Poll: Americans Rate Own Care High, But Are Less Satisfied With Health System As A Whole
Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, says the system's built-in processes -- filling out forms, dealing with co-pays, running from one specialist to the next -- are what people find difficult, even if they rate the quality of care they are receiving as high. In other national news, insurance firms' losses raise concerns over the viability of health law marketplaces, The New York Times looks at the effort to revive H.M.O.s, the administration's concerns grow over a ruling on federal agency vacancies, and a top pharmaceutical lobbyist faces the heat.
NPR:
Many Dislike Health Care System But Are Pleased With Their Own Care
The United States has the most advanced health care in the world. There are gleaming medical centers across the country where doctors cure cancers, transplant organs and bring people back from near death. But a poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, shows that only one-third of Americans say the health care they receive is "excellent." Even fewer people are impressed with the system as a whole. (Kodjak, 2/29)
The Associated Press:
Insurer Warnings Cast Doubt On ACA Exchange Future
Political uncertainty isn't the only threat to the Affordable Care Act's future. Cracks also are spreading through a major pillar supporting the law Health insurance exchanges created to help millions of people find coverage are turning into money-losing ventures for many insurers. The nation's largest, UnitedHealth Group Inc., could lose as much as $475 million on its exchange business this year and may not participate in 2017. Another major insurer, Aetna, has questioned the viability of the exchanges. And a dozen nonprofit insurance cooperatives created by the law have already closed, forcing around 750,000 people to find new plans. (2/26)
The New York Times:
Trying To Revive H.M.O.s, But Without Those Scarlet Letters
An H.M.O. by any other name is still an H.M.O. Once emblematic of everything wrong with health insurance, the health maintenance organization is making a grudging, if somewhat successful, comeback. But its reputation for skimping on care has so tainted the plans that the insurers and companies resurrecting them have gone through innumerable steps to try to avoid using the term H.M.O. — only to be told, at least in one case by state regulators, that an H.M.O. must still be called an H.M.O. (Abelson, 2/28)
The New York Times:
Administration Protests Limits On Its Power To Fill Vacancies
A federal appeals court ruling that limits the president’s power to appoint officials to temporarily run federal agencies when high-level government jobs become vacant has prompted growing concerns among Obama administration officials. ... At a budget hearing, [Representative Leonard Lance, Republican of New Jersey] asked Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the secretary of health and human services, how many officials were serving at her department in an acting capacity. Ms. Burwell named two: Mary K. Wakefield, the acting deputy secretary, and Dr. Karen B. DeSalvo, the acting assistant secretary for health. Another top health official, Andrew M. Slavitt, has been nominated by Mr. Obama to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services but has been unable to get a confirmation hearing. (Pear, 2/28)
The New York Times:
Top Lobbyist For Drug Makers Threads A Thicket Of Outrage
Few lobbyists have walked into the kind of political inferno that greeted Stephen J. Ubl when he became the top pitchman for the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Ubl, the 47-year-old president and chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, took charge in November, as the Obama administration, presidential candidates, members of Congress, consumer groups, health insurance companies and doctors were criticizing the prescription drug industry for charging prices they saw as exorbitant and excessive. The anger has only grown worse. (Pear, 2/26)