HealthCare Notes

2/28/12

PERRspectives: Obama's Affordable Care Act to the Rescue for Texas

PERRspectives: Obama's Affordable Care Act to the Rescue for Texas
By almost any measure, Texas has one of the worst health care systems in the nation. Its 26 percent uninsured rate - no other state is even close - put its dead last. Overall, health care in the Lone Star State is ranked 44th by America's Health Rankings and 46th by the Commonwealth Fund. Two years ago, it was ranked the 39th healthiest state."

Texas Medicaid Director: 91 Percent Of Texans Will Have Insurance If State Implements Obamacare

Texas Medicaid Director: 91 Percent Of Texans Will Have Insurance If State Implements Obamacare: pTexas Republicans are taking a hardline against implementing the exchanges in the Affordable Care Act and currently have “no plans to implement an exchange” in the state. But during a House Public Health and Insurance Committees hearing yesterday, Billy Millwee, the State Medicad Director told lawmakers that “the percentage of Texans with health insurance will [...]/p

2/24/12

Mitt Romney: Cut Medicare, Social Security benefits for seniors

Mitt Romney: Cut Medicare, Social Security benefits for seniors
"Except for his plan to mess with Social Security and Medicare. He got much more concrete, and as has been in vogue among Republicans, wants to take away benefits. He's going Ryan-lite on Medicare (the Ryan-Wyden plan), with the addition of raising the eligibility age, and both raising the retirement age for Social Security and means testing it."

2/22/12

Paul Ryan Berates Tim Geithner For Not Embracing GOP’s Medicare Privatization Scheme

Paul Ryan Berates Tim Geithner For Not Embracing GOP’s Medicare Privatization Scheme: pIf President Obama’s newly-proposed budget were to be enacted, it’s long-run projections show U.S. debt stabilizing as a percentage of GDP until approximately 2030, after which it begins to rise again indefinitely. Last Thursday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) decided to take Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to task over those numbers: RYAN: Leaders [...]/p

2/19/12

Tom Coburn, Richard Burr hit the trifecta in destroying Medicare with new bill

Tom Coburn, Richard Burr hit the trifecta in destroying Medicare with new bill
The Coburn-Burr plan, like Rep. Paul Ryan's, would turn Medicare into a privatized voucher system, but instead of waiting a decade to do it, it would start the transition in 2016.

2/15/12

86 Million Americans Used Health Care Law’s Prevention Benefits

86 Million Americans Used Health Care Law’s Prevention Benefits: pTwo government reports released today showed that 86 million Americans took advantage of provisions in the health care law which improved access to preventive care. More than 32 million Medicare beneficiaries have received some preventive treatment at no cost, including 6 million mammography screenings and 1.2 million pap tests. Fifty-four million Americans using private insurance [...]/p

MAP: Health Care Law Could Disproportionately Benefit Republican Districts

MAP: Health Care Law Could Disproportionately Benefit Republican Districts: pIn an analysis released yesterday in Politico, three officials from the Kaiser Family Foundation claim that the health care law could disproportionately benefit GOP-represented districts, particularly in lower income Southern and rural areas where residents face higher uninsurance rates and more difficulty finding affordable health care. The authors — Larry Levitt, Drew Altman, and Gary [...]/p

2/14/12

Feds Recover Record $4.1 Billion in Fraudulent Medicare Claims

Feds Recover Record $4.1 Billion in Fraudulent Medicare Claims: pFederal authorities have recovered a record $4.1 billion in health care fraud judgements in 2011, a figure that is roughly 50 percent higher than that of 2009. The tremendous spike in recovered funds has been credited to new policies implemented by the Department of Justice in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services [...]/p

Mitt Romney Tells CPAC He'll Cut Social Security Benefits, Begin Privatizing Medicare

Mitt Romney Tells CPAC He'll Cut Social Security Benefits, Begin Privatizing Medicare

2/13/12

Obama Budget Health Care Savings In One Chart

Obama Budget Health Care Savings In One Chart: pThis morning, President Obama unveiled a $3.8 trillion budget plan that eschews any dramatic reforms to entitlement programs but would still produce $360 billion in savings from Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care programs over 10 years. Obama Paul Ryan’s approach “to turn Medicare into a voucher or Medicaid into a block grant,” but does [...]/p

New Study: Health Care Costs Fall When Poor Get Health Care Coverage

New Study: Health Care Costs Fall When Poor Get Health Care Coverage

2/8/12

Appeals Court Rejects Tea Party Leader Dick Armey’s Attempt To Reject Medicare

Appeals Court Rejects Tea Party Leader Dick Armey’s Attempt To Reject Medicare: pIn what may be the most bizarre lawsuit to emerge from a Tea Party devoted to bizarre legal theories, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey sued the federal government seeking a declaration that he is not eligible for Medicare, even though he is, well, eligible for Medicare. Yesterday, in an opinion by conservative George W. [...]/p

REPORT: Affordable Care Act Will Help Close Income Gap In Insurance, Health Care Access

REPORT: Affordable Care Act Will Help Close Income Gap In Insurance, Health Care Access: pA new study shows that adults in low- to moderate-income families are “more likely to be uninsured, to lack a regular source of health care, and to struggle to get the health care they need compared to those in higher-income families,” according to the Commonwealth Fund. The researchers focused on the vast income gap in [...]/p

The Battle for Vermont's Single Payer System | Common Dreams

The Battle for Vermont's Single Payer System | Common Dreams

2/4/12

Tom Coburn Inadvertently Calls Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney ‘A Liar’

Tom Coburn Inadvertently Calls Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney ‘A Liar’: pSen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) inadvertently referred to prominent Republicans like Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and Eric Cantor as liars during an interview with Oklahoma’s News on 6 Thusday night. “Any politicians that stands up and says, ‘We’re not going to touch your Medicare’ is a liar,” Coburn said, apparently forgetting that the GOP has used [...]/p

2/2/12

REPORT: Seniors Saving On Prescription Drugs As A Result Of Health Reform

REPORT: Seniors Saving On Prescription Drugs As A Result Of Health Reform: pThe Affordable Care Act has produced $2.1 billion in prescription drug savings for nearly 4 million seniors and people with disabilities who were enrolled in Medicare Part D in 2011, a new Obama administration report finds. The savings are the result of a provision in the health care law that provides a 50 percent discount [...]/p