In the immortal words of “Say Anything’s” Lloyd Dobler, “I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen.” We were worried women were going to get pens this Valentine’s Day instead of a key improvement to health care they are set to receive under the Affordable Ca
Many of us in the advocacy world have been quick to point out examples of things we’d rather re-gift this season. But, as the days start to get longer, it’s worth acknowledging a big win for consumers in 2011 – the preservation of the medical loss ratio
Two important pieces of news on the health access and transparency front arrived in time for the holidays:
Modern Healthcare’s analysis of non-profit hospital tax reports shows, for the first time ever , what hospitals spend nationally on charity care,
Last Friday, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a bulletin, sub-regulatory guidance, on the essential health benefits (EHB) package. This highly anticipated guidance was a bit of a letdown—kind of like the ugly reinde
Viewed through the lens of the approaching holidays, the spending bill Congress wrapped up last weekend is a mixed bag for the Affordable Care Act and other health programs.
Overall, the big gift is that the major health care cuts House Republicans had pr
Thanks to a key provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), 2.5 million young adults will be healthy for the holidays this year. As we’ve blogged about previously, the ACA allows most young adults under 26 to remain on their parents’ health plans if they
Congress must act before the end of the year to prevent an automatic 27 percent rate cut for Medicare doctors (the “doc-fix”, as it is generally known in DC). To pay for it, some Republican Members of Congress are floating the idea of further eroding heal
Earlier this week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued sub-regulatory guidance aimed at clarifying some of the outstanding questions related to implementing health insurance Exchanges as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). On
In most respects, children have not been exempt from the impacts of the current economic downturn. The number of children living in poverty in the United States rose to 15.7 million in 2010—a 19 percent increase from 2008. Despite this bleak picture, a ne
