Health Reform News & Information
Government Website Explaining Affordable Care Act
Now Has Page on Facebook
HealthCare.gov
on Facebook allows people to stay informed about the health reform
legislation
Sept. 27, 2010 – The Website
launched by Health and Human Services to help U.S. citizens better
understand the Affordable Care Act – HealthCare.gov – now also has a
Facebook page, according to an announcement today by HHS Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius.
Read more...
Medicare News
Medicare Patients Falling Into Donut Hole in 2011 Will Get 50
Percent Off Brand Name Drugs
Drug makers
will provide the discount – ‘just one of the ways the new health
care law helps make Medicare stronger’
Sept.
23, 2010 - The nation’s pharmaceutical manufacturers will
provide 50 percent discounts on the cost of covered brand-name
prescription drugs for beneficiaries in the Medicare Part D
coverage gap, or donut hole, starting in 2011, according to an
announcement today by Vice President Joe Biden, the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Read
more...
American Heart
Association CEO Sees Health Reform as Significant for Heart, Stroke
Patients
AHA features video
targeting senior citizens on Medicare with cardiovascular disease
Sept. 23, 2010 –
Some of the key provisions of the health care bill – the Affordable Care
Act – become effective today and the president of the American Heart
Association, Nancy Brown, sees immediate and significant benefits in
insurance coverage for heart disease and stroke patients. AHA has
Website helping explain the benefits, including a video and other
information for senior citizens on Medicare.
Read more,
watch video...
Medicare News
Medicare Advantage
Rates Dip, Membership Grows; CMS Says Review Your 2011 Options
Seniors urged to
review their health and drug plan coverage for any changes their plans
may be making for 2010 before the annual enrollment begins November 15
Sept. 22, 2010 – The Medicare
plan that was a key focus of health care reform – Medicare Advantage –
will see an average price drop of one percent in 2011, according to an
announcement yesterday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS). And, the agency added, participation in these plans is projected
to increase by five percent.
Read more...
Health Reform News & Information
Health Care Spending to Increase Modestly with
Affordable Care Act in Place
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services releases
projection of health tab through 2019 as millions more gain health
insurance
By
Christopher Weaver, KHN Staff Writer
Sept.
9, 2010 - The health overhaul legislation and other changes made by
Congress and regulators since February will have only a "moderate"
effect on the nation's health tab through 2019, government economists
say in a new study.
Read
more...
A Million Medicare Beneficiaries Have Received $250
Checks for Help Out of Donut Hole
More than a quarter of the 4 million checks
Medicare expects to distribute have been received
Aug. 30, 2010
Senior Citizen Politics
Democrats, Republicans Trying To Sway Senior
Citizens With Health Care Spin
Advocacy groups protest the presence of lobbyists
at the gathering of state insurance regulators
Aug. 16, 2010 – Senior citizens (age 65 and older)
– the most consistent voting age group - stands out, too, as the age
group least pleased with the Obama Administration. One reason has been
confusion over health care reform. All this has made them prime targets
by both political parties for a barrage of “spin.”
Read more...
Andy Griffith Video Explaining Affordable Care Act
Released Today as Medicare Turns 45
President Truman and wife Bess got first Medicare
cards from President Johnson at bill signing in 1965
uly 30, 2010 – It was in 1965 that a hard-fought battle to provide a
healthcare safety net for senior citizens came to an end with President
Lyndon B. Johnson signing Medicare into law. Today, Health and Human
Services celebrates the 45th anniversary of
Medicare by introducing a new promotion videlo featuring Andy Griffith.
Read more &
watch
video...
Medicare News
Most Senior Citizens Misinformed, Unaware of Key
Provisions of the Affordable Care Act
National Council on Aging launches educational
campaign after finding even among older adults who considered themselves
familiar with the new law, correct answers were 'few and far between'
July 27, 2010 - A national survey of senior
citizens - people aged 65 and older - for the National Council on Aging
(NCOA) finds that most seniors are still confused or unaware of
important aspects of health reform, or the Affordable Care Act,
including its impact on their own Medicare coverage, the growth of
Medicare, and the budget deficit. NCOA will launch national campaign to
help older Americans better understand the new law and its impact on
seniors.
Read
more...
Health Reform News & Information
Seven Health Care Changes You Might Have Missed,
Some Impact Senior Citizens
For older people: expanded Medicaid, coordinated care
for Medicare-Medicaid patients, help for employers to insure early
retirees, FDA can approve cheaper drugs
By
Mary Agnes Carey and
Andrew Villegas
KHN Staff Writers
July 9, 2010 - You've probably
heard that the new health overhaul law this year will provide an option
for young adults to stay on their
parents' health plans and set up
insurance pools for people with pre-existing medical conditions who
can't find insurance. But several lesser-known provisions also take
effect in coming months that could have a lasting impact on the nation's
health care system.
Read more...
Medicare News
Second Round of $250 Rebates in Mail to Latest
Seniors to Fall into Medicare Donut Hole
‘First step in closing the prescription drug coverage
gap under the Affordable Care Act’ - HHS Sec. Sebelius
July 8, 2010 – A second round of $250 rebate checks
for senior citizens who have fallen into the Medicare Part D “donut
hole” have hit the mail. More than 300,000 seniors will be receiving the
tax-free, one-time rebate checks.
Read more...
Medicare News
Medicare's Free Preventive Services Provisions Take
Effect January 1 in Proposed New Rule
CMS
issues rule to drop 20% cost sharing for hospital outpatient serves as
part of health care reform legislation
July 6, 2010 - Senior citizens and others enrolled
in Medicare will see a decline in their out-of-pocket costs for hospital
outpatients services in next year if a role proposed by the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services as part of the implementation of the
Affordable Care Act of 2010 (health care reform).
Read more...
Medicare News
CMS Issues Proposed Rule to Implement New Medicare Services
Added by Health Reform
Affordable Care Act expands preventive
services, improves access to primary care in 2011
June
29, 2010 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
issued a proposed rule on Friday that would implement key
provisions in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 that expand
preventive services for Medicare beneficiaries, improve payments
for primary care services, and promote access to health care
services in rural areas.
Read more...
Senior Citizen Politics
President Obama Speaks to Seniors, Answers Questions About
Affordable Care Act
Complete
text below of President’s remarks and answers to questions from
senior citizens, also link to video of event
June 8, 2010 – President Barack Obama this
week met with senior citizens at the Holiday Park Multipurpose
Senior Center in Wheaton, Maryland, to discuss and answer
questions about how the Affordable Care Act will effect seniors
and their health care. The complete text of his remarks and the
Q & A are below.
Read more....watch video
Medicare News
Medicare Starts Effort to Educate Senior
Citizens on Benefits of Affordable Care Act
One of first benefits will be $250 for those who fall
into drug program’s donut hole
May 25, 2010 – Senior citizens and others in
Medicare will soon be receiving important information about the
immediate benefits they may see from the enactment of the Affordable
Care Act. The most welcome news for millions of seniors that fall into
the Part D drug program’s donut hole is that they will receive a $250
check due to a provision in the new law.
Read more...
Medicare Drug Program News
Medicare Moves on 2011 Reform Action Giving 50% Drug
Discount to Seniors in Donut Hole
Agreements with drug manufacturers represents an
unprecedented partnership to help millions of Medicare beneficiaries
May 25, 2010
Health Reform News & Information
Senior Citizens Exposed as Biggest Opponents of
Health Care Reform by New Kaiser Poll
More Americans supporting the legislation; 2010
provisions very popular; widespread support for them across the
political spectrum
April
22, 2010 – The elephant in the room during the long debate over health
care reform came into clearer focus today with the release of the Kaiser
Health Tracking Poll showing a dramatic difference of opinion between
the elderly and those under age 65.. Almost half of senior citizens say
they expect to be worse off under the new law, compared to just 28
percent of those under 65. Seniors, too, are among those expressing the
most anger about passage of the legislation.
Read more...
Health Care Reform Provisions Impacting Senior Citizens, Baby
Boomers Start This Year
HealthReform.gov
lists 18 provisions being activated this year; one targets baby
boomers, two senior citizens
April
16, 2010 – The Health and Human Services website to provide
information about the Health Care Reform Bill – HealthReform.gov
– lists 18 provisions of the legislation that take “effect
immediately.” Actually, these provisions will be implemented in
the first year. This includes two that primarily impact senior
citizens – demise of donut hole and free preventive services,
and one aimed at early retiring boomers.
Read more...
Health Bill Provision On Long-Term Care Will Affect
Baby Boomers
'...spouses of people receiving home care on Medicaid
will no longer have to be forced down into poverty before they get help'
By
Peggy Girshman, KHN Staff Writer
April 15, 2010 - One of the lesser-known provisions
in the new health law may have one of the biggest and longest-lived
impacts. As baby boomers edge into their 60s, many wonder how they will
get care, if they're unable to care for themselves.
Read
more...
New Long-Term Care Insurance In Health Care Reform
Will Provide Flexible Cash Benefits
There
are about 10 million Americans, mostly senior citizens, who need
long-term care services (about 60 percent over age 65)
By Harris Meyer
April 15, 2010 - Millie Toda of Toledo, Ohio, takes
cares of her husband Richard, 83, who is severely disabled from
Parkinson’s Disease. She’s grateful that with the help of
government-paid home health aides and adult day care, he’s able to
continue living at home rather than move to a nursing home.
Read
more...
Senior Citizen Opinions & Analysis
Medicare Advantage Competitive Pricing: The
Political Failure of a Good Idea
‘There should be a better way to pay Advantage
plans, one less likely to be a taxpayer rip-off…’
Austin Frakt, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management
Boston University’s School of Public Health
Apr
13, 2010 - Few Americans should be satisfied with the way the government
pays private health insurance plans that participate in the Medicare
Advantage program. Taxpayers pay
14 percent more to insure a beneficiary through the Advantage
program than through traditional, fee-for-service Medicare, the
program’s “public option.” The new health reform law–the Affordable Care
Act--will reduce, but not eliminate, the additional payments to
Advantage plans. Medicare beneficiaries are
concerned about the reductions in Advantage plan availability and
generosity that will result from those payment cuts.
Read more...
Health Reform News & Information
True or
False: Seven Concerns About the New Health Law Checked Out by
Kaiser News Staff
Does it ration care for elderly? Will it
disrupt Medicare Advantage plans? Is it the end of TRICARE?
By KHN Staff
April
13, 2010 - The sweeping health care overhaul signed into law by President Barack Obama is more than 2,000 pages long
and has been dissected by analysts, politicians and pundits.
It’s no wonder that some consumers are confused – and perhaps
frightened – about how the law might affect them. Some concerns
were raised during the congressional debate or have been
swirling around the Internet.
Read
more...
Senior Citizens Pressing to Know How Health Reform
Will Help Them
Various online sources trying to provide seniors
information on health reform legislation
By
Mary Agnes Carey,
KHN Staff Writer
April 12, 2010 - David wanted to know how the new
health care overhaul law would impact retiree health care coverage. Sal
asked if Medicare would cover a yearly physical. Tom and Janet get their
Medicare coverage from a private health insurance plan. Could they keep
their doctor?
Read
more...two informative videos, key links to information
Senior Citizen Alerts
Senior Citizen Politics
Actions Helpful to Senior Citizens in Health Care
Bill Promoted by Senate Aging Chairman
Provisions are from bills championed by Sen. Herb
Kohl to provide better health care to seniors
March 23, 2010 – Several provisions of the Health
Care Reform Bill that was signed into law this morning by President
Obama were long-championed by the Chairman of the Senate Special
Committee on Aging, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI). All were supported by Kohl as
being helpful to senior citizens.
Read more...
Links
to Info on Health Reform Legislation
By Howard Gleckman, Senior Research Associate at
the Urban Institute
