Pages

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Health Care Reform Articles - May 11, 2013

Maine Health Care Advocates Launch Campaign for Universal Coverage
05/09/2013   Reported By: Patty B. Wight

As U.S. health care changes under the Affordable Care Act, some cheer and some bite their nails. But there are others who say the new law won't go far enough. Today, in Portland and Bangor, a coalition of Maine organizations kicked off a campaign to bring universal health care to Maine. It's not the first time this idea has been pushed in the state, but those behind the movement say this campaign will be different. Patty Wight reports.



Judge Refuses to Drop His Order Allowing Morning-After Pill for All Ages

By 
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Friday stepped up his criticism of the Obama administration, accusing the Justice Department of making “frivolous” and “silly” arguments in its attempt to delay making the morning-after emergency contraceptive pill available to women and girls of all ages without a prescription.
Judge Edward R. Korman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York ordered last month that the drug be made widely available and said that raw politics — not scientific evidence — was behind efforts by Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, to block easier distribution to young girls.
On Friday, he denied the request by government lawyers to suspend his ruling while they appeal. In the process, he lashed out again at Ms. Sebelius in unusually harsh terms, questioning her credibility and integrity.
“If a stay is granted, it will allow the bad-faith, politically motivated decision of Secretary Sebelius, who lacks any medical or scientific expertise, to prevail — thus justifiably undermining the public’s confidence in the drug approval process,” Judge Korman wrote.
Officials at the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment on Judge Korman’s ruling, citing the continuing legal case.
The issue of how broadly to distribute the morning-after pill is a politically charged one that puts President Obama’s administration at the center of a clash involving some women’s rights groups, conservative opponents of abortion and defenders of scientific integrity.
In Friday’s ruling, Judge Korman said that the government’s appeal of his order was nothing more than an attempt to “vindicate the improper conduct of the secretary.”
Andrea Costello, a lawyer for the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund and counsel to plaintiffs in the case before Judge Korman, agreed with him, saying that “this is politics at its worst and the administration should be ashamed of its duplicitous conduct.”

Health Law Is Defended With Vigor by President

By  and 
WASHINGTON — President Obama came out fighting in defense of his health care law on Friday, saying that he was “110 percent committed” to delivering its benefits on schedule, and that consumers should not be bamboozled by critics spreading misinformation about the law.
Evoking the spirit of Mother’s Day, Mr. Obama said the law would be particularly beneficial to women, including many in the audience, who whooped and cheered as the president spoke at an event in the East Room of the White House.
In his remarks, Mr. Obama was more animated and more specific than he usually is in discussing the law, which was passed without any Republican votes.
“No one can be turned away from private insurance plans,” he said. “If you’re sick, you’ll finally have the same chance to buy quality, affordable health care as everybody else.”
The president made the moral case for universal health insurance coverage, an argument that he has often neglected in the past.
“The United States of America does not sentence its people to suffering just because they don’t make enough to buy insurance on the private market, just because their work doesn’t provide health insurance, just because they fall sick or suffer an accident,” Mr. Obama said. “That could happen to anybody. And regular access to a doctor or medicine or preventive care — that’s not some earned privilege; it is a right.”
He wound up his speech with a promise: “We’re going to keep fighting with everything we’ve got to secure that right, to make sure that every American gets the care that they need when they need it at a price that they can afford.”
The president’s pitch came as the Obama administration confirmed that Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, had tried to raise money from the private sector to pay for a huge “outreach and education” campaign publicizing potential benefits of the law. Congress has refused to provide as much money as Mr. Obama requested for the purpose.

A trust fund for new Medicaid funding

By Lynn Nicholas

 
MASSACHUSETTS CONTINUES to expand health care access, improve care delivery, and address its cost — all good news. And there’s more positive health care news on the horizon — provided we take advantage of the opportunity.
In 2014, the federal government will send hundreds of millions of dollars to Massachusetts to help pay for an expansion of Medicaid under the terms of the Affordable Care Act. How we use those Medicaid funds will influence whether the state will have the financial resources to sustain that expansion over time.
The first step in assuring the Medicaid funds are spent properly and as intended by Congress is to segregate them from the general funds of the state. This should be done by placing the new Medicaid revenues into a trust fund that would be dedicated to support Medicaid and other low-income health care programs. It is an idea that makes sense to many consumer, labor, business, and health care leaders.

Some health coverage rates up

By Robert Weisman

 |  GLOBE STAFF   
  MAY 10, 2013
Health insurance base rates will rise an average of 2.5 percent for Massachusetts small businesses and individuals renewing their policies July 1. The increase is slightly smaller than the 2.7 percent average base rate hike for policies renewed in the current quarter.
The new third-quarter rates — affecting more than 147,000 people — approved by the state Division of Insurance all fell within the cap established by the Patrick administration as part of last year’s health cost containment legislation. The law ties health care spending to the state’s economic growth, projected at 3.6 percent this year.
In addition to the base rates, however, many employers have to pay more because of heightened risks associated with their industry, location, or average age of their workforce.
Regulators approved base rate hikes of 3.6 percent for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state’s largest health insurer, and its HMO subsidiary. The increases were 1.4 percent for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and 2.8 percent for its HMO arm. Base increases were 3.5 percent for Tufts Health Plan and 3.6 percent for its HMO business. The insurance division said rates for Fallon Community Health Plan were still being reviewed.

Healthcare puts Jerry Brown, Capitol Democrats on different sides

The Democrats who control the Legislature want to make it easier to obtain public insurance than Brown does and send more money to doctors, hospitals and counties than the governor wants to part with.

By Anthony York and Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
7:10 PM PDT, May 10, 2013
SACRAMENTO — With California's deficit wiped out and its economy starting to hum, this was to be a year when Gov. Jerry Brown was free of the budget logjams that have paralyzed the Capitol.
But instead, the governor has a fight on his hands — with his fellow Democrats. He is on a collision course with them over how to reshape the state's sprawling, complicated healthcare system to conform with President Obama's national overhaul.
The sticking points in extending public healthcare to more Californians include how many to add to state insurance rolls, how much to pay doctors and hospitals, and how much money to give counties for their care of the indigent.
The Democrats who control the Legislature — with a veto-proof supermajority — want to make it easier to obtain public insurance than Brown does and send more money to the doctors, hospitals and counties than the governor wants to part with.
Lawmakers have been pressing Brown administration officials for more information in legislative hearings, making clear that they find the governor's plans lacking. The strains underscore the divisiveness of healthcare issues even in a state that has moved aggressively to implement President Obama's signature legislative achievement.
The dispute is growing increasingly tense as the governor prepares to release his revised budget blueprint Tuesday. The new plan will trigger the Capitol's most intense spending negotiations this year, resulting in the budget that is due to take effect July 1.
Despite opposition from the administration, a handful of bills are moving through the Legislature. The lawmakers are bolstered in their position by a coalition of activists and county officials alarmed by the administration's call for a more restrained healthcare expansion than they say is needed.
"Everyone is on the same page," said Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), who chairs a subcommittee on health and social services. "It's the governor who seems to be out of the loop."
The major bill that would expand public insurance under Medi-Cal is from Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles). The measure would make it easier for Californians to enroll in the program by allowing people to sign up online and eliminating requirements that recipients file semiannual financial reports to prove they are still eligible.
Administration officials have said the governor opposes those changes out of concern that the easier enrollment process could lead to fraud.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike want to reverse some of the cuts made in recent years in how much the state reimburses doctors and hospitals who treat the poor — as many as 4 million of whom could remain uninsured. Legislation to reimburse the providers about $1 billion more annually has passed a Senate committee with unanimous, bipartisan support.
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-me-brown-healthcare-20130511,0,5891530,print.story





Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)