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Keyword: medicare

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  • Leaked: What's in Obama's trade deal [TPP's intellectual property - Big Pharma]

    07/01/2015 6:08:52 AM PDT · by GIdget2004 · 25 replies
    Politico ^ | 07/01/2015 | Michael Grunwald
    A recent draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal would give U.S. pharmaceutical firms unprecedented protections against competition from cheaper generic drugs, possibly transcending the patent protections in U.S. law. POLITICO has obtained a draft copy of TPP’s intellectual property chapter as it stood on May 11, at the start of the latest negotiating round in Guam. While U.S. trade officials would not confirm the authenticity of the document, they downplayed its importance, emphasizing that the terms of the deal are likely to change significantly as the talks enter their final stages. Those terms are still secret, but the public...
  • A Costly Medicare Surprise Awaits Retirees

    06/24/2015 8:14:41 AM PDT · by mac_truck · 33 replies
    Kiplingers ^ | 6/17/2015 | Susan B. Garland
    Days spent in the hospital as an outpatient, rather than being officially admitted, can leave Medicare patients with bigger bills. It's bad enough spending three or more days in a hospital -- undergoing a barrage of medical tests and procedures. Brace yourself for even more pain at discharge if the hospital tells you that you were actually never admitted but were on Medicare "observation status." That designation could cost you big time. Hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries who are under observation are considered outpatients, even if they spend many days in the hospital. If you find yourself in this boat, there's a...
  • However the Supreme Court Rules, ObamaCare Is In Deep Financial Trouble

    06/22/2015 6:26:04 AM PDT · by IBD editorial writer · 19 replies
    Investor's Business Daily ^ | 06/22/2015 | John Merline
    Anyone who thinks ObamaCare will cut the deficit over the next decade should look at Page 11 of the latest Congressional Budget Office report. The table on that page shows how the trillions in ObamaCare subsidies are supposed to be "paid for" — by tax hikes or spending cuts. What it reveals, however, is that ObamaCare increasingly relies on dubious Medicare spending cuts to cover its growing subsidy costs.
  • Big Changes Coming for Medicare, Social Security

    06/17/2015 10:38:47 AM PDT · by BradtotheBone · 44 replies
    Kiplinger ^ | June 16, 2015 | Martha Lynn Craver,
    Republicans will risk political pushback to put entitlement programs on the agenda during the presidential election. Some changes are in the wind for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—entitlement programs that account for 45% of the federal government’s payouts. Many of the changes are still years away. But some of them will start next year, smack in the middle of the presidential election campaign, forcing candidates to address issues that they and their advisers generally try to steer clear of when they’re running. Kicking off the rare election-year debate: a move to rescue the Social Security disability fund image: http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png before...
  • John Kasich’s Quest for Glorious Martyrdom

    06/10/2015 6:58:33 PM PDT · by 2ndDivisionVet · 33 replies
    New York Magazine ^ | June 10, 2015 | Jonathan Chait
    John Kasich is a highly popular governor of a vital swing state, possessed of national experience and long-standing ties to his party’s financial and ideological elite. He is launching a presidential campaign that stands virtually no chance of success, if you define “success” to mean acquiring the nomination. It looks increasingly likely, however, that Kasich defines success as something else altogether. Kasich began his career in a dissident role. As the Republican Party careened in the 1980s and 1990s toward militant supply-side economics, Kasich carved out an identity as an old-fashioned deficit hawk. Kasich was evangelical on the subject of...
  • Health Insurers Seek Hefty Rate Boosts

    05/22/2015 7:58:18 AM PDT · by george76 · 14 replies
    WSJ ^ | May 21, 2015 | Louise Radnofsky
    Proposals set the stage for debate over federal health law’s impact. Major insurers in some states are proposing hefty rate boosts for plans sold under the federal health law, setting the stage for an intense debate this summer over the law’s impact. In New Mexico, market leader Health Care Service Corp. is asking for an average jump of 51.6% in premiums for 2016. The biggest insurer in Tennessee, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, has requested an average 36.3% increase. In Maryland, market leader CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield wants to raise rates 30.4% across its products. Moda Health, the largest insurer on the...
  • Medicare Part B premiums increasing up to 30%

    05/12/2015 6:49:30 AM PDT · by Oldeconomybuyer · 12 replies
    Market Watch ^ | May 12, 2015 | By Robert Klein
    When the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, commonly known as the "doc-fix" legislation, becomes law, some Medicare participants will pay 30% more for their Part B premiums. The legislation, which was decisively passed by the House on March 26 and the Senate on April 14 is expected to be signed by President Obama soon. The bill replaces the current physician Medicare reimbursement schedule with payment increases for doctors for the next five years. It will be financed by higher Medicare Part B premiums for individuals whose income exceeds specified thresholds beginning in 2018.
  • 500 groups urge repeal of ObamaCare cost-cutting panel

    05/05/2015 7:11:15 AM PDT · by Oldeconomybuyer · 10 replies
    The Hill ^ | May 5, 2015 | By Peter Sullivan
    Over 500 organizations are calling on Congress to repeal a Medicare cost-cutting board that is part of ObamaCare. The panel at issue is called the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), and is charged with coming up with ways to cut Medicare spending. Legislation to repeal the board sponsored by Reps. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) and Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) has 222 co-sponsors, including 19 Democrats. While some opponents of ObamaCare have called the IPAB a “death panel,” the board is banned by law from recommending changes that would ration care or require seniors to pay a higher share of costs. Its reforms...
  • Mike Huckabee: Americans don’t want Social Security reform

    05/10/2015 12:21:05 PM PDT · by E. Pluribus Unum · 47 replies
    The Washington Times ^ | May 10, 2015 | S.A. Miller
    Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Sunday that his opposition to reforming Social Security doesn’t make him sound like a Democrat — but like an American. The former Arkansas governor has broken with his party and his rivals for the nomination by opposing GOP proposals to cut benefits or raise the retirement age for Social Seucurity and transform Medicare into a voucher-style program, measures aimed at preventing the popular programs from going broke. Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/10/mike-huckabee-americans-dont-want-social-security-/#ixzz3ZlVVjFNC Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
  • Trump: Huckabee can't protect entitlements like I can

    05/07/2015 8:41:37 PM PDT · by 2ndDivisionVet · 36 replies
    The Hill's Ballot Box ^ | May 7, 2015 | Mark Hensch
    New York real estate mogul Donald Trump said Thursday that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) could not prevent funding cuts to entitlement programs if elected president in 2016. “Huckabee is a nice guy but will never be able to bring in the funds so as not to cut Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid,” Trump tweeted. “I will.” Trump, a possible 2016 GOP presidential candidate, also argued Huckabee was stealing his potential campaign ideas. “Huckabee copied me,” Trump wrote. “I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare &...
  • Americans don't like big government - but like programs like SS & Medicare

    04/30/2015 2:45:36 PM PDT · by entropy12 · 85 replies
    Yahoo.news ^ | 04/30/15 | Amanda Becker
    a new poll shows that Republican voters who rally to that cry still want to maintain many federal programs. The results, from an online poll of 4,770 adults from April 10 to 24, highlight a dilemma for Republican candidates such as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas who have made reducing the size of government a top campaign theme.
  • Complaint Review: Matrix Medical Network [Rip off report/Queries]

    04/20/2015 2:35:01 PM PDT · by Usagi_yo · 9 replies
    Ripoff Report ^ | 6/20/2013 | Anonymous
    Please skip to comments. The headline explains it best.
  • Two Republicans Advocate Entitlement Reform: ‘Because We Have To,’ Christie Says

    04/20/2015 7:27:43 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 91 replies
    Cybercast News Service ^ | April 20, 2015 - 6:58 AM | Susan Jones
    Both Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are speaking bluntly about entitlement reform, advocating means-testing for Social Security retirement benefits as a way to save the system for those who need it. “These are real ideas,“ Christie said in New Hampshire on Friday. “And, you know, I’ve had a lot of people say, ‘Well, why would you possibly want to suggest those things?’ Because we have to. We have to. And if you want to start a national conversation, let’s start one that matters.” “We’re $18 trillion in debt,” Graham told Fox News Sunday. “Eighty million...
  • ObamaCare's Financial Crisis Is Fast Approaching

    04/16/2015 4:11:50 AM PDT · by IBD editorial writer · 4 replies
    Investor's Business Daily ^ | 04/15/2015 | John Merline
    Earlier this month, the Obama administration reversed course on spending cuts to the popular Medicare Advantage program. Instead of a nearly 1% cut in payments, private health insurers that offer Advantage plans to seniors would get a 1.25% boost. The turnabout hardly made news, which isn't surprising since it was the third year in a row that the administration said it was planning to cut payments only to reverse course. It is, however, emblematic of the fiscal trouble ObamaCare has planted in the federal budget.
  • What the Medicare ‘Doc Fix’ Means for States

    04/15/2015 11:45:30 AM PDT · by ThethoughtsofGreg · 1 replies
    American Legislator ^ | 4-15-15 | Sean Riley
    The U.S. Senate late Tuesday evening passed legislation containing a permanent ‘doc fix’ for calculating physician reimbursements under Medicare. By doing away with a decades old formula, the bill staves off an automatic 21 percent cut in payments that would have gone into effect at midnight. While much of the focus has been on Congress and the impact of the legislation on the federal Medicare program, the measure raises three important issues for the states. First, the measure also includes a two year extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the federal-state program extending coverage to low-income children...
  • Rand Splits With Rubio, Cruz To Vote For Deficit-Exploding Healthcare Bill

    04/15/2015 9:12:48 AM PDT · by SoConPubbie · 42 replies
    Daily Caller ^ | RACHEL STOLTZFOOS
    Republican Sen. Rand Paul split with senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio to vote for a healthcare bill Tuesday night that will add about half a trillion dollars to the national debt over the next several decades.Paul sided with the overwhelming majority of senators and representatives who voted for the bill, in a decision almost certain to come up in the primary race, where he is currently joined by Cruz and Rubio.The “doc-fix” bill solves a recurring problem in the way Medicare payments are made to doctors, extends a children’s health insurance program, and requires higher-income seniors to pay higher...
  • Senate Approves a Bill on Changes to Medicare

    04/14/2015 7:06:20 PM PDT · by Star Traveler · 108 replies
    New York Times ^ | Tuesday, April 14, 2014 | Robert Pear
    WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday approved sweeping changes in the way Medicare pays doctors, clearing the bill for President Obama and resolving an issue that has bedeviled Congress and the Medicare program for more than a decade. The 92-to-8 vote in the Senate, following passage in the House last month by an overwhelming vote of 392 to 37, was a major success for Republicans, who devised a solution to a complex policy problem that had frustrated lawmakers of both parties. Mr. Obama has endorsed the bill, saying it “could help slow health care cost growth.” The bill, drafted in...
  • A Bill That Actually Reforms Medicare

    04/13/2015 5:13:07 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 6 replies
    National Review ^ | 04/13/2015 | by RYAN ELLIS
    Tomorrow, the Senate will consider H.R. 2, a Medicare-reform bill that has already acquired a classic Beltway acronym, MACRA. Conservatives should give their full support: According to a report released last week, MACRA not only would pay for itself but would result in large net savings to the Medicare program over time, reducing unfunded liabilities and preventing massive new debt. To oversimplify it, MACRA does two things to Medicare. First, it replaces a 21 percent planned payment cut to doctors — known as the “sustainable growth rate” or SGR — with a more durable payment system. (This is the devastating...
  • Elder Care Costs Keep Climbing; Nursing Home Bill Now $91K

    04/10/2015 4:23:36 PM PDT · by TurboZamboni · 60 replies
    keloland.com ^ | 4-9-15 | ap
    NEW YORK, NY - The cost of caring for the elderly continues to climb. An industry survey says the median bill for a private room in a nursing home is now $91,000 a year. The report says the cost has increased four percent every year over the last five years. The annual "Cost of Care" report comes from the insurance company Gemworth Financial, which sells policies to cover long-term care. It's a growing financial burden for families, governments and insurers. The head of long-term services at the National Council on Aging, Joe Caldwell, says, "Most people don't realize how expensive...
  • Ted Cruz accused of wanting to repeal the 20th Century

    04/05/2015 1:40:14 PM PDT · by Marcus · 51 replies
    Houston Politics Examiner ^ | April 5, 2015 | Mark R. Whittington
    With Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the first major announced presidential candidate, surging in the polls and raking in campaign cash, it was inevitable that the push back would follow. The “Stop Ted Cruz” campaign got off to a roaring start in Salon, a magazine that has always disdained the man from Texas, with a Sunday article by Heather Cox Richardson, a college professor who teaches 19th century American history. Richardson’s indictment against Cruz is a beaut, accusing him of being part of a conspiracy started by the late William F. Buckley and furthered by the late Sen. Barry Goldwater to...