Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen
New regulations threaten to hamstring a Medicare Part D program that is working very well.
Kids being denied specialty treatment because of health plans in an (ObamaCare) exchange.
Is the (ObamaCare) Innovation Center squandering its resources?
Detroit will give retirees money; they’ll get subsidized insurance in the exchange.
With respect to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, this blog ran an previous entry that highlighted an op-ed in the WSJ describing one executives experience with the Center, which he described as another “pork barrel” (http://healthblog.ncpathinktank.org/obamacares-grant-making/).
One problem for the Center is that it was funded in the stimulus act for ten years, but there is no more money forthcoming. So, it has to invest all its resources in buying friends in Washington. It cannot afford to fund research that might actually poke bears and dragons with sticks and attract negative attention.
For the next ten years, it has to be seen as a team player in Washington, and not threaten anyone. This will increase its likelihood of further funding. So, we cannot expect that it will take the risk of pointing out where waste actually exists, and how to reduce it.
How can we even believe anything they publish then?
It’s hard to
“Mr. Orr was hired last March to fix Detroit’s finances. He has said Detroit’s debt is at least $18 billion and filed for bankruptcy in July. The city’s bankruptcy petition was approved in December.”
This mans job sucks. Talk about having a lot to do
But he could be held as the hero if it works out well
judging by the fact one of the first things he did was declare bankruptcy I’m not too sure.
This is true. I’m sure his blood pressure hasn’t seen normal in quite some time.
“It is odd for CMS to propose sweeping changes to a program that enjoys bipartisan support, high satisfaction rates among seniors, and has come in 40 percent below original cost projections.”
ouchhhh
The clinical concerns cited by the agency may be valid – for instance, they worry about the over-prescription of some psychiatric medications (in 2009, 58 percent of individuals prescribed psychiatric medications were not diagnosed with a psychiatric condition).”
This seems counter-productive.
What are they using the drugs for then??
God who knows, doctors prescribe anything these days
“Administrators at Seattle Children’s today said they predicted this would happen, and it’s even worse than they expected,” says the local news anchor. “Patients being denied specialty treatment at the hospital by insurance providers on the Washington health benefits exchange. Children’s filed request on behalf of 125 of their patients. Of those, they say they got only 20 responses, eight of which were denials. Dr. Sandy Melzer says all this comes after reassurances of certain unique specialty cases would still be covered.”
More lies from the Obama administration.
They’re trapped in it, and the light seems very far at the end of the tunnel
The democrats will see the effects in the midterm elections.
Yeah, the republicans might actually take the house and the senate for the first time since 2006.