Florida Moving to Work on Implementing Health Care Law

By Stacey Singer, The Palm Beach Post

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, President Barack Obama has won re-election and a majority of Florida voters rejected Amendment 1, the effort to etch into the state constitution a permanent ban on mandatory health insurance.

With the Affordable Care Act more certain than ever, some lawmakers are calling for a careful look at how to implement it here. Even Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a staunch opponent, appeared to be softening his longstanding refusal to acknowledge the law.

“Just saying ‘no’ is not an answer,” he said in a statement released by his press office late Friday. “We need to focus on how Obamacare affects each of our families,” he said, adding he is concerned about the impact for cost, access and quality of care.

“I am looking forward to working with legislators and others on specific ways to address these issues,” he said.

How Will the Election Change Medicaid?

The future of Medicaid – the state-federal workhorse of the nation’s health system that provides health coverage to the poorest and sickest Americans – hangs in the balance on Election Day.

President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney have vastly different approaches to the program. Medicaid is the backbone of the 2010 health law – considered Obama’s signature legislative achievement – which, starting in 2014, expands coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans. As many as 17 million of those newly insured citizens will be on Medicaid. Romney would turn over much control of the program to states and give them new powers to tailor benefits and eligibility to their own budget needs. Romney says such a move would begin saving $100 billion per year by 2016.

The following list of “frequently asked questions” provides more details on the presidential candidates’ plans for Medicaid.

POLITICO: Simpson-Bowles Make Their Comeback

Commission called for 20 percent copay for Medicare-funded home health services, which amounts to $600 per episode

By Jake Sherman, POLITICO

Simpson and Bowles are having another national moment.

Fifty-eight million Americans saw President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney tangle over former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) and former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles’s deficit reduction plan. “Simpson-Bowles” was the most popular Google search during the 90-minute debate.

But behind the scenes, the two deficit hawks are enjoying more than just a search engine moment. The pair is heading to Virginia’s Mount Vernon next week to meet with the new bipartisan Senate “Gang of Eight” in an effort to hash out a major deficit and tax package.

GOP Win Could Shift Nursing Home Costs

UPI reports that a Republican victory in November may mean some children of nursing home patients will have to help cover their long-term care costs, a consumer advocate says.

Robyn Grant, director of public policy and advocacy for the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care, said few Americans buy private long-term care insurance, many do not have the money to stay in a nursing home that can cost $80,000 a year and most people don’t know Medicare does not pay for long-term nursing home care, The New York Times reported.

Obama Pledges: No Vouchers for Medicare

By Joyce Frieden, MedPage Today

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As it was on Tuesday and Wednesday, healthcare continued to be a central theme here as the Democratic Convention wrapped up on Thursday night, from the first speaker right up to President Obama.

Speaking of his opponent, Obama said that Mitt Romney’s approach to healthcare could be summed up this way: “since government can’t do everything, it should do almost nothing. If you can’t afford health insurance, hope that you don’t get sick.”

“You know what?” he said. “That’s not who we are. That’s not what this country’s about.”

Palm Beach County Woman Speaks for Medicare at DNC

By Andrew Abramson, The Palm Beach Post

About 15 years ago, Carol Berman exhausted virtually all of her assets to pay for long-term care for her Alzheimers-inflicted husband.

Finally faced with having to deplete her 401k to pay for his health care, she divorced him, although she continued to visit him daily at his nursing home.

The 77-year-old suburban West Palm Beach retiree will draw on that experience Thursday in remarks to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., meant to make her the face of Medicare for the Obama administration.

Home Care Workers Still Waiting for Promised Wage Increase, Overtime

By Tony Pugh, McClatchy News Service

A sense of unease is building among advocates for nearly 2 million workers who help the elderly and disabled live independently in their homes. Because of a 38-year-old amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act, home health aides and personal care aides in many states can be paid less than the federal minimum wage — $7.25 an hour — and not receive overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours in a week.

HHS Provides Deadline for States on Health Insurance Exchanges

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has given states until Nov. 16 to provide details on how they plan to implement and run online insurance exchanges, according to an agency release issued Wednesday.

The agency will complete the plans for states that do not meet the mandated deadline. The exchanges, which are required under the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act are designed to reduce the cost of health coverage for consumers while sparking competition between insurance carriers. Consumers would have the ability to buy health plans from a menu of insurance providers and on a sliding scale according to income.