Health Care Reform:

News Related to Health Care Reform

111. Prescription Discount Cards Latest Medicare Reform Tactic
     

     July 11, 2001 (Washington) -- President George W. Bush is expected to announce a discount card plan as an immediate way of keeping prescription drug prices down for seniors. Depending on how the plan is structured, the savings could be 15% or even higher for Medicare beneficiaries.   While details w

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112. Health Care Reform: Tough Choices
     

     Nov. 14, 2006 -- Policy makers are expected to spend the next two years cementing their positions on how to fix the out-of-control costs, mediocre quality, and high uninsured rates plaguing the U.S. health care system. But it doesn't look like the public is going to be much help. A national survey r

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113. Enrollment Opens for Medicare Rx Plans
     

     Nov. 15, 2006 -- The breadth and cost of drugs under Medicare's Part D prescription program are set to change in the program's second year, which begins open enrollment today. About 40 million seniors receiving drug benefits have until Jan. 1 to switch plans if they choose to. About 2.7 million peop

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114. Gap in Medicare Rx Coverage Is Costly
     

     Nov. 1, 2006 -- The cost of insurance protection against Medicare's "doughnut hole" coverage gap for prescription drugs is set to increase substantially next year, a report from a consumer watchdog group concluded Wednesday. The report also found private insurance companies in 13 states do not offer

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115. Racial Disparity Despite Quality Care
     

     Oct. 24, 2006 - Even when enrolled in identical Medicare health plans, black patients have worse health outcomes than white patients. The finding comes from researchers at Harvard and Brown universities, who studied data from 431,573 patient visits covered by 151 Medicare managed care plans from 200

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116. More Medicare Confusion in 2007?
     

     Sept. 29, 2006 -- Average premiums for Medicare's prescription drug insurance program for seniors will remain roughly the same next year. However, in some states, seniors will face an even bigger array of plans than this year, the government said Friday. While private insurers already offering the M

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117. Group Pushes Universal Health Care
     

     Sept. 25, 2006 -- Americans should have universal access to health insurance by the year 2012, a congressionally mandated report concluded Monday. The report calls on Congress to move by next year to pass insurance reforms protecting all citizens from catastrophic medical bills using either market-b

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118. Experts: Tie Doctors' Pay to Quality
     

     Sept. 21, 2006 -- Anyone who makes a living in sales knows about incentives: The better you do your job, the more money you earn. But chances are your doctor has never encountered that equation. He or she probably gets paid for whatever tests, diagnoses, or treatments are delivered, regardless of wh

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119. U.S. Health System Gets Dismal Score
     

     Sept. 20, 2006 -- In high school, 66% earns a "D" -- not quite bad enough to fail, but still dismally below average. And 66 is exactly the score the U.S. health system received in the most comprehensive grading to date of areas such as access to care, quality, cost, and efficiency. The score comes f

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120. Brand Rx Prices Rise Another 6.3%
     

     Sept. 19, 2006 -- Wholesale prices for popular brand-name drugs rose 6.3% between June 2005 and June 2006, a study released by the seniors' group AARP concluded Tuesday. That's nearly double the rate of general inflation. The increase translates to an average of $283 dollars in additional drug costs

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