The Public and the Conflict over Future Medicare Spending

Medicare will govern the at least the cost of workers' compensation medical delivery benefits. Today's post was shared by NEJM and comes from www.nejm.org

Two recent government reports show substantial short-term improvements in the financial outlook for Medicare and in the federal budget deficit.1,2 However, these forecasts also suggest the need for further action brought about by a worsening of the financial situation after 2015 as the number of Medicare recipients increases from 52 million to 73 million in the decade following.1-3 This issue is likely to receive considerable attention in the upcoming debate about the federal budget deficit and the national debt. As we reported in the Journal in 2011, there has been little public support for major policy changes aimed at reducing Medicare spending to lower the federal deficit.4 This article goes further and seeks to document the underlying beliefs that may shape the public response to future efforts to substantially slow projected Medicare spending. Our thesis is that there exists today a wide gap in beliefs between experts on the financial state of Medicare and the public at large. Because of the potential electoral consequences, these differences in perception are likely to have ramifications for policymakers addressing this issue. We examine this thesis by analyzing data from six public opinion polls conducted in 2013 with 1013 to 2017 U.S. adults, plus historical data, in a project supported by the Robert Wood Johnson... Robert J. Blendon, Sc.D., and John M. Benson, M.A. N Engl J Med 2013; 369:1066-1073September 12, 2013DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsr1307622

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Law Will Shift Demographics For Medicaid Toward Healthier Group, Study Finds

Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org

The health law is expected to change the face of Medicaid – literally. As part of the federal overhaul, some states have opted to expand in January this state-federal health insurance program for low income people to include Americans who earn as much as 138 percent of the federal poverty line (just under $16,000 for an individual in 2013). As a result, the new enrollees will include more white, male and healthy individuals than those eligible before the Affordable Care Act expansion, according to a study in the Annals of Family Medicine. Using statistics from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the authors found that the group of newly eligible individuals is: About 36 years old on average, compared with about 39 years old for the current enrollees. Approximately 59 percent non-Hispanic white, compared with about 50 percent in the existing group. Equally split between males and females, compared with about 67 percent female and 33 percent male in the current Medicaid population. More likely to smoke and drink, but also more likely to have lower rates of obesity and diabetes. The University of Michigan researchers hope the information will help inform health providers and policy makers who are gearing up to plan for the more than 13 million adults potentially eligible for Medicaid after Jan. 1. “It’s really a game changer,” said Dr. Tammy Chang, a lead author of the report. “A lot of providers think of Medicaid...

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Nurse Practitioners Try New Tack To Expand Foothold In Primary Care

Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from www.kaiserhealthnews.org

Nurse practitioners say efforts to expand primary care to millions of Americans under the health law are hampered by insurance industry practices that limit or exclude their participation. Despite laws in 17 states and the District of Columbia allowing them to practice independently, nurses with advanced degrees say some insurers still don’t accept them into their credentialed networks as primary care providers, while others restrict them mainly to rural areas. After years of fighting doctors in state legislative battles to expand their authority, nurse practitioners are taking a new tack: asking the Obama administration to require insurers to include them in the plans offered to consumers in new online marketplaces, which open for enrollment Oct. 1. Millions of newly insured consumers will need access to primary care, but "this will not happen if private insurers continue to exclude or restrict advanced practice registered nurses from their provider networks," said Karen Daley, president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), in a prepared statement. Nurse advocates want to be able to bill insurers directly for services, which would require them to be credentialed in insurers’ networks. But insurers say a mix of state laws governing nurses’ ability to practice independently complicates such efforts. They say they have taken other steps to expand primary care services, often using nurse practitioners in "medical homes," where doctors, nurses and other...

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'Flurry' Of New Reports Show Wide Variations On Insurance Rate Costs

Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from www.kaiserhealthnews.org

News outlets continue to follow recent studies released by several health policy groups about the expected premiums for plans offered on the new online insurance marketplaces. McClatchy: Studies Show Varying Costs For Coverage Under Obamacare A flurry of new reports from prominent health care research organizations show the cost of individual health coverage under Obamacare will vary widely among states next year, but drastic predictions of premium "sticker shock" have not materialized thus far. New research by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the RAND Corp. and Avalere Health have found competitive, affordable prices for individual coverage in states where the information is available. Those states include Washington, California, Florida, South Carolina and Texas (Pugh, 9/5). Marketplace: New Reports Give Estimated Costs Of Healthcare Reform Plans The health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act open in October. This week some reports are giving new estimates of how much money it will take to get into some of those plans (Hill, 9/5). Huffington Post: Obamacare Premiums Will Vary Widely By State And City: Report Retail prices for health insurance can be considerably different based in part on the cost of health care services where a person lives, even within the same state, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported Wednesday. Premiums also vary based on age, family size and tobacco use. But under Obamacare, prices cannot be based on someone's medical history and patients...

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