The Affordable Care Act survived the Supreme Court and a presidential election, so why does it face such an uncertain future? One reason is that it was essentially silent on how to control costs. This has led many pundits — including the likes of Paul Krugman and Robert Reich — to argue that the best approach would be to extend Medicare to everyone. A January National Research Council report on the relative disadvantage of America in global health outcomes, especially compared to countries with national health insurance, added further fuel to the fire. But is a larger government role in health insurance the best approach?
The Obama administration on Wednesday announced a $1 billion initiative to fund innovations in federal healthcare programs aimed at cutting costs while improving the health results. The Department of Health and Human Services said the money will be used to award and evaluate projects that test new payment and delivery models for federal programs including Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. The announcement marks the second round of innovation initiatives for the administration under President Barack Obama's 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
House Republicans are jumping on the recent woes of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and tying the agency's credibility to its forthcoming role in implementing President Obama's healthcare reform. Spoofing the opening credits of the popular TV show "Arrested Development," the House Republican Conference blasts ObamaCare's impact on small businesses saying the legislation would have a devastating impact on insurance premiums for business owners.
WASHINGTON — Nearly 100 people, including 14 doctors and nurses, were charged for their roles in separate Medicare scams that collectively billed the taxpayer-funded program for roughly $223 million in bogus charges in a massive bust spanning eight cities, federal authorities said Tuesday. It was the latest in a string of similar announcements by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder as federal authorities crack down on fraud that's believed to cost the program between $60 billion and $90 billion each year. Stopping Medicare's budget from hemorrhaging that money will be key to paying for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
WASHINGTON — The 37th time won't be the charm. But House Republicans are charging forward anyway this week on a vote to repeal President Obama's signature health care overhaul, which will put the number of times they have tried to eliminate, defund or curtail the law past the three-dozen mark. "This is what, the 40th time they're going to do it?" scoffed Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, confessing that she had lost count. "Thirty-eight? 39? 40? 41?" She eventually settled on "high 30s" as her best guess.
President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare reform law will extend coverage to 2 million fewer uninsured Americans than expected only a few months ago, congressional researchers said on Tuesday. A new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said 25 million people who currently lack insurance will obtain coverage through subsidized marketplaces or an expanded Medicaid program over the coming decade, down from a February CBO estimate of 27 million people. The office attributed the drop to a change in administration policy that will exempt 500,000 to 1 million more people from the law's individual mandate, which levies a fine on those who fail to obtain health coverage beginning in 2014.