Medicare

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Reform Ties Hospital Payments to Patient Satisfaction

But the customer isn't always right, hospitals complain

(Newser) - In a shift that is causing a lot of grumbling among health care professionals, payments to hospitals treating Medicare patients are being tied to patient happiness for the first time, the Wall Street Journal reports. The program, part of a larger pay-for-performance system built into ObamaCare, will help determine how...

Entitlements Favor the Rich —Because They Live Longer

Peter Orszag: Social Security, Medicare formulas should be tweaked

(Newser) - Most people don't think of Social Security and Medicare as regressive programs that favor the well-off, but they are, former Obama budget director Peter Orszag argues in his Bloomberg column. Chalk it up to one simple reason: "Better-educated, higher-income Americans are living longer than everyone else." And...

OK, Obama, Romney: Stop Lying About the Budget
OK, Obama, Romney:
Stop Lying About the Budget
opinion

OK, Obama, Romney: Stop Lying About the Budget

Robert Samuelson argues that candidates should actually be honest

(Newser) - Truth may be the first casualty of war, but it's also in low supply on the campaign trail, writes Robert Samuelson in the Washington Post . The nut of the problem: "a yawning gap between the political rhetoric and the country's budget problems," he writes. "And...

Medicare Drug Premiums Set to Soar


 Medicare 
 Drug Premiums 
 Set to Soar 
NEW REPORT

Medicare Drug Premiums Set to Soar

Seven of 10 top plans will jump by double digits: analysts

(Newser) - Seniors covered by top Medicare prescription drug plans may want to start looking elsewhere for coverage: Seven of the top 10 plans will see double-digit premium hikes next year, according to a private firm's analysis. The Obama administration was technically right to say the average premium for basic drug...

Electronic Medical Records May Be Raising Costs

Critics says it's simple for doctors, hospitals to overcharge Medicare now

(Newser) - Electronic medical records are supposed to make things better, right? The idea is to make billing and care more efficient, which should reduce costs, too. Except, the New York Times reports that Medicare has been shelling out substantially more money to hospitals in recent years, thanks in part to the...

Retirees Boo Paul Ryan as He Slams ObamaCare

AARP members pounce on vice-presidential candidate

(Newser) - Paul Ryan evoked boos and jeers from an audience of retirees in New Orleans today when he promised to repeal ObamaCare—but he continued his argument apparently unfazed, Raw Story reports. "The first step to a stronger Medicare is to repeal ObamaCare," said Ryan at a meeting of...

Dear Politicians, You Forgot About Social Security

It's dumb to focus just on Medicare: Ramesh Ponnuru

(Newser) - Politicians from both sides keep harping about Medicare and how or how not to fix it, while Social Security has become an "afterthought," writes Ramesh Ponnuru at Bloomberg View . Big mistake, he argues. The program's long-range troubles may be smaller than Medicare's, but they're still...

Ryan: 'Forcible' Rape Was Stock Language

He explains bill he co-authored with Akin

(Newser) - After a week of deflections, Paul Ryan has finally explained the use of the term "forcible rape" in a bill he co-sponsored with controversial Missouri Rep. Todd Akin, reports the Huffington Post . Ryan told Fox that he wasn't trying to redefine rape, but it was "language that...

Romney Plan Would Bankrupt Medicare By '16

Experts say restoring reimbursements would hasten its decline

(Newser) - Mitt Romney often promises to restore $716 billion in Medicare funding cut by the Affordable Care Act, but many experts say that pledge is, in the words of one economist, "both puzzling and bogus." That's because what Romney would be "restoring" wouldn't be funds but...

Ryan&#39;s Plan Is a Deficit-Hiking &#39;Con Game&#39;
 Ryan's Plan Is a 
 Deficit-Hiking 
 'Con Game' 
paul krugman

Ryan's Plan Is a Deficit-Hiking 'Con Game'

Paul Krugman: He's 'style over substance'

(Newser) - Paul Ryan is a media darling: Pundits can't stop praising his "seriousness." But the truth is that "Ryanomics is and always has been a con game," scoffs Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Ryan claims to be a deficit-slasher, but let's crunch the...

Paul Ryan's Mom Helps Him Push Medicare Plan

Program is a promise to retirees 'we have to keep,' he says in Florida

(Newser) - Paul Ryan brought out the big guns today to defends his approach to Medicare—his mom and the memory of his grandmother. The VP candidate traveled to Florida to speak before the massive retirement community near Orlando known as the Villages, and he brought along his 78-year-old mother, Betty Douglas,...

Obama Ad Focuses on Ryan, Not Romney

Defends president's Medicare record

(Newser) - A new ad from the Obama campaign slams his opponents on Medicare—but it barely mentions Mitt Romney. The ad, called "Facts," defends the president against Team Romney's claims that ObamaCare guts the program to the tune of $700 billion. Meanwhile, it attacks the GOP vision for...

Boehner: Let's Play 'Offense' on Medicare

He has conference call to ease concerns on Paul Ryan pick

(Newser) - House GOP leader John Boehner orchestrated a conference call last night to settle the nerves of members of his party worried over a recent barrage of Democratic attacks tying them to Paul Ryan's controversial plan to reshape Medicare, reports Politico . Boehner told his colleagues that Democrats were already planning...

The Elderly Are Doing Just Fine

 The Elderly Are 
 Doing Just Fine 
OPINION

The Elderly Are Doing Just Fine

Charles Lane thinks seniors can afford Medicare cuts

(Newser) - Paul Ryan's plan to reform Medicare has Democrats itching to resurrect their "Mediscare" campaign, depicting the elderly as victims. "I admire and like the elderly," writes Charles Lane of the Washington Post , playfully noting that "I myself hope to be elderly someday." But "...

Ryan Sharing Just 2 Years of Tax Returns, Too

And defends plan to 'reform' Medicare

(Newser) - Following the example set by the man he hopes will become commander-in-chief, newly minted GOP runningmate Paul Ryan says he will also release just two years of tax returns. Ryan turned over "several" years of returns to the Romney camp during the vetting process, he said on 60 Minutes...

Social Security in Worse Shape Than We Thought

Funds that feed it to run dry 3 years earlier, in 2033

(Newser) - If your outlook on Social Security is a dismal one, the government's latest revelation will only add to your gloom: The trust funds that feed Social Security will be exhausted in 2033, a full three years earlier than the last government estimate. Medicare is still set to die in...

Obama Blows $8B on Reelection Trick
 Obama Blows $8B 
 on Reelection Trick 
OPINION

Obama Blows $8B on Reelection Trick

'New York Post' thinks Medicare Advantage's stay of execution is a dirty trick

(Newser) - What would you say if President Obama took $8.3 billion in taxpayer money and used it for his reelection campaign? Because that's exactly what he's done by giving Medicare Advantage a stay of execution, according to Benjamin Sasse and Charles Hurt of the New York Post . The...

Hospitals Open Special ERs for Elderly

Special emergency rooms move slower, account for complexities

(Newser) - America is getting older, and the elderly account for 15% to 20% of emergency room visits, so hospitals have come up with a new way to cater to them: the geriatric ER. Dozens of these facilities are opening across the country, the New York Times reports, looking more like soothing...

ObamaCare to Add $340B to Deficit: Study

But White House shrugs off GOP analysis as 'new math'

(Newser) - The Affordable Care Act isn't going to reduce the deficit as the Congressional Budget Office claims; it's going to expand it by more than $340 billion, according to a new study by Charles Balhous, the GOP trustee for Medicare. Balhous argues that traditional budget math "double counts"...

Romney Turns 65, Takes a Pass on Medicare

He accuses Obama of trying to destroy 'Medicare as we know it'

(Newser) - Mitt Romney turned 65 yesterday, but unlike most Americans of his vintage, he won't be enrolling in Medicare or Social Security. A campaign aide confirmed that Romney will be keeping his private insurance plan. The candidate's Medicare policy statement says he believes wealthier seniors should receive less support,...

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