Health care spending rose at the fastest pace in 10 years last quarter, a development that could foreshadow higher costs for consumers this year. long-term upward pressures on health care costs, such as the growth of expensive high-tech treatments, are re-emerging (USA Today).
Congress is poised to give doctors who treat Medicare patients an eleventh-hour reprieve from a cut in their government fees. The $21 billion measure would stave off a 24 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors for a year and extend dozens of other expiring health care provisions such as higher payment rates for rural hospitals (Associated Press).
An interesting case of irony is emerging, the greatest challenge in the upcoming midterm elections is Democrats attempt to energize their voting base about a law, Obamacare, that they actually asked for (Politico).
The Obama Administration’s decision to extend the deadline for people to sign up for Obamacare is a frivolous and unverifiable gesture to circumvent the law (Boston Globe).
On the last official day to enroll in health insurance on the federal marketplace, Healthcare.gov was down for several hours, blocking newcomers from creating accounts (Politico).
Rep. Paul Ryan will propose this week a new budget that will include reforms to federal entitlement programs in the hope it can reduce the federal deficit. As it pertains to Medicare, there will be a measure that will give people 55 years old and younger a choice between keeping traditional government-run Medicare or receiving a subsidy to buy private health insurance (Wall Street Journal).
The launch of Washington states’ insurance marketplace has been deemed successful with the state signing up 1 out of every 5 Americans that signed up for health insurance in the first month of Obamacare (Politico). Meanwhile, it’s neighbor Oregon has endured disastrous problems with it’s online portal, but has made “progress” signing people up for coverage through community outreach (Politico).
