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Discussions of the Health Care System in America: A Selected Bibliography
This report provides a bibliography of resources related to the health care system in the United States
Health Legislation Confronting the 92nd Congress
This report provides an overview of health related legislation and proposals which are likely to be debated in the 92nd Congress.
The Proposed Health Maintenance Organization Assistance Act of 1971
This report provides a summary and description of each section of the proposed Health Maintenance Organization Assistance Act of 1971.
How Medicare Pays for Doctor's Services
This report discusses the method used to pay doctor's through Medicare.
How Medicare Pays Hospitals
This report discusses the process of paying hospitals through Medicare.
Autistic Children: Background Information and Legislative Interest
This report discusses children with autism and provides a brief description of autism and its treatments as well as Congressional interest in providing assistance for children with autism.
Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 (P. L. 93-222)
This report discusses the provisions of the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 (P. L. 93-222) which provided funding to assist in the start-up of health maintenance organizations (HMO).
Hypertensive Disease and Control Programs in the United States
This report discusses the prevalence of hypertensive disease (high blood pressure) in the United States and federal programs aimed at controlling and reducing hypertensive disease.
P.L. 93-282, The Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1974: Legislative History and Section-By-Section Analysis
This report provides a history and analysis of the provisions of The Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1974 (P.L. 93-282).
Hospital Reimbursement
This report discusses the process of hospital reimbursement by health insurers and regulations governing the process.
Key Facts on Alcohol and Alcoholism
This report provides statistics and facts about the drinking of alcohol and alcoholism.
Health Maintenance Organizations
This report discusses the "health maintenance organization", which is an entity that provides specific health services to its members for a prepaid, fixed payment.
Health Insurance: The Pro-Competition Proposals
For more than a decade, Congress and the Executive Branch have tried to stem spiraling health care costs through various regulatory actions at the Federal and State levels. Planning laws, for example, focus regulatory attention on the capacity of the health care industry to provide health services. Other laws have created programs to monitor and control the use of services provided to individual patients. Direct wage and price controls were applied to the health industry in the early 1970's and in recent years Congress has debated whether to impose controls over hospital spending in the United States. This report discusses the debate surrounding various approaches to lower health care costs.
Handicapped Infants: The Final Section 504 Regulation and Legislative Proposals
This report discusses the final rule regarding handicapped infants published in the Federal register by HHS on January 12, 1984. Legislative action in response to the Infant Doe issue is also discussed.
Medicare/Medicaid Reimbursement: Selected References
This report is a compilation of selected articles, books, and executive agency and congressional publications on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, primarily to health facilities and physicians.
Medicare: Physician Payments
This report discusses payments for physicians services under Medicare that are made on the basis of a fee schedule.
Medicaid: President's FY88 Budget
This report provides background and analysis on Medicaid and discusses the President's FY88 budget.
Legal Implications of the Contagious Disease or Infections Amendment to the Civil Rights Restoration Act, S.557
This report discusses the civil rights restoration act, S. 557, as it passed the House and Senate. This provision would most likely be interpreted as codifying the existing standards relating to section 504 interpretation concerning discrimination against individuals with handicaps.
Family Planning: Title X of the Public Health Service Act
This report discusses Title X of the Public Health Service Act provides support for family planning clinics, research related to family planning and population, training of family planning personnel, and development and dissemination of family planning information.
Medicaid: Recent Trends in Beneficiaries and Spending
This report discusses medicaid and recent trend is beneficiaries and spending.
Medicare: Payments to HMOs and Other Private Plans Under the Medicare+Choice Program
This report describes how payments will be calculated under the Medicare+Choice program established under the new law.
Medicare: Private Contracts
This report discusses private contracting for medicare,which is the term used to describe situations where a physician and a patient agree not to submit a claim for a service which would otherwise be covered and paid for by Medicare.
Medicare: Payments to Physicians
This report discusses payments for physicians services under Medicare that are made on the basis of a fee schedule.
Medicare Expansion: President Clinton's Proposals to Allow Coverage Before Age 65
This report discusses medicare expansion; President Clinton's proposal to allow people ages 62 through 64 to buy into Medicare if they do not have access to employer-sponsored or federal health insurance.
Medicare: Financing the Part A Hospital Insurance Program
This report discusses Medicare, which consists of two distinct parts — Part A (Hospital Insurance (HI)) and Part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI)). Part A is financed primarily through payroll taxes levied on current workers and their employers. Income from these taxes is credited to the HI trust fund. Part B is financed through a combination of monthly premiums paid by current enrollees and general revenues. Income from these sources is credited to the SMI trust fund.
Medicare: Changes to Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA 97, P.L. 105-33) Provisions
This report summarizes the major provisions of the agreement between the by House and Senate negotiators on the Medicare provisions.
Medicare Beneficiary Access to Care: The Effects of New Prospective Payment Systems on Outpatient Hospital Care, Home Health Care, and Skilled Nursing Facility Care
This report discusses the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA 97), which required that prospective payment systems replace retrospective cost-based reimbursement systems for Medicare beneficiaries receiving care in hospital outpatient departments, from home health care agencies, and in skilled nursing facilities.
Olmstead v. L.C.: Implications and Subsequent Judicial, Administrative, and Legislative Actions
This report will discuss the Supreme Court's decision, subsequent lower court decisions, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) letter, and selected legislation.
Medicare: Prescription Drug Proposals
This report provides an overview of the President’s plan and the legislation introduced to date in the 106th Congress. It
Medicaid, SCHIP, and Other Health Provisions in H.R. 5661: Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000
This report discusses Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The report also discusses other major health provisions provisions of H.R. 5661 are incorporated, by reference into H.R. 4577, the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2001.
Medicare: Selected Prescription Drug Proposals in the 107th Congress
Medicare, the nationwide health insurance program for the aged and disabled, does not cover most outpatient prescription drugs. On several occasions, the Congress has considered providing coverage for at least a portion of beneficiaries’ drug costs. The issue received renewed attention in the 106th Congress. However, there was no consensus on how the coverage should be structured. This report provides a side-by-side comparison of bills introduced in the 107th Congress that have received the most attention.
Environmental Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors: What Are the Human Health Risks?
This report discusses the human health risks, specifically from endocrine disruptors that are chemical compounds in drugs, food, consumer products, or the ambient environment that can interfere with internal biological processes of animals that normally are regulated by their hormones.
Health Insurance: Federal Data Sources for Analyses of the Uninsured
Given the various reasons individuals lack health insurance coverage, analysis of the effectiveness of a proposal to reduce the number of uninsured (such as those discussed above) requires examining characteristics of individuals with and without health insurance coverage. Numerous sources of data have emerged over time that support estimates of the uninsured. However, each data source differs in how it collects information from individuals, as well as the amount of information it collects related to health insurance status. This report outlines the major advantages and limitations of four federally administered surveys — in providing estimates of the uninsured population.
Ergonomics in the Workplace: Is It Time for an OSHA Standard?
This report debates implementing an OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standard for ergonomics. This standard would be motivated by the fact that one third of state employer's costs are related to improper ergonomic design causing illness. The report details that standards suggested in the past have been rejected by Congress.
Medicare+Choice Payments
This report discusses the M+C program that established new rules for beneficiary and plan participation. This report focuses on M+C payments.
Medicare+Choice Payments
This report discusses the M+C program that established new rules for beneficiary and plan participation. This report focuses on M+C payments.
Medicare Structural Reform: Background and Options
THis report provides a brief overview of major issues underlying the debate about possible structural reforms or improvements to the current Medicare system. Medicare is a nationwide health insurance program for the aged and certain disabled persons.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Medicaid
This report begins with an overview of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It then discusses the distinction made in IDEA between medical services and health services. The report then summarizes the provisions in law that link Medicaid funding to IDEA. Next the report provides an overview of the complexities of Medicaid eligibility and covered services. Following that discussion, the report analyzes possible reasons why Medicaid appears to cover relatively little of IDEA health-related costs. Finally the report outlines possible legislative approaches with respect to Medicaid and IDEA.
Medicare Prescription Drug Proposals: Estimates of Aged Beneficiaries Who Fall Below Income Criteria, by State
This report discusses bills related to Medicare benefits, which include additional assistance for low-income beneficiaries. The assistance would have been in the form of reduced, subsidized or eliminated premiums, deductibles and other cost-sharing. Proposals in the 108th Congress will probably also include some of these features for low-income beneficiaries.
Alcohol Beverages: Labeling and Health Claims
This report concerns rules created in 2003 by the Alcohol and Tobacco and Trade Bureau that prohibits manufacturers from advertising substantive health benefits from alcoholic beverages. Moreover, the report covers the history and debate on this issue and of the Bureau.
Medicare: Beneficiary Cost-Sharing Under Proposed Prescription Drug Benefits
This report examines these proposals as well as the “Medicare Rx Drug Benefit and Discount Act of 2003,” which was introduced by Representative Charles Rangel, the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Specifically, this report provides background on how the cost-sharing and premium provisions under each bill would affect the amount that a beneficiary pays annually for prescription drugs.
Medicare Prescription Drug and Reform Legislation
This report describes the major features of S. 1, as ordered reported, and the measure to be considered by the House Ways and Means Committee, H.R. 2473, as ordered reported.
Medicare: Beneficiary Cost-Sharing Under Proposed Prescription Drug Benefits
This report provides background on how the cost-sharing and premium provisions under each bill would affect the amount that a beneficiary pays annually for prescription drugs. In addition, this report gives examples of how annual cost-sharing would differ for beneficiaries with various levels of total prescription drug spending in 2006 under the plans.
Medicare Prescription Drug Provisions of S.1, as Passed by the Senate, and H.R. 1, as Passed by the House
This report discusses differences in the specifics of the prescription drug provisions in S. 1 and H.R. 1 and provides a side-by-side comparison of the Title I provisions of both bills.
Medicare: Beneficiary Cost-Sharing Under Prescription Drug Legislation
This report provides an analysis of how the cost-sharing and premium provisions under the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act of 2003 (S. 1) and the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003 (H bill would affect the amount that a beneficiary would pay annually for prescription drugs.
A CRS Review of 10 States: Home and Community-Based Services — States Seek to Change the Face of Long-Term Care: Indiana
Many states have devoted significant efforts to respond to the desire for home and community-based care for persons with disabilities and their families. Nevertheless, financing of nursing home care, chiefly by Medicaid, still dominates most states’ spending for long-term care today. To assist Congress in understanding issues that states face in providing long-term care services, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) undertook a study of 10 states in 2002. This report, one in a series of 10 state reports, presents background and analysis about long-term care in Indiana.
Prescription Drug Coverage Under Medicaid
Medicaid is a joint federal-state entitlement program that pays for medical services on behalf of certain groups of low-income persons. It is the third largest social program in the federal budget, exceeded only by Social Security and Medicare and is typically the second largest spending item for states. This report discusses prescription drug policies under the program.
Health Care Spending: Past Trends and Projections
This report focuses on trends in personal health care spending, which includes spending on health care goods and services provided to individuals and excludes expenditures for administrative costs, research, and public health activities. Personal health care expenditures have grown considerably over the past 40 years. It is estimated that personal health spending will exceed $2.9 trillion in 2013.
Medicaid Reimbursement Policy
This report begins with a summary of basic federal requirements applicable to payments for all services and an overview of major developments in federal Medicaid reimbursement policy over the last 20 years. This overview provides a historical context for current policies and highlights some issues that have been perennial concerns for federal and state policymakers. The next four sections of the report provide a detailed discussion of Medicaid reimbursement for four basic categories of services or providers.
Overview of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
This report examines the the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, which creates a prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries and establishes a new Medicare Advantage program to replace the current Medicare+Choice program.
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