health care law

Nurse-Practitioners: The Answer to the Doctor Shortage?

Posted on 03/29/2013 by | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthLet’s do the math: We have nearly 30 million uninsured people about to get medical coverage under the health care law come January. And we have a projected shortage of 45,000 primary care physicians by 2020. Add to that the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), with 43,000 members who say they can offer basic care if state laws would just let them set up an independent practice without doctor supervision. And the answer is … The nurse-practitioners, of course, …

FAQs: How Do Competing Budgets Compare on Health Care Savings?

Posted on 03/13/2013 by | News | Comments

Bulletin Today | PoliticsFrom Kaiser Health News Republican and Democratic leaders from both chambers of Congress this week offered competing budget proposals that both look for savings in health care. KHN’s Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about what’s next for the proposals, and what President Obama could offer himself. > > Listen to the audio or read a transcript below. Jackie Judd: Good day, this is Health on the Hill. I’m Jackie Judd. Congressional budget leaders have now laid out their vision for federal spending …

Free Colonoscopy Coverage Means Polyps, Too

Posted on 02/25/2013 by | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthA routine colonoscopy was supposed to be free under the new health care law, but then insurers began charging if doctors found and removed a polyp during the procedure. That’s a no-no, announced the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last week, in an effort to clear up confusion about this and other medical tests that should be considered free preventive care, the Associated Press reported. In the notice posted on the HHS website, the agency explained that “polyp …

Medicaid Flip-Flop in Florida: Will Other GOP Governors Follow?

Posted on 02/21/2013 by | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal Health | PoliticsRick Scott took the money but now pays a price. Florida’s small-government Republican governor ran against President Obama’s health care reform. And he sued to thwart the law that expands Medicaid to uninsured low-income people. But this week, he decided the billions of dollars in aid to cover 1 million Floridians was too much to pass up. His decision to become the seventh GOP governor to take the federal aid has enraged his conservative base. And other Republican governors are …

Study: Older People to See Lower Rates Under Health Law

Posted on 02/7/2013 by | Health | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthBy Julie Appleby, Senior Correspondent, Kaiser Health News How the federal health law will affect premiums is among the most asked – and most controversial – questions in the final months before new rules kick in requiring most Americans to carry coverage. A white paper out Wednesday considers how the law will affect premiums for people who buy their own coverage because they don’t get it through their jobs. The answer?  It all depends, said the analysts at the Kaiser …

Penalty Could Keep Smokers Out of Health Overhaul

Posted on 01/25/2013 by | General News | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthBy Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama’s health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation. The Affordable Care Act — Obamacare — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies up to 50 percent higher premiums starting next Jan. 1. For a 55-year-old …

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