Health Care News Nov. 8-12

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News
FRIDAY
Hospitals after healthcare reform: 'Big guys getting bigger'
You believe that the healthcare reform legislation is speeding up healthcare system M&A. How come? Shouldn't it be slowing down, until everyone understands what the new laws really mean?
The Battle for the Future of Health Care Reform: How It Will Impact You
Thousands of Americans renewing their health insurance plans will see new benefits kick in, under the health care reform law passed this year. But the future of the controversial law remains in limbo as it faces challenges from the incoming Congress led by the Republicans, and in state capitals and courtrooms around the country.
Medicaid managed care programs grow; so do issues
Beginning in 2014, an additional 16 million people will become eligible for Medicaid under the health care law. People with incomes below 133% of the federal poverty level ($14,403 for an individual or $29,326 for a family of four in 2010) will qualify.
Some Companies Shift Health Costs to Better-Paid
With health care costs climbing even higher during this enrollment season, more employers are adopting a tiered system to pass on the bulk of those costs to their employees by assigning bigger contributions to workers in top salary brackets and offering some relief to workers who make less money.
Battle Lines Drawn Over Medicaid in Texas
A week after newly emboldened Republicans in the Texas Legislature floated a radical cost-saving proposal — opting out of the federal Medicaid program — health care experts, economists and think tanks are trying to determine just how serious they are, and if it would even be possible.

WEDNESDAY
Poll Gives Muddled Guidance on Health Law
Kaiser’s latest poll was conducted right after the election, from November 3-6, among 1,502 adults, 1,017 of whom said they voted in the midterms. Among those voters, 56 percent said they would like to see the law repealed entirely or in part.

TUESDAY
Health care law brings many expensive changes to FSA, HSA use
Health care and banking experts expect a good dealof confusion as details of the law are sorted out, as retailers and financialinstitutions try to cope with the change and as consumers try to make purchasesas the new year rolls in.
Cigna CEO: Don't repeal U.S. health law
Repealing the new U.S. healthcare overhaul would be a waste of time but there is room to improve it, the chief executive of health insurer Cigna Corp (CI.N) said on Tuesday.

MONDAY
Doctors to Congress: Don't cut our pay!
Doctors aren't wasting any time lobbying lawmakers to stop a 23% cut in Medicare reimbursements set to kick in on Dec. 1.
CBO Says Health Reform Causes Drug Costs to Rise
The health reform bill forces drug companies to pay billions of dollars annually in new fees beginning in 2012.

Economist Comments
FRIDAY
Obama's commission misdiagnoses Medicare cost crisis
"The commission's report is especially relevant because on Dec. 1 all Medicare physicians will face a 23 percent cut in rates, postponed from June. Reimbursements will decline an additional 2 percent in January.
The 8,011-Person Crisis
ObamaCare's pre-existing condition program is a bust.

WEDNESDAY
How Republicans can break Obamacare before they repeal it
Instead of making a dramatic but doomed effort to overturn the health-care law with one stroke, critics of Obamacare should take a more measured, strategic approach--one that forces the president to defend the massively expensive and bureaucratic bill that he's inflicted on the country.
How to fix health reform
Though overwhelming majorities of Americans support key provisions, such as extending coverage to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions, cracking down on bad practices of health insurers, preventing chronic disease and containing costs for middle-class families, the law’s failure to bend the cost curve is still upsetting to many voters.

MONDAY
What Republicans Can -- And Can't -- Do about ObamaCare
Of course, the real battle over ObamaCare will be fought two years from now in the 2012 presidential elections. But there is still a lot to be done between now and then.
The Wrong Argument in Favor of Obamacare
Now that the elections are over and that the House has changed hands, much of the debate will focus on whether or not we should repeal Obamacare and what to replace it with.
Don't try to repeal the new health care law, improve it
As if Congress didn't already have enough to do next year on jobs and taxes, incoming Republican leaders have made repeal of the new health reform law one of their top priorities.
How Medicare Killed the Family Doctor
Low government payment rates became the private-sector benchmark, resulting in fragmented care.

Blogs
FRIDAY
The Obamacare Burden To Your State Budget
Medicaid already eats up a huge share of state budgets. In Texas, for example, more than 20 percent of the state budget is spent on Medicaid. The crisis facing states across the country is that Obamacare forces states to massively expand their already burdensome Medicaid rolls.
More Proof ObamaCare Is a Sop to Industry
Reuters has helpfully published another article demonstrating that ObamaCare‘s biggest cheerleaders are the insurance and drug industries.  That’s because, barring repeal and despite the Obama administration’s fatuous rhetoric about standing up to the special interests, ObamaCare will shower those industries with massive subsidies.
Sick Americans Live as Long as Healthier Brits?
In the new study, researchers examined the prevalence of illness among those 55 to 64 and 70 to 80. They also looked for the first time at the onset of new illnesses in those age groups in the United States and England during the years spanning 2002 to 2006. Finally, researchers examined trends in death rates in each country.
Tea Party Not Keen on RomneyCare
The following exchange took place yesterday on the Christian Broadcasting Network between host David Brody and Tea Party Express Chairwoman Amy Kremer.
Obama’s Fiscal Commission and Health Care Spending
If the co-chairs were serious about reducing federal spending and deficits, they would have proposed a balanced-budget amendment.  They would have proposed block-granting Medicaid.  They would have proposed implementing Medicare vouchers immediately.

WEDNESDAY
Obamacare Encourages States to Drop Medicaid
Because of Obamacare, states are considering dropping out of Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor, rather than deal with the additional fiscal strain resulting from the health law.

MONDAY
Ireland facts of the day
In the past decade, Irish health spending has doubled, in real terms. In 2000, about 22 million items were prescribed; 10 years later, 52 million items were. People aren’t twice as healthy as a result.

Reports
FRIDAY
How Obamacare Burdens Already Strained State Budgets
A growing number of state budgets are in danger of collapsing under multibillion-dollar deficits—and are about to be burdened with billions more in costs imposed by the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

TUESDAY
Repealing Obamacare and Getting Health Care Right
Americans want health care reform—but not the reforms put in place under the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (PPACA).