HomeCare Editors’ Top 5: Week of April 13

Medicare Bill Helps Doctors and Kids, but Deficit Foes Cool

Republicans say bipartisan legislation reworking how Medicare pays doctors is a milestone toward curbing the huge, growing benefit program. It’s “the first real entitlement reform in decades,” says House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, using Washington jargon for programs that automatically pay people who qualify. Many deficit foes are less impressed. (Alan Fram/ The Associated Press)

United, Humana Get Surprise Medicare Revenue Boost From US

Health insurers such as UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc. will see revenue for commercial Medicare policies increase 1.25 percent next year, reversing an earlier U.S. government proposal that would have cut payments. (Zachary Tracer/Bloomberg Business News)

Florida Senate Holds Firm on Health Care Despite Standoff

A growing standoff about health care is creating a divide between the Republican-controlled Florida Senate and Gov. Rick Scott. A Senate panel Tuesday refused to confirm a top appointee of the Scott administration after he would not answer questions about whether he supported the Senate plan to expand health care coverage to 800,000 Floridians. (Gary Fineout/ The Associated Press via The Idaho Statesman)

FACT CHECK: Can Paul Bring Balance to the Federal Budget?

Sen. Rand Paul is campaigning for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination as a man who wants to upend the ways of Washington. In one way, though, he’s a creature of the nation’s capital: He carries on a long tradition of promising the implausible, if not the impossible, on the budget. (Calvin Woodward and Philip Elliott /The Associated PRess via the Washington Post)

Many Obamacare Policyholders Face Tax Surprises This Year

The old saying goes, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” But the Affordable Care Act has added a new wrinkle. For many policyholders, the ACA has introduced a good deal of uncertaintyabout their tax bills. That has led to surprise refunds for some and higher-than-expected tax payments for others. (John Ydstie/NPR)