Headlines
Medicare experiment rewards better health care at a lower cost
David Krueger regularly saw the waste and inefficiency in the health care system while working as an emergency physician. It might be as simple as patients who came to an emergency department because they could not get in to see their…
Disability Awareness Can Get People Jobs
The secret is out about a not so well-known federal program from the Social Security Administration called the Ticket to Work. It is a program that helps Social Security recipients, who receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and/or Supplemental Security…
Leaders demand details on HealthCare.gov security problems
Republican committee leaders in the Senate and House called on the Obama administration on Wednesday to provide details on the security of HealthCare.gov after a report by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found systemic security weaknesses in the website, many because of…
New Anthem network makes business case for HMO-ACO hybrid
Anthem Blue Cross Vivity, the newly announced joint venture among WellPoint subsidiary Anthem and seven prominent Southern California providers, will blend both the past and future as its planned HMO-like structure also looks to implement elements found in today’s accountable care organizations. Vivity will…
U.S. Spending on Social Programs Could Imperil AAA Rating, Moody’s Warns
Moody’s Investors Service warned Wednesday that the U.S.’s top-notch credit grade could be pressured by escalating costs of social programs like Medicare or Social Security. The concerns aren’t at a level yet to affect the U.S.’s credit rating, at least not for…
Bogle tells Congress: Tighten retirement plans, delay Social Security
John Bogle, founder of Vanguard Group, the $3 trillion-asset, Malvern-based No. 1 company in the mutual-fund business, is due in Washington Tuesday morning to lecture the U.S. Senate Finance Committee about what ought to be done to prevent retired Americans…
ACA open enrollment for 2015 causing anxiety for plans, providers
During the 2014 open enrollment for Obamacare coverage, Mary Denson, 21, a student at Columbia (Mo.) College, qualified for a federal premium subsidy that reduced her premium contribution for buying health insurance to less than $20 a month. But she fears that…
Social Security: The Shocking Way the Government’s Taking Benefits Away
For the tens of millions of retirees who depend on Social Security for a major part of their financial well-being, even the smallest increase in their monthly benefits can make a big different in their ability to support themselves in…
Zombie claims about Medicare just won’t die
When it comes to claims about Medicare, some political talking points just never die. In Iowa and Virginia, Republicans have accused Democrats of cutting Medicare to pay for Obamacare. In Florida, a Republican was slammed for ending the Medicare “guarantee.”…
Who Really Benefits from Social Security’s Cost-of-Living Index? Depends How Long You Live
Budget battles in recent years have thrust politicians and budget wonks into heated debates over how to adjust Social Security benefits for inflation. This may seem a dry matter, but once the initial level of monthly benefits is determined, the…