Healthcare Policy

In the wake of a scandal over poor treatment of wounded soldiers, Army officials have announced plans to change the way the Walter Reed Medical Center is managed. As expected, the Army brass have named a physician, Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, to serve as commander of the military hospital. But the Army also plans to put a non-medical general as deputy commander of the hospital to oversee administrative affairs, tasked with making sure the hospital doesn't fail in its obligation to …

After negotiations with the state's health insurance plans, Massachusetts government leaders say that buying in to new basic health coverage products could now cost as little as $175 per month. The bare-bones plans, which were created as an affordable offering for the uninsured, would include such necessities as outpatient care, ED visits and prescription drugs. Now, a state panel overseeing the law's implementation will vote this month on whether to approve offerings by seven health …

Despite expressing surprise in public, officials with Walter Reed Army Medical Center have actually known about problems in the treatment of wounded soldiers for at least three years, new reports say. Frequent complains by soldiers and their families, veterans' groups and even members of Congress have had little impact on the situation to date, according to an investigation by The Washington Post. Former Walter Reed commander Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, now the Army's top medical …

Democrats looking for ways to expand children's healthcare funding are considering a new option. A commission that advises Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, has suggested that CMS stop paying private insurers more than Medicare spends when it pays for patients directly. Right now, Medicare spends about 12 percent more for Medicare managed care plans than it does when it pays providers itself, a difference of about $65 billion. Among other things, Democratic legislators …

HHS is taking its efforts to foster the use of quality data to a new level. The agency announced yesterday that as part of its efforts to make quality information readily available, it was planning to create local groups which would share health quality data for a region.

These "value exchanges," which would include doctors, nurses, hospitals and health systems, health plans, employers and unions, would be run by existing regional health collaboratives. The groups ultimately share …

A group of Connecticut's Democratic lawmakers are floating a $900 million universal health plan which would depend, in part, on revenue from health care provider taxes. The plan would also rely on increased cigarette taxes and a tax on elective cosmetic surgery. To expand coverage, the state Dems' plan would give small businesses tax incentives to insure their employees while subsidizing premium costs heavily. It would also expand Medicaid eligibility and subsidize low-income worker …

U.S. governors aren't taking no for an answer. Despite pressure to drop the matter, the National Governors Association (NGA) is continuing to press for Congressional help with keeping several State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP) afloat. The NGA is demanding that Congress authorize $745 million in new federal funding to keep SCHIP programs afloat. Otherwise, programs in as many as 14 states could be on the skids, NGA projects. HHS secretary Mike Leavitt told the NGA that the …

Financing health reform with higher tobacco taxes is looking more popular by the day. Even without added tax freight, the average price of a pack of cigarettes climbed above $4 per pack this year. More than a dozen states are now considering raising their tobacco taxes further--a few by $1 per pack or more--a step which could double the tax level in some cases. States have flocked to raise their tobacco taxes in the past, but this year's crop of proposed tobacco tax increases are among …

Virtually all Americans are in favor of reforming the U.S. healthcare system, but they're deeply divided as to how the job should be done, according to a new UPI/Zogby poll. About 45 percent favor major reforms, and another 45 minor reforms, but they disagreed strongly as to whether a market-based or government-driven solution made more sense. And they don't believe any of the current political leaders in place are likely to get the job done right, either; less than one-third …

A number of Republican and Democratic governors are appealing to President Bush to protect the budget for State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a program that provides coverage for about 6 million children whose families don't qualify for Medicaid. The governors are worried about the future of the program, as President Bush's budget proposes cutting back federal aid to the states.

Over the past several years, states have expanded SCHIP to include more families above …