Alliance for Health Reform Briefing

The Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored this reporters-only briefing to help journalists cover the Supreme Court arguments challenging the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and their aftermath with greater depth and understanding. Panelists focus on tips, story ideas and angles that have perhaps…

Headlines regularly call attention to pockets of fraudulent activity in the health care arena – scams that amount to millions and potentially billions of dollars. The stories typically focus on catching the crooks but not so much on efforts to prevent fraud, waste and abuse in health care programs. Both…

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), insurance plans offered through state insurance exchanges as well as non-grandfathered plans offered in the individual and small group markets – will be required to cover a set of health benefits and services called the “essential health benefits” package. Guidance issued…

Many deficit reduction plans have recognized the need to improve care for the 9 million beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. How do Medicaid and Medicare coordinate payment and care for people covered by both programs? Are Health and Human Services initiatives encouraging innovations to integrate care for dual…

This briefing, co-sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The SCAN Foundation, featured panelists discussing which deficit-reduction proposals affecting Medicaid might receive serious consideration by the congressional “super committee,” as well as what kind of impact such changes would have…

Spending on prescription drugs in the U.S. rose at a faster clip in 2009 than spending for hospital and physician care, a trend that is expected to continue through 2020. The desire to get a handle on drug spending is a focus not only in the U.S. but in other…

A number of states have expressed interest in expanding managed care approaches within their Medicaid programs. While managed care may present an opportunity for better delivery of care, it presents challenges within certain populations and geographic areas. How many states are planning Medicaid managed care expansions? What impact would these…

Almost 50 million Americans lacked health insurance in 2010 — about a million more than in 2009. Who are the uninsured? Why do so many Americans lack coverage? What are the trends in coverage among different segments of the population? What do these trends mean for the health care system…

Proposals to generate Medicare savings abound, from the various commissions recommending change, members of Congress and others. Which proposals will, or should receive serious considerations by the Congressional super committee in its quest to find $1.2 trillion or more in savings by its November 23 deadline? What impact would these…

After much heated debate on the U.S. debt limit, the Budget Control Act of 2011 was passed on August 2, 2011, containing more than $900 billion in federal spending reductions over 10 years. The law also established the 12-person “super committee” charged with finding more than $1 trillion in additional…