Health Reform in the House | Fact of the Day H.R. 3962 requires the HHS Secretary to study the content of the training requirements for certified nurse aids and supervisory staff at nursing facilities and skilled nursing facilities, and submit a report to Congress with recommendations within two years of enactment. | | Follow Health Insurance Reform
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At the Time This Daily Dose Was Sent, Insured Americans Had Paid a “Hidden Tax” of $43,926,550,204 since January 1, 2009 in Additional Premium Costs to Cover Care for the Uninsured. Under the Microscope REPORT: Health Insurance Exchanges in Health Care Reform: Legal and Policy Issues
The two health reform bills pending in Congress represent quite different understandings of what an exchange is, what it does, how it is organized, and how it functions. How those differences are resolved is likely to determine the extent to which the eventual exchanges accomplish their goals and whether they avoid the difficulties that have afflicted earlier attempts at creating and operating exchanges. This report describes design and function issues raised by exchanges, prior experience with exchanges, the provisions of the pending House and Senate bills that affect exchanges, and policy issues raised by the legislation. [Commonwealth Fund, 12/31/2009]
Health Care Headlines If Health Care Bill Passes, Some Changes Would Start Fast
More money for community health centers. Immediate help for the uninsured. No more lifetime limits on coverage. Under the health care legislation that's moving through Congress, these and other benefits would take effect quickly and should produce a noticeable impact on consumers, according to many independent analysts and Democrats.
[McClatchy News, 1/5/2010] Democrats Holding Final Intraparty Talks On Health-Care Reform
Democratic leaders in Congress began a final round of health-care talks Tuesday, pledging to overcome their remaining differences, with the aim of sending a bill to President Obama before his State of the Union address in late January or early February. [Washington Post, 1/6/2010] House Democrats to Pursue Health Bill Changes
House Democratic leaders said Tuesday that they would insist on changes to the Senate health care legislation to make coverage more affordable for middle-class Americans and to tighten control over the insurance industry.
[New York Times, 1/6/2010] Obama Pledges More Involvement in Health Care Effort
President Barack Obama on Tuesday vowed to boost the White House’s involvement in health care reform negotiations as the House and Senate seek to craft a final bill that can pass Congress this winter.
[Roll Call, 1/5/2010] Health Bills Would Shift Medicare Money to Mayo and Other 'High-Value' Hospitals
As House and Senate lawmakers start to reconcile their health-care bills with an eye to final passage, a little-noticed provision is already prompting celebration from a small group of influential hospitals that stand to gain millions in Medicare dollars. [Washington Post, 1/6/2010] Nursing Offers a Healthy Employment Future
More than 3 million jobs in the health care industry will be created this decade, ranging from highly paid neurosurgeons to home health aides making barely above minimum wage. [NPR, 1/6/2010] Lessons of A Weekend of Free Health Care
Lawmakers debating reform could almost certainly learn something here in the trenches. But the most striking lesson might also be the most daunting: To fix health care inequities, expanding insurance alone may not be enough. [Associated Press, 1/3/2010] Senior-Citizen Volunteers Fight Medicare Fraud
The Senior Medicare Patrol is one of the least-known forces in the government's effort to eliminate such fraud, which drains billions of dollars a year. But it is seen as a valuable part of the Obama administration's bid to overhaul health care and bring down costs. [Associated Press, 12/29/2009] Did Americans Get Any Healthier Over Past Decade?
About 10 years ago the government set some lofty health goals for the nation to reach by 2010. So how did we do? [Associated Press, 12/31/2009] | 