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States push for insurers to increase coverage

States tackle several health care policy issues focused on health insurance coverage mandates and requirements.

12 Feb 2010

Mass. Gov. seeks greater authority to attack health costs

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick asked the state legislature to grant his administration broad new authority to "review and reject" excessive rates charged by medical providers in hopes of curbing costs and making health care more affordable, The Boston Globe reports. Under a bill filed Wednesday by Patrick, the rates that "hospitals and other health providers charge insurers would be 'presumptively disapproved as excessive' if they increased faster than the level of medical inflation, and they could be rejected after a public hearing."

12 Feb 2010

Medicaid and other state programs face questions about fraud, other difficulties

The state's Medicaid Fraud Division said two state agencies, the Health Department and Human Services Department that administer the Medicaid program, "'filtered' and 'sanitized' information and documents requested by investigators, hindering numerous investigations." The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wil investigate the allegations (Furlow, 2/10).

12 Feb 2010

Health companies criticized for deceptive marketing while Anthem rate hikes continue to draw attention

"Minnesota's attorney general on Wednesday sued two Texas companies she said falsely represented their discounted health care plans as medical insurance to thousands of customers," The Associated Press/Washington Post report.

11 Feb 2010

Calif. budget cuts will hit adult day care centers, prison health care; Texas and Kansas weigh Medicaid cuts

Under the most recent cost-saving budget proposals, 327 adult day healthcare centers throughout California would be eliminated. Cuts could save the state $135 million in fiscal 2011, state projections show.

11 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 11, 2010

Today's headlines raise interesting questions for health reform, including whether Sen. Judd Gregg can play an important role in finding bipartisanship.

11 Feb 2010

MHQP: Massachusetts primary care physicians achieve measurable improvements in health care quality

Massachusetts primary care physicians continue to achieve measurable improvements in important aspects of health care quality as reported by Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP). Today, the organization released its sixth annual Quality Insights: Clinical Quality in Primary Care report, comparing the performance of more than 150 medical groups across the state.

11 Feb 2010

HCC Life joins with eHealth to distribute HCC Life STM short-term health insurance policy

HCC Life Insurance Company (HCC Life) today announced that it is expanding its relationship with eHealth, Inc., parent company of eHealthInsurance, to distribute its HCC Life STM short-term health insurance policy in 41 states.

11 Feb 2010

UCLA and Health Net to develop health literacy training intervention for adolescents

With the average teen spending approximately nine hours a week on social networking sites, the UCLA School of Public Health has partnered with Health Net of California to develop a health literacy training intervention using social media to encourage adolescents ages 13 to 17 to utilize their health care more effectively.

11 Feb 2010

Role of evidence-based pathways in providing high quality, cost effective oncology care

Although health care reform is taking a back seat to the economy on Capitol Hill, discussions continue in the health care industry on how best to lower the cost of care while maintaining or improving patient outcomes.

11 Feb 2010

Medica Foundation awards grants totaling $604,940 in second cycle of funding

The Medica Foundation wrapped up its 2009 giving with 17 program grants totaling $473,690 in its second cycle of funding in 2009. The Medica Foundation also awarded 19 General Health Improvement Grants totaling $131,250. Funding by the Medica Foundation totaled $604,940 in its second cycle; for all of 2009, its total funding was $1,353,000.

11 Feb 2010

DPC lauds passage of S.B. 316 dialysis care legislation

Dialysis Patient Citizens today praised the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee for unanimously passing legislation – S.B. 316 – which will increase patient access to life-saving dialysis care or transplant medications. Dialysis patients attending yesterday’s hearing encouraged lawmakers to support the bill which, if enacted, would greatly help approximately 2,000 Georgians suffering from kidney failure who are having difficulty accessing health insurance. Twenty-nine states across the country have enacted this popular legislation that is widely embraced by patients, family members and taxpayers.

11 Feb 2010

Centene to host seminar on medical management system for institutional investors and sell-side analysts

Centene Corporation today announced it will host a two-hour seminar on its medical management system capability for institutional investors and sell-side analysts on Monday, February 22, 2010, at the New York Helmsley Hotel in New York City.

11 Feb 2010

Today's OpEds: Prescriptions for health reform

The best ideas out there are not those that were passed by the House and Senate last year, which consist of more spending, more regulations and more bureaucracy. If the president is serious about building a system that delivers more quality choices at lower cost for every American, here's where he should start (Newt Gingrich and John C. Goodman, 2/10).

11 Feb 2010

Lawmakers in Kansas, Idaho prepare measures to pre-empt any national mandate to purchase insurance

"Kansas lawmakers have heard testimony on a proposed amendment to the state Constitution asserting Kansans' right to refuse to buy health insurance. Proponents of the measure call it a response to Democratic proposals in Congress that they say would force people to buy health insurance or face penalties for failing to do so." Supporters of the amendment believe the mandate in the national legislation is unconstitutional (2/9).

11 Feb 2010

BioSphere Medical reports fourth-quarter and full-year 2009 results

BioSphere Medical, Inc. – the pioneer in the use of bioengineered microspheres to treat uterine fibroids, hypervascularized tumors and vascular malformations by a minimally invasive, image-guided medical procedure called embolotherapy – today reported financial results for the three and 12 months ended December 31, 2009.

10 Feb 2010

Draft of Senate jobs bill extends COBRA subsidy

Business Insurance: "Federal COBRA health insurance premium subsidies would be extended and expanded under a draft jobs bill being put together by top Senate Democrats, sources say." The bill "would extend the current COBRA premium subsidy provided to involuntarily terminated employees another three months so employees laid off in March, April and May of this year would be eligible for the 65% subsidy for up to 15 months.

10 Feb 2010

Governor Rendell proposes fiscal year 2010-11 General Fund budget

With Pennsylvania finances still suffering the effects of the most stubbornly challenging national economy since the Great Depression, Governor Edward G. Rendell today proposed a fiscal year 2010-11 General Fund budget that spends $26.3 billion in state money, augmented by more than $2.7 billion in federal stimulus funds.

10 Feb 2010

Proposed 2010-11 Rendell budget preserves essential health care and safety net services

Governor Edward G. Rendell's proposed 2010-11 budget maintains essential health care and other safety net services during the economic recovery by better managing programs, attacking waste and reducing unnecessary spending.

10 Feb 2010

Report shows 3.4% of adult Minnesotans suffer from COPD

The nation's fourth leading cause of death, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is now being measured by the Minnesota Department of Health's Environmental Public Health Tracking Program. The program focuses on three major causes of hospitalizations in Minnesota that can be triggered or made worse by environmental factors such as secondhand smoke or outdoor air pollution — asthma, heart attacks and COPD.

10 Feb 2010

Health Insurance News and Research

States push for insurers to increase coverage

Mass. Gov. seeks greater authority to attack health costs

Medicaid and other state programs face questions about fraud, other difficulties

Health companies criticized for deceptive marketing while Anthem rate hikes continue to draw attention

Calif. budget cuts will hit adult day care centers, prison health care; Texas and Kansas weigh Medicaid cuts

First Edition: February 11, 2010

MHQP: Massachusetts primary care physicians achieve measurable improvements in health care quality

HCC Life joins with eHealth to distribute HCC Life STM short-term health insurance policy

UCLA and Health Net to develop health literacy training intervention for adolescents

Role of evidence-based pathways in providing high quality, cost effective oncology care

Medica Foundation awards grants totaling $604,940 in second cycle of funding

DPC lauds passage of S.B. 316 dialysis care legislation

Centene to host seminar on medical management system for institutional investors and sell-side analysts

Today's OpEds: Prescriptions for health reform

Lawmakers in Kansas, Idaho prepare measures to pre-empt any national mandate to purchase insurance

BioSphere Medical reports fourth-quarter and full-year 2009 results

Draft of Senate jobs bill extends COBRA subsidy

Governor Rendell proposes fiscal year 2010-11 General Fund budget

Proposed 2010-11 Rendell budget preserves essential health care and safety net services

Report shows 3.4% of adult Minnesotans suffer from COPD

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