| Congress Stays The Course To Protect People And Physicians, USA |
| The Center for Medicare Advocacy applauds the courageous members of Congress who passed H.R. 6331, the "Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008." "This legislation preserves the most important choice for Medicare beneficiaries - the choice of doctor," said Judith Stein, executive director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy. "Had the physicians' pay cut been allowed to go into effect, Medicare beneficiaries would have been left without care. |
| CMS Proposal Would Limit Industry Practice That Raises Costs For Some Medicare Drug Plan Beneficiaries |
| A CMS proposal under consideration would limit a practice used by pharmacy benefit managers known as "lock-in pricing" that can increase costs for beneficiaries enrolled in the Medicare drug benefit and bring them into the so-called "doughnut hole" coverage gap more quickly, the Wall Street Journal reports. The doughnut hole begins when total annual drug spending by beneficiaries and their health insurers reaches $2,510. |
| Boustany Introduces Bill To Make Children's Health Insurance More Effective, USA |
| U.S. Representative Charles W. Boustany, Jr., MD, R-Southwest Louisiana, introduced the Improving Children's Doctor Access Act of 2008, H.R. 6506, to encourage states to measure and report access problems for low-income children in S-CHIP and to ensure that these children remain a top priority in states' enrollment efforts. "I am proud to support S-CHIP and Louisiana's LaCHIP," Boustany said. |
| Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries |
| While mainstream news coverage is still a primary source of information for the latest in policy debates and the health care marketplace, online blogs have become a significant part of the media landscape, often presenting new perspectives on policy issues and drawing attention to under-reported topics. |
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