Medicare managed care plans last year cost the government $5.2 billion more than if their enrollees had remained in Medicare's traditional fee-for-service program, according to a Commonwealth Fund report. Read more »
Quality is more important to consumers than cost when making health care decisions, according to a study by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Read more »
More than half of the nation's uninsured are ineligible for public programs and do not have enough resources to purchase coverage themselves, a report by the Urban Institute found. Read more »
The last time affluent Medicare beneficiaries were singled out to pay higher premiums for Medicare benefits, the howl of public protest was so strong that Congress quickly repealed the higher charges. Now, 17 years later, notices are once again hitting the mailboxes of affluent elderly Americans telling them they will have to pay more for Medicare—and the Social Security Administration is bracing for thousands of calls and visits protesting the higher charges. Read more »
Incoming House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark shed crocodile tears for many of the physicians facing a 5 percent cut in Medicare payments Jan. 1, saying he tries to relate to their suffering, but can't quite pull it off. Read more »
The American Medical Association released a letter mailed earlier this month to incoming House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel noting that physicians have now developed 150 quality-of-care measures and are asking his help in erasing a 5 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors starting Jan. 1. Read more »