Medicare Drug Plan Fuels Health-Care Spending
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TUESDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) -- The new Medicare prescription drug plan was largely responsible for an 18.7 percent increase in Medicare spending in 2006, which was double the increase in spending from the year before, U.S. health officials report.
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WASHINGTON - Medicare premiums for doctor visits will rise 17 percent next year, the largest increase in the program's 40-year history, the Bush administration said Friday.    Monthly payments for Part B of the government health care program - doctor visits and most other non-hospital expenses - will jump to $78.20 from $66.60...
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Medicare's new prescription drug  coverage should help most elderly, including some of the  poorest beneficiaries, save money, but nearly a quarter will  pay more for medicine, according to an analysis released on  Monday.
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The quest to save dollars in the nationâs $2.1 trillion annual health care bill is becoming a lucrative market of its own.
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Low-income Americans who get a government subsidy are projected to have most of their spending on prescription medicines wiped away in the Medicare drug benefit that begins in 2006, according to an independent analysis released Monday. But several million people actually would spend more on drugs under the new program.
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WASHINGTON - Far from the expected deluge, relatively few patients with cancer and other serious illnesses have applied for generous early Medicare prescription drug coverage.    The Bush administration was planning a lottery to determine who would get the 50,000 slots included in last year's Medicare prescription drug law...
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Numerous media reports have indicated big increases for Medicare and employer-sponsored health insurance premiums and for the number of Americans lacking health insurance.
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When people enroll in a Medicare drug plan later this year, the first option for paying their monthly premiums will no longer be through a deduction in their Social Security check. Instead, the government will encourage beneficiaries to pay insurers directly.
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WASHINGTON - The Bush administration says it plans to carve the country into multiple coverage regions to get private insurers to offer Medicare prescription drug plans and comprehensive health benefits beginning in 2006.
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Federal number crunchers said yesterday that the new Medicare drug benefit appears to be slowing the growth in national spending on prescription medicines because the drug plans are negotiating lower prices with drug companies.
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Groups representing most facets of the nation's health care system are lining up in support of a large spending increase for a popular children's insurance program.
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Nearly 24 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said on Tuesday.
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How to benefit from increased spending on preventative medicine.
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With soaring medical costs imperiling Medicare and the federal government&#39;s financial health, Washington needs a straight answer to a key question: Can private companies deliver more medical services for less money than the government-run Medicare program
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Medicare's new prescription drug coverage should help most elderly, including some of the poorest beneficiaries, save money, but nearly a quarter will pay more for medicine, according to an analysis released on Monday.
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What should really keep executives awake at night is the upward trajectory of health care spending.
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As some lawmakers clamor for letting Medicare directly negotiate drug prices, Medicare's chief said on Wednesday that the health program for the elderly could save more money by letting the private sector set prices.