medicare. That’s why a persistent idea during this fiscal cliff season is raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. It’s an idea …
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Under Medicare’s tangled payment system, hospitals get higher reimbursements than individual doctors for cardiology treatment and other specialty services—in some cases a lot higher. The program pays a hospital $400 for an echocardiogram, $180 for a cardiac stress test, and …
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A looming 2% cut in Medicare reimbursement triggered by the failure of Congress to forge a deficit-reduction plan will wipe out 767,000 jobs across the economy through 2021, according to a new study released today by the American Medical Association …
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Medicare abuse and fraud costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars every year. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or C.M.S., estimated that in 2010, the two programs together made more than $65 billion in improper federal payments. An April …
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The American medical system squanders 30 cents of every dollar spent on health care, according to new calculations by the respected Institute of Medicine. But in all that waste and misuse, policy experts and economists see a significant opportunity — a …
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A new model for delivering medical care, one promoted by the federal health care law, holds promise for slowing the cost of treating the sickest, most expensive patients, according to a new study. The sweeping law, enacted in 2010 and upheld …
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