It has been a week of whirlwind, frustrations, and disappointments for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). To better describe it in the words of Senator Max Baucus (D-MO.), “I just see a huge train wreck coming down.” First of all, there has been speculation that lawmakers and Capitol Hill aids could be exempt from entering … Continue reading
Last week, Gallup released a report analyzing 43 U.S. Metropolitan areas and found that more than one in five Americans are uninsured. The study looked at the top 10 areas with the highest percentage rate of uninsured individuals, not surprisingly, located in highly populated states: California, Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Washington. The survey was among … Continue reading
The White House finally released the President’s FY 2014 budget proposal last week. Not only has it garnered the media’s attention due to the fact that President failed to keep his deadline (more than two months late) but also both the Democrats and Republicans are equally unsatisfied with the President’s proposal. Here are some key … Continue reading
Cheers to the President…and to his $100 million research initiative to map out the human brain. Government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the National Science Foundation, are joining the initiative as well as private sector organizations such as The Allen Institute for Brain Science, Howard … Continue reading
On March 19th-21st, the Subcommittees on Communications and Technology, Health, and Oversight and Investigations under the Energy and Commerce Committee conducted a series of hearings to evaluate the role of technology in healthcare and to examine the potentially harmful federal regulations impacting patient safety and innovation. Following the hearing series on March 21st, the Senate … Continue reading
The cost of health care is high. There are several news reports and analyses being released by various organizations about the cost of the healthcare as a result of the ACA. The American Action Forum analyzed a report conducted by the Manhattan Institute, which has graded the ACA based on cost containment and premium increases. … Continue reading
In early February, the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) hosted their 25th annual policy research conference on “Medicare and Social Security in a Time of Budget Austerity.” It was a two-day event and I gladly participated in one of their several sessions on a Friday afternoon. The session that I chose to attend was … Continue reading
Figure 1. States position on Medicaid Expansion under the ACA. Via: The Advisory Board Company To expand, or not to expand Medicaid, that is the question. Why are some states skeptical about Medicaid expansion and making the assumption that the “plan is [too] costly?” If the states expand their Medicaid program, they would receive federal … Continue reading
What does Medicare or home health services mean to you? Is it even relevant? I’ll tell you why we should care. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but you will eventually grow older and hospital visits will become more frequent. Eventually we will be enrolling in Medicare programs or experiencing at first-hand, various … Continue reading
Here’s a novel idea: Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin proposes an idea to enforce the use of real names and identity of Facebook users in order to provide accurate health related information to the right person. Health information technology is an idea that has been discussed in the past, but more so now because of the buzz of … Continue reading
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