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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Medicare

Medicare stories: 73 news summaries

1 - 20 of 73 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>

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 AARP Will Endorse 
 House Dems' Health Bill 

Seniors group helped Bush get drug plan through Congress

Nov 4, 09 8:00 PM CST
(AP) - In a coup for House Democrats, AARP will endorse sweeping health-care overhaul legislation, officials said today. An endorsement from the seniors' lobby was crucial when then-President Bush pushed the Medicare prescription drug benefit through a closely divided Congress in 2003. House Democrats are hoping it will work the same political... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Medicare • AARP • health care reform • House Democrats • George W. Bush • President Obama • Medicare prescription drug plan

 Senate Finally Confirms 
 Surgeon General 

Republicans relent after weeks of procedural delays

Oct 30, 09 2:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Senate unanimously confirmed Regina Benjamin as US surgeon general yesterday after Republicans ended a procedural delay that had dragged on for several weeks. Mitch McConnell and seven other GOP senators said they stalled because of an administration “gag order” that prevented insurers from giving their opinions on the... More »

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Medicare • GOP • Mitch McConnell • patient • Surgeon General • health care reform • senator • insurance industry • Obama administration • President Obama • Regina Benjamin • health insurance industry

Interview

Pelosi to Liberals:
Cheer Up, Shut Up

Get on board, says speaker, and don't expect amendments

Oct 30, 09 9:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - The health care bill Nancy Pelosi unveiled yesterday may not be as liberal as some of her colleagues would like, but she says they’d better get over it. The speaker intends to keep debate to a minimum, and squash any attempt to add an amendment that would strengthen the... More »

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Nancy Pelosi • Medicare • House of Representatives • health care reform • interview • public option • women's issues

Pelosi to Unveil Bill With Weaker Public Option

Liberals suck it up as plan tied to Medicare rates lacks votes

Oct 29, 09 7:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi will unveil her long-awaited version of the health care reform bill today, but it won’t include the top item on liberals’ wish list: a public option with rates tied to Medicare. Instead, the bill contains a weaker version of the government-run plan that would let doctors negotiate... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Nancy Pelosi • Senate • Harry Reid • Medicare • House of Representatives • health care reform • public option

David Leonhardt

Forget the $250 Checks, Obama: Say No to Grandma

To cut deficit, we have to cut benefits to seniors

Oct 28, 09 8:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - Economists are none too impressed with Barack Obama's proposal to send each senior a cool $250, and David Leonhardt can see why. The over-65 set has weathered the recession better than anyone—many of them purchased real estate well before the housing bubble burst, and few work in the most-battered... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • entitlement programs • Medicare • Social Security • senior citizens • Obama administration

Study sees huge savings

 US Health Care 
 Wastes $700B a Year 

A third of spending is lost to pointless treatment, paperwork, fraud

Oct 26, 09 5:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - A study by Thomson Reuters released today confirms President Obama's contention that the American health care system is hemorrhaging billions of dollars a year, with one-third of the cost of care wasted on inefficiency, mistakes, and fraud. The report, which cites dozens of research papers, finds that about $700 billion... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health care costs • Medicare • health care reform • malpractice

Dems: Let's Just Call
'Public Option' Medicare

House Reps suggest rebranding government-run plan

Oct 21, 09 2:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Some House Democrats think the public option would sound better if they renamed it “Medicare,” or maybe “Medicare Part E,” as in “Medicare for Everyone.” They think that rebranding could bridge the gap between liberals and centrists who oppose the plan. “People don’... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Medicare • House of Representatives • health care reform • Mike Ross • House Democrats • public option

Dems, GOP
Fight Over Medicare Rates

Republicans say
foes are trying
to hide true cost

Oct 21, 09 12:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - A new health care-related bill is in the spotlight on Capitol Hill, as senators battle over a Democratic proposal to freeze Medicare rates for doctors at the current rate for 10 years—overriding a 21% cut scheduled for January. Democrats say the bill, which is backed by lobbyists from the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Senate • Harry Reid • Medicare • AARP • American Medical Association • health care reform

Pelosi Fighting for Stronger Public Option

Plan with Medicare-linked option would
cost only $871B

Oct 21, 09 7:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi is on a mission to pass the strongest public option on the table in the House—a plan that would pay doctors the same rates as Medicare—and she's close to having enough votes, she told fellow Dems last night. The plan would cost just $871 billion, according... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Nancy Pelosi • Medicare • House of Representatives • Congressional Budget Office • health care reform • James Clyburn • Blue Dog Democrats • public option

Mayo Clinic Turns Away Medicare, Medicaid Patients

Hospital praised for efficiency treats increasingly wealthy population

Oct 13, 09 7:44 AM CDT
(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • Medicare • Medicaid • health care reform • Mayo Clinic

 ObamaCare 
 Opposition 
 Drops 

Poll finds nation now evenly split on health care reform plans

Oct 7, 09 4:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - Opposition to President Obama's health care reform plans has plunged almost 10% in the last months, leaving the nation evenly split with 40% in favor and 40% opposed, according to the latest AP poll. Another 17% are neutral and 3% are undecided. Opposition among seniors, the group most skeptical about... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • Medicare • poll • health care reform • President Obama

health care reform

How Obama  Wooed and Won the AMA: With a $228B Gift

Plan gives huge concession to doctor's group

Sep 14, 09 11:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - Ever since its cries of “socialized medicine” killed Harry Truman’s attempt to reform health care 60 years ago, the AMA has been not only a vociferous enemy of reform, but a deep-pocketed one—only the Chamber of Commerce has spent more on lobbying over the past decade. But... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Medicare • lobbying • American Medical Association • health care reform • concession

OPINION

Mr. President, Stop Picking On 'Bureaucrats'

What happened to making government 'cool' again?

Sep 12, 09 12:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - In his admirable quest to make government work for the people, President Obama has stooped to the lowest common denominator and vilified “bureaucrats,” writes Max Stier in the Washington Post. A typical shot from the president recently: “I don't want government bureaucrats meddling in your health... More »

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Medicare • health care reform • Social Security • Federal government • President Obama • bureaucrats • government workers • moniker • derision

Rural States Would Gain Most From Health Reform...

...but their vehement residents want it least

Sep 2, 09 10:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - With some of the highest percentages of uninsured citizens, rural states like Wyoming and Iowa stand to benefit the most from health care reform—but they’re also home to its most vocal detractors, the Los Angeles Times reports. Such states tend to have lower personal incomes, more small businesses... More »

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health care • Medicare • Medicaid • health care reform • uninsured • town hall meeting • rural America

OPINION

Health Care Is a Public Good; It's Time Dems Explain Why

'The health of each of us depends on the health of the rest of us'

Sep 2, 09 7:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Democrats are in danger of losing the health care reform battle over an argument "that a novice debater would have no trouble putting down," writes Thomas Frank for the Wall Street Journal. Reformers need to directly address the role of government in health care, Frank writes, and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • health insurance • Medicare • health care industry • Medicaid • health care reform • Obama administration

US Retirees Find Flat-Rate Health Bargain in Mexico

IMSS system offers good care for flat rate

Sep 1, 09 9:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Mexico might have a raging drug war and rampant corruption, USA Today reports—but it also has a health-care system that is the envy of many Americans. In fact, many retirees too young for Medicare are moving to Mexico to take advantage of the plan offered by the Mexican Social... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • Mexico • Medicare • retirees • health care reform • public option • Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social

OPINION

 How the Dems Can 
 Save Obamacare 

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

Aug 28, 09 9:41 AM CDT
(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
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health insurance • Medicare • Medicaid • health care reform • Obama administration • President Obama • public option

Analysis

CBO Is Usually Wrong on Health Reform Numbers


Aug 26, 09 9:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Congressional Budget Office is a much-respected institution, and its integrity is beyond question, but it’s got a really lousy record when it comes to estimating the effects of health care reform, writes researcher Jon Gabel in the New York Times. It has drastically underestimated savings from each... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • cost cutting • Medicare • Congressional Budget Office • health care reform

(Newser) - RNC Chairman Michael Steele continued his simultaneous defense of and onslaught on Medicare today, writes Eric Kleefeld of Talking Points Memo. Dems are “proposing up to $550 billion in cuts or shifting of funds out of Medicare, and I don't know what that means,” Steele said on Fox... More »

MORE ABOUT:
veterans • Medicare • health care reform • Obama administration • chairman • President Obama • Michael Steele • Republican National Committee

(Newser) - The RNC has joined the fracas over health care reform with a proposed “seniors’ bill of rights” that guards against Medicare cuts, ABC News reports. “Our seniors have really come under fire in the last few weeks,” says RNC chair Michael Steele—who backed Medicare cuts as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
RNC • Medicare • Medicaid • Democratic National Committee • health care reform • DNC • seniors • Obama administration • President Obama • Michael Steele • Republican National Committee

1 - 20 of 73 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>


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