Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, have introduced legislation that would phase out the two-year period that disabled people currently must wait before they receive Medicare benefits. Bingaman and DeWine's legislation eliminated the 24-month waiting period, phasing it out over 10 years. As it is phased out, the Secretary of Health and Human Services would be able to waive the waiting period for people with life-threatening illness, the lawmakers said in a news release. Read more »
Will Michael Leavitt's signature achievement as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services prove to be advancing adoption of health care information technology? Introduced at a Washington forum by medical information technology expert Brent James as "a techno-geek" and a hard worker with visionary plans for IT, Leavitt delivered another impassioned speech advancing proposals unveiled earlier in the week to spur public and private sector collaboration in the field. While Leavitt plays down his computer skills, noting that his recent attempts to change hardware in his laptop shut down his e-mail, the subject clearly captures his imagination. Read more »
The chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee laid out an ambitious legislative agenda for his panel, citing Medicaid, medical malpractice, and patient safety as priorities. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., said he anticipates an early September markup in his committee on a package of changes to the Medicaid program in order to meet the committee's responsibility under the fiscal 2006 congressional budget resolution (H Con Res 95) to cut $14.8 billion over five years, including anticipated savings of $10 billion from Medicaid. Read more »
Amid growing criticism of the Bush administration's handling of what it hopes will be a major remake of the federal–state Medicaid program later this year, the nation's governors are stepping forward to exert more influence over the process. National Governors Association Chairman Mark Warner and Vice Chairman Mike Huckabee plan to detail an ambitious set of revisions at a Senate Finance Committee hearing tentatively set for June 15 while at the same time saying they won't be a part of the administration's proposed Medicaid overhaul commission. Read more »
Expanding public programs to cover low-income adults and children could help reduce the number of uninsured in many states, according to a recent study from Columbia University. The report, published as a Web Exclusive by the journal Health Affairs, concludes that there is no one solution for expanding federal health coverage across all 50 states. What could reduce the uninsured rate by 20 percent in some states would have little effect in others. The article was published with support from The Commonwealth Fund. Read more »
To help cover the cost of treatment for the nation's ballooning number of uninsured, premiums for family health insurance provided by private employers will increase by an average of $922 this year, according to a report. Issued by the consumer organization Families USA, the study found that by 2010, health insurance premiums for families who are insured through their private employers would, on average, increase by $1,502. A separate study by The Commonwealth Fund found that American employers spend an estimated $31 billion to cover the health care costs of workers employed elsewhere. Read more »