Opinion
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Medicare Is Losing Talent
Opinion -A growing number of U.S. physicians are refusing to accept new Medicare patients, and some physicians are withdrawing from Medicare altogether. The reason: Medicare’s complex system of administrative pricing is cutting physician reimbursements by 5. -
Medicare’s Problems Affect Vets
Opinion -The challenges faced by the veterans health care system have been compounded by Medicare’s continuing crisis. Many private doctors, frustrated by low reimbursement rates, are refusing to accept new Medicare patients, including elderly veterans. -
Health Care Market Disrupted in Kansas
Opinion -State insurance officials have established a task force to find out why insurance companies are leaving Kansas and what can be done about it. -
08/2002: State Legislative Update
Opinion -ARIZONA Arizona’s Premium Sharing Program, a pilot program covering the cost of physician visits and medicines for low-income and chronically ill residents, has stopped accepting new applicants because of budget cuts. -
08/2002: The Galen Report
Opinion -As Congress investigates the investigators about what intelligence the FBI and CIA had before the September 11 attacks, we see rising concern about our lack of preparedness for the next potential attack with biological weapons. -
Medicaid Rebates on Front Burner
Opinion -On July 23, the U.S. Senate voted down both Democrat- and Republican-backed bills that would have added a comprehensive prescription drug benefit to Medicare, most likely postponing any action on the long-debated program until 2003. -
IRS Backs Free-Market Health Care
Opinion -A federal tax opinion issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on June 26 is expected to encourage employers nationwide to adopt a type of consumer-driven health insurance that gives consumers greater control over medical expenditures. -
New Efforts Underway to Inject Competition into Medicare
Opinion -In 2001, efforts to build momentum for further privatization in the federal Medicare program came up short. The existing Medicare+Choice (M+C) program was plagued by withdrawals and service reductions by private health plans. -
A Good Idea Going Bad
Opinion -On July 23, the U.S. Senate voted against two rival bills that would have expanded Medicare prescription drug coverage for senior citizens. -
Tax Relief Makes Health Care More Affordable
Opinion -Rising health care costs are a major concern for many Americans. Whether it is the increased costs of health insurance premiums or the high cost seniors must pay out of pocket for their prescription drugs ... -
08/2002: The Pulse
Opinion -The National Center for Policy Analysis has released three new health policy-related Brief Analyses, one by Ron Bachman of PricewaterhouseCoopers and two by me. -
Elderly Veterans Ignored in Rx Policy Debate
Opinion -Millions of retired elderly veterans eligible for benefits under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) health care system have been largely forgotten in current health care policy debates. -
Real People, Real Coverage
Opinion -Roughly 15 million Americans who are too young to qualify for Medicare and too affluent to qualify for Medicaid purchase individual (i.e., non-group) health insurance to cover major medical expenses. -
06/2002: The Pulse
Opinion -You are invited to participate in an online discussion list dealing with many of the issues we report on here. To check it out, send an e-mail to [email protected]. -
Florida HMOs Bleeding Money
Opinion -Florida’s health maintenance organizations (HMOs) had a painfully unprofitable year in 2001, losing a total of $52.8 million, according to preliminary figures filed with the Florida Department of Insurance (DOI). -
Missouri Legislators Scale Back Health Powers Act
Opinion -In wide-ranging, give-and-take floor debates, Missouri legislators have scaled back the Model Emergency Health Powers Act (MEHPA), a broad anti-terrorism bill the Senate approved in February. -
Cal. Parity Law Has Little Effect on Premiums or Coverage
Opinion -A new report from Mathematica Policy Research Inc. concludes implementation of California’s mental health parity law has had, to date, no ill effect on health insurance in the state. -
MSAs Better than COBRA
Opinion -The U.S. Senate may soon debate Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) legislation that would provide health coverage for workers who lose their jobs due to foreign competition. -
06/2002: State Legislative Update
Opinion -Alabama Louisiana Tennessee Arkansas Mississippi Texas Indiana Oregon Wisconsin ALABAMA Officials at the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) declined to grant Alabama permission to continue to use the -
06/2002: The Galen Report
Opinion -Tax credits are on the front burner again with two new bills. The first, by Rep. -
Bush Backs Federally Mandated Mental Health Insurance Parity
Opinion -President George W. Bush broke ranks with free-market supporters, the small business community, and Republican leaders in the House, endorsing legislation forcing health insurers to treat psychiatric and physical diseases equally. -
Tennessee Doctors Sue HMOs
Opinion -Alleging HMOs have created “shell games that avoid their contractual obligations,” the Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) is suing Aetna, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, CIGNA, and UnitedHealthcare, charging them with unfair and deceptive business -
Health Insurance Heartburn
Opinion -Our health care system has a very bad case of regulatory indigestion. After years of an indulging regulatory diet cooked up in both Democratic and Republican kitchens, health insurance heartburn is rising faster than you can say “pass the Rolaids. -
Britain’s Million-Year Wait
Opinion -Britons were shocked recently by newspaper headlines saying there are now a million people on National Health Service (NHS) waiting lists. The figure means one in 60 British citizens are now waiting for medical treatment.
