All Articles In 'Tag Archives: 'Health Coverage''
Medicare Special Needs Plans: MedPAC Recommendations on Future of Special Needs Plans
Special Needs Plans (SNP) are part of the Medicare Advantage program and were created by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA). There are three types of SNPs, each intended to provide coordinated care for Medicare [...]
Multi-State Health Plans in Health Insurance Exchanges: OPM Final Rules
The federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had a tricky job in setting rules for multi-state health plans (MSP), which eventually will be offered in all states through Health Insurance Exchanges (HIX). The OPM had to take [...]
Federal Prescription Drug Pricing: Price Differences Between the VA and DoD
The prices of generic drugs vs. brand-name drugs has gathered a lot of attention lately. But buying in bulk and purchasing practices can have as much of an effect on prices as drug patents do. That’s [...]
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 [...]
Health Care Costs: Slowdown in Growth is Because of Economy, Not Obamacare
Growth in health care spending has slowed recently. Why? Supporters of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – aka Obamacare – says its due to the controversial law, although most of the ACA’s provisions are yet to [...]
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 [...]
Medicare Payment Reform: Post-Acute Provider Reimbursement
The term “post-acute care” (PAC) covers a range of services patients receive after a hospital stay. Skilled nursing facilities, home health care agencies, long-term care hospitals, and inpatient rehabilitation hospitals all provide post-acute care. PAC providers [...]
Medicaid Expansion Through Health Insurance Marketplaces: Unresolved Questions
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has answered some questions about how Arkansas’s creative plan to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The plan, which Gov. Mike Beebe put forward, would use [...]
Dual Eligibles and Medicare Cost Sharing: State Medicaid Payment of Medicare Premiums, Deductibles, and Co-Payments
State Medicaid programs will spend about $175 billion this year on health care for dual eligibles – low-income seniors and persons with disabilities who receive benefits from both Medicare and Medicaid. State spending on dual eligibles [...]
Employer Mandate and Penalties Under the Affordable Care Act: Understanding the New $130 Billion Tax
Under the new employer mandate imposed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), employers will pay about $130 billion in penalties over the next 10 years. The ACA employer mandate is highly complex and employers have many [...]
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