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CCHP implements TriZetto systems to improve its network and health management programs

The TriZetto Group, Inc. today announced that Chinese Community Health Plan (CCHP) has successfully implemented several TriZetto systems, including the Facets®, NetworX Pricer® and Clinical CareAdvance® applications.

5 Feb 2010

Anthem Blue Cross introduces DailyMed Pharmacy program for Medi-Cal members

Imagine having to face the daily struggle of taking six or more different medications a day to manage a chronic health condition; add to this the worry of missing or taking a dose incorrectly. For Anthem Blue Cross (Anthem) Medi-Cal members, that daily struggle will now be simplified to help increase medication adherence and reduce medication errors.

5 Feb 2010

Attempt by Idaho lawmakers to opt out of federal health care reform could prove disastrous for the state

An attempt by Idaho lawmakers to opt out of federal health care reform could prove disastrous for the state -- resulting in the loss of over a billion federal dollars for Idaho and thousands of jobs in the state.

5 Feb 2010

Virginia AG works to increase outpatient treatment for mentally ill; Iowa hospitals oppose Medicare fraud bill

News outlets report on health care developments in Virginia, the District of Columbia, California, Iowa, Maryland, Maine and Michigan.

5 Feb 2010

Majority of rural hospital stays are covered by Medicare

Medicare patients accounted for almost half of all stays (45 percent) at rural hospitals in 2007, while the percentage of Medicare beneficiaries who were admitted to urban hospitals was considerably lower (35 percent) , according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

5 Feb 2010

House to move forward to end antitrust exemption for health insurers

"House Democratic leaders are moving forward with Plan B for passing health care reform by introducing a stand-alone measure to strip the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies — a popular piece of their stalled health care reform package," Roll Call reports. "Freshmen Reps. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) and Betsy Markey (D-Colo.) will file legislation on Friday aimed at barring the insurance industry from fixing prices and setting their own markets without being investigated.

4 Feb 2010

COBRA extension likely part of Senate Democratic jobs plan

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today said he plans to move the " first part of a job-creation package next week." In discussing the measure during a Capitol Hill press conference, Democratic leaders were short of specifics "but pledged to make the issue of job creation their top priority in 2010."

4 Feb 2010

CIGNA reports net income of $330M for fourth quarter 2009

CIGNA Corporation today reported shareholders’ net income of $330 million, or $1.19 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2009 compared with a shareholders’ net loss of $209 million, or $0.77 per share, for the same period last year.

4 Feb 2010

Secretaries to release new report on children’s health insurance

One year after President Obama signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will visit the Mazique Parent Child Center to discuss efforts to identify and enroll children in health coverage and announce new steps the Departments are taking to insure more kids.

4 Feb 2010

Surgery pricing secrets: The challenges patients face

Patients are the losers in both the Democratic and Republican versions of the health care reform bills. Proposed health care reform won't help patients find out how much health care costs before they get care and many hospitals aren't set up to help.

4 Feb 2010

State round up: Florida considers eliminating popular Medicaid plan; State program for low-income adults changing in Minn.

e year the state of Florida eliminates its popular MediPass program, which gives more than half a million Medicaid recipients, mostly aged and disabled Floridians, an alternative to HMOs. Hints of its demise showed up in the governor's budget and letters from a powerful lawmaker.

4 Feb 2010

TGen, Geisinger Health System sign strategic research agreement

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Geisinger Health System today announced the signing of a strategic research agreement that provides for a focused look at the gaps in clinical medicine where biomedical research can make a difference.

4 Feb 2010

Tough economy adds stress to hospitals; Community health centers help fill gaps

Hospitals get mixed marks while many suffer from the effects of the struggling economy. Meanwhile, community health centers increasingly provide more care and help fill in health care gaps.

4 Feb 2010

States consider their own health reform ideas

"Supporters of a bill that seeks to bar lifetime and annual payment caps on health insurance plans in Maine say they expect a large crowd at a legislative committee's hearing on the proposal." The same topic has been considered by the U.S. Congress as part of Democrats health overhaul (2/3).

3 Feb 2010

Questionable health insurance plans cause concern

Officials worry that people with no insurance will be drawn in by questionable health insurance plans. ABC News reports: The "[h]ealth care overhaul is stalled, resulting in a proliferation of plans that don't fully protect people, officials said. Watchdogs worry about two kinds of plans in particular."

3 Feb 2010

House Dems' next step in health reform: Repeal of insurance antitrust exemption

Lawmakers "hoping to revive President Barack Obama's stalled health care overhaul have started writing a compromise bill, but it's unclear when the legislation will be ready for votes, a top House Democrat said Tuesday," The Associated Press reports. "The measure would change the massive Senate-approved health bill to what bargainers from the White House, Senate and House agreed to last month, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., said in a brief interview.

3 Feb 2010

The debate over selling insurance across state lines

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz writes that Republicans in Congress have proposed this concept in the past "and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., embraced it as part of his 2008 presidential campaign. Advocates - including some insurers and small business groups - say it would give the more than 17 million Americans who buy individual coverage a greater choice of plans and the possibility of lower prices.

3 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 3, 2010

Today's headlines highlight what might be the Democrats' next health reform move in the House, where Speaker Pelosi plans to advance legislation next week to repeal insurance companies' antitrust exemption.

3 Feb 2010

Ohio changes Medicaid drug program, N.C. weighs cuts in Medicaid personal care services

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Ohio's seven Medicaid managed care plans this month will make changes in the prescription drug plans that cover about 1.5 million people, although many of those beneficiaries will not face increased costs.

3 Feb 2010

ALEC commends Kansas legislators for filing Health Care Freedom Amendment

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — the nation's largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators — congratulates Kansas State Senator Mary Pilcher Cook and Representatives Peggy Mast and Brenda Landwehr for filing the Kansas Health Care Freedom Amendment, which would protect the right of individuals to make their own health care choices.

3 Feb 2010