Breaking News in Healthcare Reform
“Direct contracting is nothing more than privatizing Medicare. … It inserts a corporate bureaucrat between a patient and their doctor in order to deny care and make Wall Street money.” — Alex Lawson, Social Security Works
Medicare’s Controversial Direct Contracting Program Hits Biden Administration’s Radar
Elder Law Answers | February 21, 2022
“Newsom’s administration came up with a shorthand acronym to capsulize key elements of its new approach: SMARTER. The letters stand for Shots, Masks, Awareness, Readiness, Testing, Education and Rx, a reference to improving treatments for COVID-19.”
California Adopts Nation’s 1st ‘Endemic’ Virus Policy
Associated Press | Don Thompson | February 17, 2022
“…hospital consolidation has crushed everyone’s bank accounts and has led to the rise of anti-competitive contracts that force insurers and employers to accept take-it-or-leave-it terms.”
Patients Are Coming After Hospital Monopolies
Axios | Bob Herman | February 16, 2022
“Now that HHS is feeling pressure to end this backdoor privatization of Medicare, the industry thinks they can save it with minor tweaks and cosmetic fixes. But we won’t back down until Direct Contracting is shut down, for good.”
Physicians for a National Health Program: Doctors and Health Advocates to HHS Secretary Becerra – End Medicare Direct Contracting, Don’t Tweak It
Targeted News Service Press Release | February 16, 2022
“…the stimulus checks, unemployment benefits, and child tax credit payments of the pandemic era have mostly ended. … Don’t be surprised if American entrepreneurship fades with them.”
America’s Pandemic-Era Social Safety Net Boosted Entrepreneurship. What’s Next?
The Week | Joel Mathis | February 15, 2022
“States are scrambling to determine when and how to let residents know their Medicaid could end.”
Millions of Children (and Their Parents) Could Lose Their Health Insurance Soon
Fatherly | Kristi Pahr | February 15, 2022
“…the transition from pilot programs to CalAIM will need to be watched carefully. Responsibility has now shifted from county health departments to health care plans, which don’t always meet quality benchmarks.”
California Launches Ambitious Effort to Transform Medi-Cal to ‘Whole Person Care’
Associated Press | Kristen Hwang | February 14, 2022
“How many more people have to die while [insurance companies] invest in stopping these reforms?”
Mental Health Push in Congress Sparks Lobbying Frenzy
Politico | Alice Miranda Ollstein, Megan Wilson | February 13, 2022
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