In June, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to update the managed care regulatory structure for both Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program – marking the first time managed care rules will be substantially revised in more than a decade.
If there was ever a moment that illustrated how public policy can transform people’s lives, it may have come 50 years ago today when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid programs into law.
To further expand accountable care across the health care system, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) program.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is doing more than making quality, comprehensive health insurance more affordable for millions of women and families.
In good news for patients and families, the federal government recently took two important steps to increase transparency. These actions exemplify a changing health care culture that recognizes the need for openness.
Big changes are taking place in our health care system — and it’s about time. While some innovations have been occurring in limited areas around the country, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is making bigger, bolder transformation of the health care system more of a reality.
As our national debate over health care reform continues, with its future, at least in part, likely to be shaped by the election, one thing is clear: There is consensus that we need to move to a more patient- and family-centered health care system.
Here in Texas, Latinas and African American women fare worse than their Caucasian counterparts on almost every measure of wellness.
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) may have done what once seemed impossible. Its final rule on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) seems to have put an end to the rancor and bitter debate on this particular issue, shaping a framework that just about all parties can accept.
No one would deny that health care in the United States is riddled with disparities – in access, in treatment, and in outcomes. There are disparities due to gender, race/ethnicity, place of residence, socio-economic status, age and insurance status. Until recently, few attempts have been made to examine how those disparities affect costs. A spate of recent research, however, builds a powerful case for paying much more attention to the connection.
Let’s be clear. As both caregivers and patients, women bear the brunt of shortcomings in our health care system – high costs, poor quality, and fragmented, uncoordinated care.
October is health literacy month and, as Congress debates the widespread challenges in health care, we also need to address the problem of low health literacy — an obstacle people face in doctors’ offices across the country everyday and one that has a big impact on health outcomes.
This just in. What health care experts have suspected for some time has been demonstrated by a new study published in the American Journal of Managed Care: patients who can rely on a coordinated system where their providers talk to each other, their medical information is available electronically, and they have improved access to doctors and nurses – have better health outcomes.
President Obama delivered a powerful and passionate speech on health insurance reform.