Some States Want Medical Spending Minimums For Insurers Relaxed
Consumers in nine states expect to receive millions in rebates from their health insurers on this year's premiums because insurers did not hit a spending target for medical care. But consumer advocates say most insurers should be able to meet the spending rule.
Appeals Court Hears Arguments On Health Law
In Richmond Tuesday, President Obama's health overhaul law got its first hearing before a federal appeals court. The three-judge panel actually heard arguments on two different cases decided by lower court judges last year. Robert Siegel talks to NPR's Julie Rovner for more.
The Doctor Will See You At Home, For A Price
For an extra fee, you can get a doctor or nurse practitioner to make a house call to check on a sick kid. The services can save a trip to the emergency room for problems that crop up after hours.
Sick Economy Means Nursing Jobs Harder To Find
Nursing degrees have long been touted as the golden tickets to a job. But when the great recession hit, older nurses set to retire decided to keep working and part-timers moved to full time for extra income. So today's nursing graduates are encountering a far tougher job market than the one they were promised.
Enrollment In High-Risk Insurance Pools Inches Up, But Remains Low
Montana leads the country in the proportion of people who have signed up for the health law's insurance program for those with pre-existing conditions. But that amounts to only 198 people.
Corporations On The Bus: Drug And Device Makers Splurge At Heart Meeting
Last year, almost half of the $16 million collected by the Heart Rhythm Society came from makers of drugs and devices, ProPublica reports. More than $5 million in industry largesse came in the form of sponsorships and support of the group's big annual meeting.
Medicare Shuffle For House Republicans?
Where do House Republicans stand when it comes to Medicare cuts as formal negotiations on cutting the deficit begin? They're not ready to show their cards just yet.
Plan Would Trade Medicaid Funds For Flexibility
The budget passed by the House would give states more authority over Medicaid — but less money over time. GOP governors say they'll embrace the chance to have more flexibility over their budgets, but critics say society's most vulnerable would suffer.
House Passes Bill To Bar Tax Subsidies For Abortion
Republicans in the House of Representatives won easy approval of a bill that would eliminate tax subsidies for some health insurance plans that cover abortion. But the bill faces more significant opposition in the Democrat-led senate.
Remaking Medicare: Saving Money Or Shifting Costs?
At the heart of the Republican plan is a proposal to give everybody in the program a subsidy to buy private health insurance. Its supporters say it would reduce health care spending. But critics contend it allows the government to spend less on Medicare by making patients pay more — potentially a lot more.
House Votes To Cut Funds For Key Part Of Health Law
The bill would eliminate funding available to states to help them create and set up the health marketplaces known as exchanges. But the measure is likely to be ignored by the Democratic-led Senate and would face a presidential veto anyway.
College Grads' Parting Homework: Pick Health Insurance
College students have 30 days from the end of their student health plan to get on their parents' insurance plan. Under the new federal health law, young adults can stay on their parents' plan until age 26.
How Do They Know He Was Bin Laden?
A U.S. intelligence official said a DNA match, using DNA from several family members, provided virtual certainty that the body taken from the compound in Abbottabad, Pakisatan, was bin Laden's.
Drug Shortages Imperil Patient Care
A record number of medicines are in short supply these days. Some of the drugs that are hard to come by include medicines to treat cancer, life-threatening infections and severe pain.
Medicare's Math Problem: Taxes - Benefits = Trouble
An average 66-year-old couple kicks in about $100,000 in Medicare taxes over the course of their lives. They've paid in, so they expect Medicare to pay out. — and it does, to the tune of $300,000, on average. So how did the system become so unbalanced?