North Dakota Democrat Earl Pomeroy recently introduced legislation that aims to revitalize nursing homes by restructuring payment policies and strengthening the long-term care workforce. Read more »
A panel of experts on the elements needed to create a "high performance" U.S. health system said that current proposals by presidential candidates are not daring enough. Those proposals must go beyond creating universal coverage to include various measures to improve the quality and efficiency of the system, said the report released by the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System. Read more »
As Medicare recipients mull their choices for drug coverage in 2008, a new analysis warns that the most popular Medicare standalone drug plans will cover fewer drugs in 2008, and consumer groups are urging seniors to closely review their current coverage for price hikes and other changes. Read more »
A dispute over Medicaid eligibility is now the major sticking point in negotiations on children's health legislation, two Republican senators said. Read more »
Relying on a new method of analysis, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that federal spending on Medicare 75 years from now will be 50 percent higher than previously projected in an already grim forecast released in April by Medicare Trustees. Without changes in current law, federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid combined will balloon to 19 percent of the Gross Domestic Product by 2082, up from 4 percent now, the CBO report added. Total U.S. health care spending will rise to 49 percent of GDP, compared with 16 percent now. Read more »
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will propose new electronic prescribing standards for use in the Medicare program, leading lobbies that manage prescription drug benefits to call for a requirement for "e-prescribing" in Medicare. Read more »