All Articles In 'Medicare Advantage'
Health Care Spending and Hypertension: The Cost of High Blood Pressure
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is related to several major chronic diseases. Obesity and diabetes raise your chance of developing high blood pressure, which in turn makes you more likely to suffer from heart disease and [...]
Medicare Physician Sustainable Growth Rate: Repealing SGR
For over a decade, the sustainable growth rate (SGR) has been a source of financial worry for physicians who serve Medicare patients. Medicare’s physician payment rate is based on a composite measure of the cost of [...]
Chronic Care Management: CMS Multiple Chronic Conditions Dashboard
Many new care models in both the public and private sector focus on people with chronic diseases, particularly conditions like diabetes, congestive heart failure, and hypertension. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Care Coordination/Home Telehealth (CCHT) pilot program [...]
Medicare-Medicaid Dual Eligibles: Measuring Quality of Special Needs Plans and State Demonstrations
Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibles are often held up as a prime case for the need for better care management to reduce health costs and spending while improving quality. But doing so can be challenging. Most dual eligibles [...]
Medicare Drug Benefit: Formulary Oversight in Medicare Part D
Medicare Part D, the Medicare drug benefit, served roughly 31 million seniors last year. Medicare Part D is more similar to Medicare Advantage than to traditional Medicare in that enrollees can choose among several private health [...]
Opportunity for Health Plans to Improve Quality and Reduce Costs by Embracing Primary Care Medical Homes
Primary care delivery through patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) and other coordinated-care models have improved care and reduced costs. Health plans have a strategic opportunity to promote better care at a lower cost by embracing medical homes [...]
Health Coverage Tax Credit: Effect of ACA on HCTC Enrollees
The Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) program is tiny compared to better-known public health coverage programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP. Only about 500,000 Americans in 2010 were eligible for the HCTC program, which pays [...]
5 Causes of Wasteful Health Care Spending
A painful fact about the U.S. health system is that roughly one third of health costs and spending are wasted. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that wasted health spending [...]
Medicare, Medicaid, and Other Health Provisions in American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (Updated)
Here is a summary of the Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care related provisions of H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, as passed by House and Senate as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations. [...]
Medicare Premiums, Co-Payments, and Deductibles for 2013
Medicare premiums, deductibles, and co-payments are updated each calendar year based on formulas set by Congress in statute. For 2013, the new Medicare deductible, coinsurance, and monthly premium rates for Part A and Part B are described [...]
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