This is a perfect example of why Medicaid is not the same as Medicare: Having counted on Washington for money that may not be delivered, at least 30 states will have to close larger-than-anticipated shortfalls in the coming fiscal year…
This is a perfect example of why Medicaid is not the same as Medicare:
Having counted on Washington for money that may not be delivered, at least 30 states will have to close larger-than-anticipated shortfalls in the coming fiscal year unless Congress passes a six-month extension of increased federal spending on Medicaid.
Governors and state lawmakers, already facing some of the toughest budgets since the Great Depression, said the repercussions would
by Cole Petrochko Medicaid expansion under new healthcare reform laws could add millions of participants to the program over the next nine years and greatly decrease the number of uninsured Americans -- with the federal government picking up most of…
by Cole Petrochko
Medicaid expansion under new healthcare reform laws could add millions of participants to the program over the next nine years and greatly decrease the number of uninsured Americans — with the federal government picking up most of the tab, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report.
One set of projections in the report, prepared by the Urban Institute for the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, estimates that …
by Charles Bankhead There is still not enough evidence to show that radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer is better than surveillance, according to a report prepared for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Only retrospective analyses have…
by Charles Bankhead
There is still not enough evidence to show that radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer is better than surveillance, according to a report prepared for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Only retrospective analyses have compared irradiation with no treatment or no initial treatment. Data comparing the relative efficacy of different types of radiation therapy also are insufficient to permit definitive conclusions regarding efficacy, safety, and toxicity, …
Massachusetts has a problem. In April 2007, they became the first state to require residents to have health insurance. Reportedly this has resulted in 300,000 newly insured patients and lowered the uninsured population to 5%. But of course, given the…
Massachusetts has a problem.
In April 2007, they became the first state to require residents to have health insurance. Reportedly this has resulted in 300,000 newly insured patients and lowered the uninsured population to 5%. But of course, given the relatively poor reimbursement rates for primary care providers, especially when it comes to government insurance, the state is facing a growing shortage of primary care providers.
Jim called me late on a fall afternoon to report our mutual friend was in the local emergency room. “It looks like he had a stroke”. I immediately asked to speak to the ER doctor for the results of the…
Jim called me late on a fall afternoon to report our mutual friend was in the local emergency room. “It looks like he had a stroke”. I immediately asked to speak to the ER doctor for the results of the CAT scan I knew would have been done. There were two metastatic tumors in the brain.
It has been over two years since my friend died. He was among the millions …
Paula Oertel's brain tumor disappeared for nine years while she was on a drug not approved for her condition. The tumor returned when a move to a new home triggered a Medicare review -- and subsequent denial of coverage for…
Paula Oertel’s brain tumor disappeared for nine years while she was on a drug not approved for her condition. The tumor returned when a move to a new home triggered a Medicare review — and subsequent denial of coverage for the experimental treatment.
Now Medicare officials have decided she will be allowed to go back on the drug.
For the last several years, writers in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association have authored doomsday editorials about the prognosis of primary care medicine. There has been much discussion about the fact…
For the last several years, writers in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association have authored doomsday editorials about the prognosis of primary care medicine. There has been much discussion about the fact that internists and family practitioners cannot keep pace with rising overheads and falling reimbursement under the traditional third-party payment system.
We’ve all seen the headlines –- “Primary Care Physicians Becoming a Scarce Breed”, “Wait Times for Appointments Increasing”, “Primary Care in Crisis” –- and have heard the pundits pontificating on the deteriorating state of primary care. But rarely do we…
We’ve all seen the headlines –- “Primary Care Physicians Becoming a Scarce Breed”, “Wait Times for Appointments Increasing”, “Primary Care in Crisis” –- and have heard the pundits pontificating on the deteriorating state of primary care.
But rarely do we hear what’s happening from physicians on the front lines, those actually seeing patients. Consequently, with direct access to the primary care trenches, replete with an overworked physician and staff members, …
The new reform law which is called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will be a huge disappointment to the millions of previously uninsured people who finally purchase insurance policies when they try to find a doctor. Primary…
The new reform law which is called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will be a huge disappointment to the millions of previously uninsured people who finally purchase insurance policies when they try to find a doctor.
Primary care physicians are already in short supply and the most popular ones have closed practices or long waits for new patients. Imagine when 2014 hits and all of those patients come …
A guest column by the Texas Medical Association, exclusive to KevinMD.com. by William H. Fleming III, MD So we have this new health law that’s intended to provide better health care access for most Americans. Many of the reforms rely…
So we have this new health law that’s intended to provide better health care access for most Americans. Many of the reforms rely upon the sustainability and effectiveness of Medicare.
Medicare, however, is doomed to failure unless Congress fixes a fundamental problem existing within the current program — the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. The …
by Marianne Mattera President Obama is planning to appoint Don Berwick -- the Harvard pediatrician, recognized health policy expert, and head of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) -- as the new head of CMS. Berwick's nomination has been heralded…
by Marianne Mattera
President Obama is planning to appoint Don Berwick — the Harvard pediatrician, recognized health policy expert, and head of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) — as the new head of CMS.
Berwick’s nomination has been heralded by many as a terrific choice.
Our own health policy columnist, David Nash, said that “Berwick’s global following is a powerful political force …
St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Greenwich Village was founded in 1849, making it the third oldest hospital in New York City. It has been an occasional scene of notoriety but mostly it has witnessed countless episodes of anonymous compassion and…
St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Greenwich Village was founded in 1849, making it the third oldest hospital in New York City. It has been an occasional scene of notoriety but mostly it has witnessed countless episodes of anonymous compassion and care. My two sons were born there. As a major teaching hospital, it has over 1000 affiliated physicians. It is where generations of New Yorkers …
Across the country, state Medicaid health insurance programs serving low-income children and families, people with disabilities, and older adults are struggling in an environment of chronic underfunding. Consider that, nationwide, at least one child in four relies on Medicaid for…
Across the country, state Medicaid health insurance programs serving low-income children and families, people with disabilities, and older adults are struggling in an environment of chronic underfunding.
Consider that, nationwide, at least one child in four relies on Medicaid for health coverage. Medicaid funds healthcare services for two out of every five births and fills in gaps in Medicare coverage for the elderly and disabled.
I congratulate President Obama and the Democrats on their historic health reform achievement. Will this bill be able to win approval as it runs the parliamentary gauntlet? Is it an act of political suicide that will become manifest in November?…
I congratulate President Obama and the Democrats on their historic health reform achievement.
Will this bill be able to win approval as it runs the parliamentary gauntlet? Is it an act of political suicide that will become manifest in November? Will it bankrupt the country because of lack of cost controls?
Regardless of where one stands, the bill is a political act of vast ambition and colossal risk.
While the health reform bill will have many effects, one of its most profound will be to unshackle the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Under the legislation, CMS is now far freer to undertake a variety of pilot…
While the health reform bill will have many effects, one of its most profound will be to unshackle the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Under the legislation, CMS is now far freer to undertake a variety of pilot programs and demonstration projects designed to improve quality, safety and efficiency, and to convert the successful ones into policy. And, if that wasn’t enough for those who have long been praying …
For nearly a decade, Paula Oertel's brain tumor was kept at bay by a drug that was not approved to treat her condition. Then Oertel did something she never imagined would jeopardize her health. She moved -- less than 30…
For nearly a decade, Paula Oertel’s brain tumor was kept at bay by a drug that was not approved to treat her condition. Then Oertel did something she never imagined would jeopardize her health.
She moved — less than 30 miles — from one county in Wisconsin to another.
That move triggered a review of her health insurance from Medicare, which eventually led to a loss of coverage, including the drug.
In the Journal of the American Medical Association on May 15, 1991, in our first of many theme issues dedicated to "Caring for the uninsured and underinsured," I wrote: "An aura of inevitability is upon us. It is no longer…
In the Journal of the American Medical Association on May 15, 1991, in our first of many theme issues dedicated to “Caring for the uninsured and underinsured,” I wrote: “An aura of inevitability is upon us. It is no longer acceptable morally, ethically, or economically for so many of our people to be medically uninsured or seriously underinsured. We can solve this problem. We have the knowledge and the resources, …
Let's get one thing out of the way. The health care reform bill that passed the House this past Sunday, and will be fixed via reconciliation in the Senate, is a moderate, relatively incremental approach to fixing our health care…
Let’s get one thing out of the way.
The health care reform bill that passed the House this past Sunday, and will be fixed via reconciliation in the Senate, is a moderate, relatively incremental approach to fixing our health care system.
Conservatives are up in arms, as they have been during the entire process, and are lining up lawsuits and trying to gather momentum to repeal the bill.
Originally published in MedPage Today by Liz O'Brien My grandmother and her hospital roommate -- aged, tiny, frail, and sporting matching bright pink hairnets. They looked like twins -- two thin shrubs in winter that had each sprouted an improbable,…
Originally published in MedPage Today
by Liz O’Brien
My grandmother and her hospital roommate — aged, tiny, frail, and sporting matching bright pink hairnets.
They looked like twins — two thin shrubs in winter that had each sprouted an improbable, big pink rose.
Although sick and scared, my grandmother had admired the pink hairnet on the lady in the next bed, so my mother …
A 21% cut for Medicare physician fees is set to go into place soon. This year, fixing physician payment has been overshadowed by all the talk about health insurance reform. In fact, I remember being invited to talk about healthcare…
A 21% cut for Medicare physician fees is set to go into place soon. This year, fixing physician payment has been overshadowed by all the talk about health insurance reform.
In fact, I remember being invited to talk about healthcare reform on a panel for medical students this past fall. As part of my remarks, I mentioned the 21% pending cut in physician payment and recall the questions and …
