Cloning, Stem Cells Long Mired In Legislative Gridlock

Julie Rovner — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:04:00 +0000

The news that U.S.

Philly Murder Conviction Expected To Inflame Abortion Debate

Julie Rovner — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:49:00 +0000

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Now, the murder conviction of Kermit Gosnell is likely to bring more sparks to the already heated abortion debate in Washington and across the nation. Those on both sides of the divide have been gearing up for what comes next. Here's NPR's Julie Rovner.

JULIE ROVNER, BYLINE: The irony of this case is that those on both sides of the debate were hoping for a conviction.

Women's Health Groups Angered By Morning-After Pill Moves

Julie Rovner — Thu, 02 May 2013 21:14:00 +0000

The administration's actions this week on emergency contraception have left many women's health groups sputtering with anger.

But what really has some of the President Obama's usual allies irritated is the fact that the moves are in direct contrast to speeches he made in just the past week.

Recall that on Tuesday the Food and Drug Administration defied a federal judge's order to make the morning-after pill available over-the-counter to women of all ages by approving a mo

Second Thoughts On Medicaid From Oregon's Unique Experiment

Julie Rovner — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:51:00 +0000

Two years ago, a landmark study found that having Medicaid health insurance makes a positive difference in people's lives.

Backers of the program have pointed to that study time and again in their push to encourage states to expand the program as part of the federal health law.

Now the researchers have dug a little deeper into their data, and the

FDA OKs Prescription-Free Plan B Pill For Women 15 And Up

Julie Rovner — Wed, 01 May 2013 00:10:00 +0000

In an effort to find a compromise for a politically fraught issue, the Food and Drug Administration has approved a proposal to make the emergency contraceptive pill Plan B more available to some younger teens without a prescription and to older women by moving the medication out from behind the pharmacy counter.

But the proposal stops short of the full over-the-counter, no-age-restriction order

Philadelphia Case Exposes Deep Rift In Abortion Debate

Julie Rovner — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:43:00 +0000

This is the sixth week of the trial of Dr.

The 'Hard-To-Change' Legacy Of Medicare Payments

Julie Rovner — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 06:58:00 +0000

The budget President Obama will send to Congress Wednesday is expected to include some $400 billion in reductions to Medicare and other health programs.

And if the word around Washington is correct, it may also include a proposal aimed at winning some bipartisan backing — by changing the way Medicare patients pay for their care.

But there have been previ

White House Delays Part Of Health Care Law

Julie Rovner — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:19:00 +0000

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The Obama administration is delaying the start of a key piece of the Affordable Care Act - the national healthcare law. Workers in small businesses will have to wait an additional year to be able to choose from more than one plan in the new online marketplace that start next January. NPR's Julie Rovner reports that the change might dampen enthusiasm, at least at the start. But not everyone thinks that's a bad thing.

JULIE ROVNER, BYLINE: OK. First, these health exchanges people have been talking about?

Arkansas Medicaid Expansion Attracts Other States' Interest

Julie Rovner — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 07:27:00 +0000

Since the Supreme Court made the Medicaid expansion under the federal health law optional last year, states' decisions have largely split along party lines.

Governors' D.C. Summit Dominated By Medicaid And The Sequester

Julie Rovner — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:18:00 +0000

When the nation's governors gathered in Washington, D.C., over the weekend for their annual winter meeting, the gathering's official theme was about efforts to hire people with disabilities.

But out of the public eye, at the sessions for "governors only," the discussion reportedly was dominated by two more pressing issues of the day: whether or not to expand the Medicaid program as p

Morning-After Pills Don't Cause Abortion, Studies Say

Julie Rovner — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 22:47:00 +0000

The most heated part of the fight between the Obama administration and religious groups over new rules that require most health plans to cover contraception actually has nothing to do with birth control.

How The Sequester Could Affect Health Care

Julie Rovner — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:18:00 +0000

It's looking increasingly likely that $85 billion of automatic federal budget cuts known as a sequester will come to pass if Congress doesn't act by March 1.

Congress and President Obama agreed on the cuts, which will be divided evenly between defense and domestic programs, including health care, back in the summer of 2011 as part of a last-ditch effort to force a def

Debate Rages On Even As Research Ban On Gun Violence Ends

Julie Rovner — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:36:00 +0000

The characteristics of gun violence in the U.S.

White House Tries Again To Find Compromise On Contraception

Julie Rovner — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 00:15:00 +0000

The Obama administration on Friday issued another set of proposed rules — and asked for yet another round of public comments — in a continuing quest to find a way to ensure that women receive no-cost contraception as part of a package of preventive health services under the 2010 Affordable Care Act without requiring religious employers to violate their beliefs.

The rules largely attempt to flesh out proposals

Bargain Over Fiscal Cliff Brings Changes To Health Care

Julie Rovner — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:30:00 +0000

The bill that prevented the nation from plunging over the fiscal cliff did more than just stop income tax increases and delay across-the-board spending cuts. It also included several provisions that tweaked Medicare and brought bigger changes to other health care programs.

The health care change that got the most attention saved doctors who treat Medicare patients from a cut in their pay.

Pete Stark, Health Policy Warrior, Leaves A Long Legacy

Julie Rovner — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 08:49:00 +0000

The 113th Congress will be the first one in 40 years to convene without California Rep. Pete Stark as a member.

Stark was defeated in November by a fellow Democrat under new California voting rules. Stark may not be a household name, but he leaves a long-lasting mark on the nation's health care system.

So just how influential has Pete Stark been on health policy in his four decades on Capitol Hill?

What The Health Law Will Bring In 2013

Julie Rovner — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 23:21:00 +0000

Most of the really big changes made by the 2010 health law don't start for another year. That includes things like a ban on restricting pre-existing conditions, and required insurance coverage for most Americans. But Jan. 1, 2013, will nevertheless mark some major changes.

One of those changes that will affect everyone with private health insurance actually took effect last September. But most people won't see it until they renew or apply for new health insurance.

Making The Rich Pay More For Medicare

Julie Rovner — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 08:24:00 +0000

When it comes to reducing Medicare spending, asking wealthier seniors to pay more is one of the few areas where Democrats have shown a willingness to even consider the subject.

"I do believe there should be means testing. And those of us with higher income in retirement should pay more," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on last Sunday's Meet the Press.

Democrats Draw Line On Medicaid Cuts

Julie Rovner — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:31:00 +0000

At least in public, Republicans have been clear that they see the current budget negotiations as a chance to address what they see as the source of Washington's deficit problem: major entitlement programs.

"Medicare and Social Security and Medicaid, if those aren't fixed, if we're not honest about how to fix them, and the fact that, yes, everybody in this country will have to participate in some discomfort if we're going to get out of this hole," said Sen.

Feds Say 'No' To Partial Medicaid Expansion

Julie Rovner — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:18:00 +0000

The Affordable Care Act, as passed by Congress in 2010, assumed that every low-income person would have access to health insurance starting in 2014.

That's when about 17 million Americans — mostly unmarried healthy adults with incomes up to 133 percent of poverty, or about $15,000 a year — would gain access to Medicaid.

The program currently covers parents, children, the elderly and those with disabilities.

Post-Election, 'Morning After' Pill Advocates Want Age Rules Revisited

Julie Rovner — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 07:55:00 +0000

Friday marks a not-so-happy anniversary for some of President Obama's biggest supporters: It's exactly one year since Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius decided not to lift the age restrictions on availability of the so-called morning-after pill, Plan B.

But now, with the election safely behind them, back

The Perilous Politics Of The Health Insurance Tax Break

Julie Rovner — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 22:20:00 +0000

There's not much in health care that economists agree on. But one of the few things that bring them together is the idea that excluding the value of health insurance from federal taxes is nuts.

"It just doesn't make sense," says Jonathan Gruber, an MIT health economist and author of Health Care Reform.

The (Huge And Rarely Discussed) Health Insurance Tax Break

Julie Rovner — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 08:50:00 +0000

What's the largest tax break in the federal tax code?

If you said the mortgage interest deduction, you'd be wrong. The break for charitable giving? Nope. How about capital gains, or state and local taxes?

Administration Lays Down Rules For Future Health Insurance

Julie Rovner — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:28:00 +0000

You've got questions about the health law? The Obama administration has some answers. Finally.

Now that the Supreme Court has found the Affordable Care Act constitutional and the president's re-election made clear that big chunks of the law will take effect Jan.

Health Care Cuts Are Coming. Here's Where Liberals Say You Can Slice

Julie Rovner — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 23:07:00 +0000

A liberal think-tank closely allied with the Obama administration is proposing a health care spending plan it says could save hundreds of billions of dollars in entitlement spending without hurting middle- and low-income patients.

The plan from the Center for American Progress comes as Congress prepares for a battle royal over the so-called fate of the federal Affordable Care Act, but its implementation after months of uncertainty has caught many of the players unprepared.

Late last week, the federal government extended the deadline for states to decide what they want to do about health exchanges.