An interesting take on the Ryan plan for Medicare

This is a thoughtful analysis of how something like the Ryan plan would affect Medicare beneficiaries.
http://healthpolicyandmarket.blogspot.com/2011/09/ryan-health-care-proposalsnot-your.html

Bad Language: Words One Patient Won’t Use (And Hopes You Won’t Either)

This is a really good article about language that is currently being used in the general public discussions regarding healthcare.  The names they use for "patients" and "people" have been engineered to make it sound has if the patient, or "consumer" of health care services has more power in our system than they actually have.  This all feeds into the notion that people have a lot of personal choice within the existing healthcare system, when in reality, they don't.  This leads to situations where "choice" translates into extra burdens for the patient on a number of fronts - whether it's insurance coverage particulars and/or the quality of the medical care being received - it now becomes the patient's responsibility to know everything and become the manager of his/her own care - usually while ill.

In this article, the author, Jesse Gruman, discusses what those labels really mean and how that translates into actual reality for the patient or person being affected.  To read the entire article, click this link:
http://careandcost.com/2011/08/11/bad-language-words-one-patient-wont-use-and-hopes-you-wont-either/

Big Name Drugs to go Generic

Big-name drugs go generic

Some of the most popular prescription drugs are about to get a lot cheaper.  According to the mail-order pharmacy Medco, at least 22 prescribed medications may be available as generics in the next year.

When drug companies develop a drug the FDA usually grants them exclusive rights to market that drug for a set period of time.  When those rights expire, other companies can make the exact same drug.  Since there is competition, the generics are cheaper.  The FDA says the regulations are “designed to promote a balance between new drug innovation and generic drug competition.” 

Click the link to read the entire article from CNN -
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/26/big-name-drugs-go-generic/

Key Elements of the Debt Deal

Here's a summary of the final debt deal  http://news.yahoo.com/factbox-key-elements-possible-u-debt-deal-025527016.html

Insurers must cover birth control with no copays

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health insurance plans must cover birth control as preventive care for women, with no copays, the Obama administration said Monday in a decision with far-reaching implications for health care as well as social mores.
The requirement is part of a broad expansion of coverage for women's preventive care under President Barack Obama's health care law. Also to be covered without copays are breast pumps for nursing mothers, an annual "well-woman" physical, screening for the virus that causes cervical cancer and for diabetes during pregnancy, counseling on domestic violence, and other services.
"These historic guidelines are based on science and existing (medical) literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Read the entire article here:  http://www.benefitspro.com/2011/08/01/insurers-must-cover-birth-control-with-no-copays

We Are Reaping What We Have Sown—The Debt Standoff

Here's a good article regarding the current Debt Standoff.  Given that whatever agreements are made are sure to impact health care coverage in the future, it's important that we understand what's happening here and how it will affect us personally.

http://healthpolicyandmarket.blogspot.com/2011/07/we-are-reaping-what-we-have-sewnthe.html

Fixing glitch in Obama's health law saves $13B

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press – 18 hours ago 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Memo to President Barack Obama and the debt negotiators: You can save $13 billion by fixing a glitch in the new health care law.

That amount may pale in comparison to the "big deal" the president's looking for, but negotiators have got to start somewhere to reach the goal of cutting deficits by $4 trillion over a decade. And the fix would not increase the number of uninsured people.

"This proposal represents an area of savings where there is a rare opportunity for agreement on both sides of the aisle," said Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, senior Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Enzi introduced legislation Monday to fix a glitch that would have allowed some middle-class early retirees to get health insurance at virtually no cost by qualifying for Medicaid coverage meant for the poor. Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska introduced a similar bill, signaling the fix could have bipartisan support.

The problem came to light recently, an obscure provision of the complex health care law that changed the current practice of counting Social Security benefits as income for deciding who can get Medicaid.

The mix-up also would have created unintended consequences for tax credits that Obama's law provides to make private health insurance more affordable for people who purchase coverage individually.

An early retiree drawing Social Security would have paid much less for the same policy than a neighbor of the same age, similar medical history, earning the same total income from work.

Tax credits and a Medicaid expansion are part of the law's big push to cover the uninsured, which starts in 2014.

Health and Human Services spokeswoman Erin Shields welcomed Enzi's involvement. "We look forward to studying his proposal," she said. The administration is exploring options for a fix.

The Associated Press first reported the problem last month, after Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster raised concerns and said he was having trouble getting policymakers interested. The nonpartisan actuary's office conducts long-range cost estimates for government health care programs.

"I try to stay out of policy issues, but this is one where I think a change is in order," Foster told the House Budget Committee last week. Earlier, he said the glitch "just doesn't make sense."

Enzi's legislation would reverse the health care law, requiring Social Security income to be counted when determining eligibility for Medicaid and for tax credits to purchase private insurance.

In a memo provided by the senator's office, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the legislation would reduce the deficit by about $13 billion between 2014 and 2021, without raising the number of uninsured people.

"The change in the income definition is estimated to have a negligible effect on the number of individuals who are uninsured," said the CBO memo. People would still be able to get coverage, they just wouldn't be getting it free or as heavily discounted. The fix would affect about 500,000 to 1 million people a year, a smaller number than the 3 million Foster's office had estimated.

Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., was introducing companion legislation to Enzi's in the House.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.