To Cure Health Care, See This Doctor

Keep plans private, creating gov't care 'by proxy'

(NEWSER) - Amid “widespread national revulsion,” Obamacare as it stands “is dead,” but the Democrats can revive it if they’re willing to make some key concessions, writes Charles Krauthammer—a nonpracticing physician in addition to pundit—in the Washington Post. What they must do:

1. Dump the public option.
2. Forget about “any reference to end-of-life counseling.”
3. Don’t let government decide what procedures are best.
4. Don’t treat the overhaul as a cost-cutting measure.

Insurers now required to spend 80% of premiums on customers

(NEWSER) - A rule requiring health insurers to spend at least 80% of premiums on customers and a $2.5 billion tax on drug makers are among the health care reform provisions taking effect today. The new rules also plug the "doughnut hole" in Medicare drug benefits and provide free preventive services like cancer screenings to almost all Medicare beneficiaries, the Washington Post reports. More»

States can't alter guidelines on Medicaid, kids' insurance

(NEWSER) - It will take years for the entirety of the health care reform to be enacted, but some provisions went into effect the moment President Obama signed it into law today. One of the most wide-ranging prevents states from cutting Medicaid and children’s health insurance coverage—or tightening rules to restrict eligibility—until the new state-run exchanges are in place in 2014. The measure could come into play as cash-strapped states look for budget cuts, notes the New York Times . More»

Hospital praised for efficiency treats increasingly wealthy population

(NEWSER) - The Mayo Clinic, which has gotten plaudits from the White House for its low spending on Medicare and Medicaid patients, is turning some of those patients away. The clinic will stop accepting Medicaid patients from Nebraska or Montana at its main Rochester, Minnesota, campus, and will no longer offer primary care to Medicare patients at its Florida facility, it announced last week. Mayo calls the moves “business decisions” in response to government underpayments. More»

To curb costs, plan would offer stripped-down coverage, add fees to health industry

(NEWSER) - With President Obama’s much-anticipated health care speech to Congress on the horizon, the head of the Senate Finance Committee has rolled out a new proposal for a compromise bill, the New York Times reports. Sen. Max Baucus’ plan would offer scaled-down coverage to some, and, to cover the $880 billion price tag for expanded insurance, charge fees to insurance companies, labs, and medical device makers, rather than asking for give-backs from individuals. More»