November 22nd 2024
A new study shows that COVID-19 infection significantly increases the risk of exacerbation in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG).
States Offer Poor Access for Medicaid Managed Care Networks, OIG Report Finds
December 10th 2014As Medicaid enrollment grows under the program's expansion, there are not enough providers to serve the increased amounts of enrollees, according to a new report from the Office of the Inspector General that measured the availability of specific providers in Medicaid managed care networks.
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Study: Doctors Paid More for Multiple Procedures Than for Multiple Patients
December 10th 2014Highly-paid doctors make more money ordering multiple procedures for individual patients than they earn seeing multiple patients, suggesting payment reform under the Affordable Care Act has yet to be realized.
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Americans Dread Health Insurance Shopping Despite Exchange Improvement
December 9th 2014The federal government may have made strides to improve the health insurance exchanges since last year's open enrollment, but a majority of Americans view shopping for health insurance as just as bad as or worse than doing their taxes.
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Congressional Republicans to Grill Obamacare Consultant at Hearing
December 8th 2014Republicans in the US Congress plan to renew their attacks on President Barack Obama and his signature healthcare plan on Tuesday when they grill a consultant who said "the stupidity of the American voter" helped ensure the law's passage.
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Healthcare Law Is Not One-Size-Fits-All, and Here's Why
December 8th 2014One criticism of the Affordable Care Act is that it imposes a costly, one-size-fits-all standard, drastically increasing premiums by requiring everyone to buy health insurance that covers the same mandated benefits. This is not so.
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Marketplace Renewals: State Efforts to Maximize Enrollment into Affordable Health Plan Options
December 6th 2014For 2015, marketplaces' ability to conduct an effective renewal process for current enrollees is constrained by their information technology capacity, the short time period for open enrollment, and limited resources for outreach and consumer assistance.
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HealthCare.gov's Insurance Marketplace for Small Businesses Off to a Slow Start
December 1st 2014The part of HealthCare.gov intended for small businesses opened with reports of only modest technical flaws-but with doubts that it will soon benefit the millions of workers at little companies with inadequate health insurance or none at all.
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CMS' New Chief Data Officer Part of Transparency Fix
November 25th 2014Amid last week's news that CMS had miscalculated the number of enrollees under the Affordable Care Act was a quieter announcement that the agency had appointed a chief data office to improve transparency, among other tasks.
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Another Unforced Error Rattles ACA Year 2 Open Enrollment
November 24th 2014The disclosure that a calculation error caused the Obama administration to add an extra 400,000 people to ACA enrollment figures for months puts a dent in the 2015 open enrollment, in part because it fits a narrative of a lack of transparency for reporters who cover the administration.
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The Extended "Fix" for Canceled Health Insurance Policies: Latest State Action
November 22nd 2014In March, the Obama administration released guidance extending the renewal of health insurance policies that do not meet the Affordable Care Act's coverage standards through October 1, 2016. At least 9 states that did not adopt the administration's original transitional policy are now allowing renewals of noncompliant policies after January 1, 2014.
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With Third Lawyer, Republicans File Lawsuit Over the ACA
November 22nd 2014Republicans finally filed a lawsuit against President Obama's healthcare reform law, the Affordable Care Act, after approving the suit in July. They are challenging the employer-based coverage aspect of the law, as well as Treasury payments to insurers.
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CDC Data Show How Managed Care Missed Opportunities With New Diabetes Cases
November 21st 2014A new study shows only a small share of patients with private insurance who were newly diagnosed with diabetes in 2011-2012 enrolled in self-management training, raising questions about how well managed care could address both long-term health and cost control for this important group. These patients are a target for special attention under the ACA.
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Some Glitches Reported, But Year 2 of ACA Enrollment Seems Off to a Smoother Start
November 17th 2014After last year's disastrous start, the first day of open enrollment in year 2 of the Affordable Care Act had fewer hiccups. HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathew Burwell was reporting success from this weekend.
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Nearly Half of Uninsured Don't Understand Basic Health Insurance Concepts
November 12th 2014Although open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act's insurance Marketplaces is almost here, a 10-question survey from Kaiser Family Foundation found that the health law's target audience still struggles with understanding insurance coverage.
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New and Improved HealthCare.gov Site Reopens, With Subsidies for Now
November 10th 2014More than a year after its disastrous debut, the federal website HealthCare.gov reopened last night, giving shoppers a few days to browse ahead of the November 15 start date for open enrollment, when consumers will have 60 days to make changes or, for some, select first-time coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
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Establishing Value in Hepatology Care
November 9th 2014Amidst discussions on liver care, transplants, and infections was a session on Value-Based Medicine in Hepatology, on the third day at The Liver Meeting 2014, an annual event by the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, held in Boston, Massachusetts, from November 7 to 11, 2014. Presenters saw a huge turnout for the session, a sign of increased interest in value-based care.
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Of All ACA Elements, Medical Device Tax Seems Most Endangered
November 7th 2014Three days after the Republican Party gained control of the US Senate and rose to 250 seats in the House of Representatives, the airwaves are filled with bluster aimed at respective bases over what will become of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). While experts from both sides of the aisle agree that a full repeal is unlikely, 1 item has shown up on almost every early list of elements unlikely to survive the next Congress: the medical device tax.
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