HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Public support of last year's health care law hit an all-time low in October as many Democratic voters lost confidence that one of President Barack Obama's major programs will improve their lives, a new poll finds. For the first time, as many people believe the law won't make the country better off as believe it will. The poll found that 51% of the public now dislikes the law and only 34% favor it.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Monthly Medicare premiums for most beneficiaries will rise next year by $3.50, to $99.90, a much smaller increase than had been expected, the Obama administration said Thursday. Administration officials rejoiced at the modest increase, which could pay political dividends to President Obama as he tries to win the votes of older Americans in his bid for re-election.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry's new plan, which includes a national flat tax, would cut discretionary funding by at least $100 billion a year, and would overhaul Medicare and Medicaid. In other news, a new poll uncovers deep distrust of the government, with about a quarter of the public in favor of repealing the entire health law.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Four GOP governors sent a letter Monday to the congressional joint committee tasked with drafting a plan to reduce the country's debt, urging the 12-member panel to rule out tax increases and any proposals that would shift Medicaid costs from the federal government to the states.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The final rule on the ACOs or (Accountable Care Organizations) was published. While it was determined that only an MD and DO would be able to form an ACO, It was clearly written that doctors of chiropractic should be participants and will be eligible to participate in the savings incentives of such plans. The fact that DCs cannot form one as primary care physicians is mitigated by the fact that those who form them are limited to participating in only that one. However, a DC who is a participant can join multiple ACOs. A true benefit to the doc in the field.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The Obama administration released its new plans for Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) this week and relaxed requirements for doctors and hospitals to participate in the program. Some insurers and employers, however, complained that the changes will increase the chances that providers will consolidate, which could reduce competition and drive up costs.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The Obama administration and challengers of the health care overhaul are pushing for Supreme Court consideration of the law in late March, judging by the speed with which they are filing legal papers. This week, the Obama administration, the 26 states that have joined in opposition to the law and the association of small businesses that also wants the law struck down filed their briefs more than a week before they were due.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: After three years of study, Massachusetts’s legislative leaders appear close to producing bills that would make it the first state — again — to radically revamp the way doctors, hospitals and other health providers are paid. The plan would encourage flat “global payments” to networks of providers for keeping patients well, replacing the fee-for-service system that creates incentives for excessive care by paying for each visit and procedure.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: For the first time, a government-backed quality rating will have a financial meaning to health insurance companies looking to attract millions of older Americans to privately run Medicare coverage next year. Medicare Advantage Plans are expected to use quality ratings unveiled this week to attract more business and promote their ratings, given that the federal government is dangling a carrot in the form of bonus payments ranging from 3 to 5 percentage points.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The Obama administration announced Friday that it was scrapping a long-term care insurance program created by the new health care law because it was too costly and would not work. The program, which was intended for people with chronic illnesses or severe disabilities, was known as Community Living Assistance Services and Supports, or Class.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The House on Thursday returned to an abortion issue that nearly sank President Obama's health care law last year with legislation that bars an insurance plan regulated under the new law from covering abortion if any of its customers receive federal subsidies. Providers that offer abortion coverage would have to set up identical plans without abortion coverage to participate in the health insurance exchanges to be set up under the new law.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: For the first time, a government-backed quality rating will have a financial meaning to health insurance companies looking to attract millions of older Americans to privately run Medicare coverage next year. Medicare Advantage Plans are expected to use quality ratings unveiled Wednesday to attract more business and promote their ratings, given that the federal government is dangling a carrot in the form of bonus payments ranging from 3 to 5 percentage points.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: A watchdog agency in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to know how many office visits, consultations, eye exams, skin grafts, and other services are performed by unqualified nonphysicians under Medicare's "incident-to" billing rules. This is just one new investigation that the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) plans to conduct next year.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Medicare supplemental health plans, popular among politically powerful retirees, could come under the budget knife being wielded by the special deficit-reduction panel of Congress, according to sources keeping close watch on its work. ... While the elderly buy the private plans, studies suggest they boost government Medicare costs as the extra coverage for deductibles and co-pays encourages greater use of medical services.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The government moved a step closer today toward defining what 'essential benefits' would be offered by companies selling coverage to millions of Americans in new insurance exchanges. In a 297-page report, the Institute of Medicine, a federal advisory panel, laid out criteria and methods the Department of Health and Human Services should use in developing the package. But, as expected, the report left to HHS the job of deciding specific benefits.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: A top GOP House lawmaker hopes the deficit-cutting panel will focus entirely on health care costs to reach the $1.2 trillion savings target. Meanwhile, in the background, the Wall Street Journal reports that nearly half of all U.S. households receive government benefits, with about 34% getting means-tested assistance such as Medicaid.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The Supreme Court justices opened their new term Monday by hearing a major health care case that tests whether judges can stop California and other cash-strapped states from cutting their payments to doctors and hospitals who serve low-income patients.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Companies next year will push more health care costs onto their workers, who may see an increase of nearly 11 percent in what they have deducted from their paychecks for health insurance, according to a new annual study by Aon Hewitt, a large Chicago benefits consultancy.

HCR Update from Mark Sanna: The Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday in a healthcare case that pits states against the federal government — and Democrats against Democrats. At issue is whether patients and healthcare providers can sue to block states from cutting their Medicaid rates. The suit was filed after California proposed a series of Medicaid cuts, some as high as 10%.