Breaking News in Healthcare Reform
Snippets of news & commentary with a special focus on
health policy, Medicare for All & California
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“…the House GOP is now threatening to single-handedly shut the American government down unless they can jam a death panel for Medicare and Social Security down the country’s throat….” said White House spokesman Andrew Bates.
Johnson Embraces Deficit Fight, Setting Up Battle Over Medicare, Social Security
The Hill | Nathaniel Weixel | November 6, 2023
“Advocates and the media report that the use of [AI] has led to coverage decisions that are more restrictive than allowed under traditional Medicare rules, as well as more frequent and repeated denials of care….”
‘This Should Be a National Scandal’: For-Profit Medicare Advantage Plans Using AI for Denials’
Common Dreams | Brett Wilkins | November 3, 202\
“…23 percent of respondents said they didn’t know they could fight a bill, 19 percent said they didn’t know the steps to take, 17 percent said that the process was overwhelming, and another 12 percent said they were too busy to contest a bill.”
Patients Don’t Know How to Navigate the US Health System — And It’s Costing Them
Vox | Dylan Scott | November 3, 2023
“Ady left us knowing that his work was unfinished but also that he had built an organization – and helped energize and lead a movement – that will transform the U.S. health care system.”
Ady Barkan, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Be A Hero, Dies at 39.
HEALTHCARE un-covered | Wendell Potter | November 2, 2023
“This time, it’s not the student section of the organization pushing for a single-payer resolution…. It’s the delegation of practicing doctors from New England.”
The AMA May Reconsider Single-Payer Health Care
KFF Health News | Julie Rovner | November 1, 2023
“…White and Native American infants, infant boys and babies born at 37 weeks or earlier had significant death rate increases.”
The US Infant Mortality Rate Rose Last Year. The CDC Says It’s the Largest Increase in Two Decades
Associated Press | Mike Stobbe | November 1, 2023
“…because the plans routinely deny coverage for necessary care, they are threatening the existence of struggling rural hospitals nationwide….”
‘Deny, Deny, Deny’: By Rejecting Claims, Medicare Advantage Plans Threaten Rural Hospitals and Patients, Say CEOs
NBC News | Gretchen Morgenson | October 31, 2023
“Nearly one-quarter of employers are planning to or considering offering a narrow network of providers in the next two years….And 13% are looking at offering policies that restrict or eliminate out-of-network coverage for non-emergency care.”
Health Care Costs at Work Set to Rise Steeply in 2024
CNN | Tami Luhby | October 31, 2023
“Almost 60% of respondents said their healthcare costs take up 10% or more of their household budget in an average month. In addition, around 25% of low-income adults with employer plans and adults in marketplace or individual-market plans said that healthcare costs took up over 25% of their monthly budget.”
The High Cost of American Healthcare, in 3 Charts
Advisory Board | October 30, 2023
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