Health News feed http://www.cbpp.org/topic/?fa=topic&id=32 en-us Copyright 2008 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. All rights reserved. Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:00:02 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Reforming the health care system to provide universal health coverage is an urgent priority. But, facing huge projected budget deficits that have the nation on an unsustainable fiscal path, the White House and Congress must enact a health reform plan that is also fully financed and that reduces the growth rate of health care costs over the long term. Policymakers have been considering two major proposals to help finance health care reform that represent sound tax policy: … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/ysXoi_xFIh8/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2874 Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2874 The new insurance exchanges that policymakers are contemplating as part of national health reform could greatly improve people’s access to affordable, decent-quality health insurance, reduce insurers’ ability to “cherry pick” healthy enrollees, and help reduce administrative costs within the health insurance market. But allowing multiple exchanges to participate in the same geographic area, as some have recommended, [1] would undermine these goals by … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/gtiW4gutPKU/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2863 Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2863 The Senate Finance Committee is seeking to reduce the cost of its health reform bill to approximately $1 trillion over ten years. It faces difficult choices in doing so. Among the modifications it is considering are changes in the subsidies intended to enable low- and moderate-income families and individuals to afford insurance. Some of those changes would make it more difficult for moderate-income households — principally those between 300 percent and 400 percent … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/4kDKmGu6S2s/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2854 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2854 While an employer responsibility requirement is an essential component of health care reform, a proposal that the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee are considering for the forthcoming health legislation is flawed and would have serious unintended consequences, particularly for low-income and minority workers and workers with disabilities. [1] Under the new proposal, employers who do not offer their workers … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/eTVSTro37mE/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2847 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2847 The news media are widely reporting that, according to a partial and preliminary Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis, health reform legislation that the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) is developing would cut the number of uninsured by only 16 million people while costing $1 trillion over ten years. That conclusion, however, is incorrect. The CBO analysis covers only a part of the HELP plan (the parts for which the Committee … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/vP16AQ2ueYw/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2843 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2843 The Social Security and Medicare Trustees' report on Medicare underscores the urgency of health care reforms to slow health care cost growth, starting with President Obama’s proposed Medicare reforms. The Trustees’ report shows Social Security doesn’t face an immediate crisis but does require changes, and the sooner they’re made, the better. In this podcast, Bob Greenstein discusses the annual reports and their implications. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/28mV_u5Wggg/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2814 Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2814 By lowering the costs that Medicaid and Medicare pay for prescription drugs, Congress could generate substantial savings to help pay for comprehensive health reform that achieves universal coverage. Prescription drugs are critical to providing effective health care; for many people, they are important to maintaining health and preventing complications that could lead to hospitalizations. At the same time, the rate of growth in prescrip­tion drug spending has concerned both … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/SqL73---n6k/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2840 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2840 If Congress rejects the President’s proposal to help pay for health care reform by limiting the value of itemized deductions for high-income filers, it should at least prevent those subsidies from expanding in 2011, as they would under current law. Simply keeping the value of itemized deductions for filers in the top two brackets at their current levels of 33 and 35 percent, rather than allowing it to expand when those tax rates rise to 36 and 39.6 percent respectively, would raise $68 … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/mGX1rTqR6aA/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2838 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2838 Limiting the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance could provide significant revenues for health reform without eroding employer-sponsored insurance or causing other undesirable side effects — if the cap and the rest of the health reform legislation are well designed. Limiting the tax exclusion deserves serious consideration for several reasons. First, the exclusion is poorly designed, providing the greatest … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/Mrebj1z5nyk/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2832 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2832 By establishing a tax on high-sugar soft drinks, Congress could help finance health care reform that extends health insurance to all Americans and slows the growth of health care costs, while also improving Americans’ health. This paper, which is part of a series of papers on proposals to help pay for health reform, outlines issues related to such a tax. Depending on how it is designed, such a tax has the … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/s3QcqY4mljs/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2830 Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2830 To help pay for health care legislation that extends health insurance to all Americans and slows the growth of health care costs, Congress should consider reversing the substantial real decline in recent decades in federal excise taxes on alcohol. This paper, which is part of a series of papers on proposals to help pay for health reform, outlines three options Congress could consider for increasing alcohol taxes that would raise $27 billion to about $100 billion over the next 10 years.… http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/5jMgNPmQz28/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2828 Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2828 Congress should consider scaling back or eliminating health care flexible spending accounts (FSAs) [1] as part of its effort to pay for health care reform. This paper, which is part of a series of papers on proposals to help pay for health reform, outlines several ways in which Congress could curtail FSAs. FSAs are designed to allow employees to pay out-of-pocket health care costs with pre-tax dollars. Employees have a set amount … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/-abK4eKEa8I/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2829 Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2829 A health care reform proposal that requires everyone to obtain health insurance must establish mechanisms to make both health coverage and health care services affordable. Low- and moderate- income people who receive subsidies to help them afford the premiums for coverage can still end up not getting the health care they need if they cannot afford the deductibles, co-payments, and other out-of-pocket costs. [1]… http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/hpGgariqAiQ/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2824 Thu, 21 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2824 To make a choice of affordable, comprehensive health plans available to individuals and small businesses under health reform, it is crucial to set benefit standards to ensure that all plans in a health insurance exchange cover a comprehensive array of services. Well-designed benefit standards should help prevent adverse selection by barring benefit packages that will likely segment healthy and sick people into different … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/wZV10BV7ikg/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2823 Thu, 21 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2823 The 2009 annual report of Medicare’s trustees underscores the need for system-wide reform of health care financing that will slow the growth of health care costs in both Medicare and the private sector and extend health coverage to the uninsured. [1] In evaluating the new report, it is useful to keep several points in mind. As expected, the current recession has somewhat worsened Medicare’s financial … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/7yBVMcJGupo/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2818 Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2818 The Social Security and Medicare Trustees' report on Medicare underscores the urgency of health care reforms to slow health care cost growth, starting with President Obama’s proposed Medicare reforms. The Trustees’ report shows Social Security doesn’t face an immediate crisis but does require changes, and the sooner they’re made, the better. Paul Van de Water, one of Washington’s leading experts on social insurance programs and Senior Fellow at the … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/28mV_u5Wggg/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2814 Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2814 The new trustees’ disturbing report on Medicare underscores the urgency that Congress enact health care reform that slows the growth of health care costs, while extending coverage to the uninsured. In particular, the report should prod Congress to adopt the President’s proposed Medicare reforms, which would reduce Medicare costs by an estimated $266 billion over the next ten years, and additional reforms from Congress’ expert advisory body on Medicare, the … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/6a14OFu-po4/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2812 Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2812 Thank you for inviting me to discuss health care reform financing issues. This is an important aspect of health care reform. Financing is Critical Some 46 million Americans are uninsured, a problem that other western industrialized nations have been able to address. In addition, rising health care costs threaten the nation’s long-term fiscal and economic health. If health costs per beneficiary simply rose at the same rate as … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/xD-VVztIiK0/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2810 Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2810 Thank you for inviting me to discuss health care reform financing issues. This is an important aspect of health care reform. Financing is Critical Some 46 million Americans are uninsured, a problem that other western industrialized nations have been able to address. In addition, rising health care costs threaten the nation's long-term fiscal and economic health. If health costs per beneficiary simply rose at the same rate as per … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/xD-VVztIiK0/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2810 Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2810 The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) enacted in February contains several provisions to reduce the harmful impact of Medicaid’s citizenship documentation requirement, which has caused many eligible citizen children to lose or be denied coverage since its 2006 enactment. By implementing these changes immediately, states can lighten the burden that the requirement imposes … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/cYZ1kL9x2qc/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2798 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2798 The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) enacted in February contains several provisions to reduce the harmful impact of Medicaid's citizenship documentation requirement, which has caused many eligible citizen children to lose or be denied coverage since its 2006 enactment. By implementing these changes immediately, states can lighten the burden that the requirement imposes on otherwise … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/cYZ1kL9x2qc/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2798 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2798 The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) enacted in February contains several provisions to reduce the harmful impact of Medicaid's citizenship documentation requirement, which has caused many eligible citizen children to lose or be denied coverage since its 2006 enactment. By implementing these changes immediately, states can lighten the burden that the requirement imposes on otherwise … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/cYZ1kL9x2qc/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2798 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2798 Health care reform should have two key goals — containing health care costs while improving its quality, and extending coverage to the 46 million Americans who are uninsured. These two goals fit together, because extending coverage is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to containing costs. Stated another way, an efficient, high quality health care system is contingent upon universal coverage. As experts … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/jdxRtugwTqk/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2794 Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2794 Several leading health-reform proposals include a new entity — often called an “exchange” — that would offer a choice of health insurance plans to individuals and, if designed well, provide insurance options that are affordable, comprehensive, and easy for consumers to compare. Most current proposals, however, do not spell out all of the steps needed to ensure that an … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/GGRmtWeRGFs/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2785 Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2785 Several leading health-reform proposals include a new entity — often called an “exchange” — that would offer a choice of health insurance plans to individuals and, if designed well, provide insurance options that are affordable, comprehensive, and easy for consumers to compare. Most current proposals, however, do not spell out all of the steps needed to ensure that an … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CBPP-Health/~3/GGRmtWeRGFs/ http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2785 Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=2785