Medicare | featured news

President Barack Obama is asking Republican lawmakers to approve billions of dollars in new spending to avert a scheduled 21 percent cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients ...

Same-sex partners must get the same privileges granted heterosexual couples in hospitals that get Medicare or Medicaid funds, he says in a memo.

President Obama late Thursday ordered most hospitals in the country to grant the same visitation rights to gay and lesbian partners that they do to married heterosexual couples.

The U.S. Senate approved a $636 billion military spending bill on Saturday that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and also includes money to extend jobless aid and Medicare payment rates for two months.

The increase means that monthly premiums would top $100 for the first time — a stark indication of the rise in costs that is driving the debate on health care reform.

By law, Social Security benefits can't decline. But because premiums for the Medicare drug program are expected to increase 11% next year, seniors who have those premiums deducted from their benefits will see a drop in payments, says Barbara Kennelly, president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

Signaling a fading chance for compromise, a leading Republican negotiator on health care legislation on Saturday criticized Democratic legislative proposals as budget-busters that would reroute Medicare spending and restrict medical choices.

Federal authorities say they've arrested 32 people, including doctors, in Medicare fraud busts in Houston, New York, Louisiana and Boston.

A bipartisan group of senators agreed tentatively Tuesday on a plan to squeeze an additional $35 billion out of Medicare over the next decade and larger sums in the years beyond, according to congressional officials, a step toward fulfilling President Barack Obama's goal of curbing the growth of health care spending.

President Barack Obama on Saturday proposed an additional $313 billion in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other programs to pay for healthcare reforms expected to cost about $1 trillion over the next decade.