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Blue Cross Blue Shield accepts grant proposals from elementary schools to reduce childhood obesity

Childhood obesity in America is a major public health issue. Blue Cross Blue Shield, committed to building a healthier Michigan, is partnering with schools across the state to get kids moving and eating healthier.

21 Jan 2010

Aetna and Walgreens collaborate to educate people on taking adequate levels of Vitamin D

Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Walgreens announced today that they have joined forces to educate people about the need to take in adequate levels of Vitamin D. The two organizations are working with United Way of the Midlands on a Vitamin D giveaway program being piloted in Richland and Lexington counties in South Carolina.

21 Jan 2010

Lawmakers discuss health reform bill's future; Reid says Senate won't take further action until Brown is seated

After "long-shot" Republican candidate Scott Brown won Massachusetts' Tuesday Senate election "no clear strategy emerged to keep President Barack Obama's top domestic priority moving through the halls of Congress. With the loss of the crucial 60th vote, two alternatives moved into consideration," Politico reports.

21 Jan 2010

CIGNA International to develop and offer individual PMI for customers around the globe

CIGNA International announced it will develop and offer individual Private Medical Insurance (PMI) to respond to the emerging needs of customers around the globe. CIGNA International – a world leader in global life, accident and health insurance and global expatriate benefits – will provide local PMI for citizens in countries outside the United States as well as to individual expatriates and high net worth individuals.

20 Jan 2010

Aetna announces new fitness and nutrition program for employers nationwide

Aetna today announced a new team-based fitness and nutrition program for employers nationwide that uses online social networking to encourage people of all health and fitness levels to work together with their colleagues to achieve their optimal health.

20 Jan 2010

Budget woes prompt health cuts in some states

The Salt Lake Tribune: "Utah's Medicaid program isn't providing enough oversight of its managed care plans, a problem that is costing the state as much as $19 million, according to a Legislative audit released Tuesday" (Rosetta, 1/19).

20 Jan 2010

First Edition: January 20, 2010

The G.O.P. claims the Massachusetts Senate seat and sends Dems scrambling to salvage their health overhaul effort.

20 Jan 2010

OAC calls for health insurance coverage of USPTF recommended childhood obesity treatments

In light of the recent recommendation of the United States Preventative Task Force (USPTF), the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) is calling for all employers and insurers to add health insurance coverage of the recommended childhood obesity treatments.

20 Jan 2010

St. Jude Medical completes second interoperability testing process for Merlin.net Patient Care Network

St. Jude Medical, Inc. today announced it has successfully completed its second interoperability testing process for the company’s Merlin.net™ Patient Care Network, an Internet-based repository of patient and implantable device data.

20 Jan 2010

Recipients of comprehensive primary care twice as likely to rate healthcare as high-quality

Chronically ill older adults who are closely supported by a nurse-physician primary care team are twice as likely to rate their health care as high-quality than those who receive usual care, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

20 Jan 2010

News reports question health reform provisions, forecast legal issues

News reports explore remaining issues in Congress' health overhaul negotiations.

20 Jan 2010

Medicare, consumers face challenges when trying to make choices based on value

News outlets report on concerns about Medicare costs, problems with fraud in health care around the world, and the difficulties consumers face when trying to find value in their health services.

20 Jan 2010

First Edition: January 19, 2010

All eyes appear to be watching today's special election in Massachusetts to fill the seat of the late Senator Edward Kennedy. The outcome there could have a significant impact on what happens next in Washington regarding the Democrats' health overhaul.

19 Jan 2010

Anthem Blue Cross and California Regional Hospital Associations join in patient safety collaborative

Anthem Blue Cross, along with California's three regional Hospital Associations, and the National Health Foundation, announced today that they are joining together in a three-year, 6 million dollar effort to improve the quality and consistency of care Californians receive. The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center hosted the launch of Patient Safety First... a California Partnership for Health, a unique relationship that will save lives, improve the quality of medical care and reduce health care costs to make health care more affordable for the people of California.

19 Jan 2010

New data shows significant rise in healthcare premiums

Management consultant Hay Group expects that annual premium increases for health coverage will average approximately 9 percent during 2010. This estimate represents the increase in premiums before any changes in plan design, medical management or plan administration.

19 Jan 2010

Wellness programs help retain employees

Forty-five percent of Americans working at small to medium-sized companies said that they would stay at their jobs longer because of employer-sponsored wellness programs, according to the latest Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM.

18 Jan 2010

Patients have few barriers to affordable health care, efficient care in post-Katrina primary care clinics

A new Commonwealth Fund survey of safety-net clinic patients in New Orleans finds that, despite being disproportionately low-income and uninsured, these patients had fewer problems affording care and fewer instances of medical debt and inefficient care than most U.S. adults.

18 Jan 2010

Missouri best in using federal aid to combat Medicaid fraud, other states fight over federal rules

The Kansas City Star reports that Missouri led the country in 2008 in efficiency in using federal dollars to combat Medicaid fraud. "The state recovered almost $29.8 million in 2008, the most recent year for which comparative data are available, while receiving about $1.6 million in federal Medicaid fraud grants. That equates to $18.81 recovered for every dollar received — 43 cents better than the next-best state" (Noble, 1/12).

18 Jan 2010

KHN column: Individual mandate would impose taxes on low-wage workers

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Michael Cannon writes: "In their attempt to expand health insurance coverage, House and Senate Democrats are poised to make the American dream less accessible to low-income Americans by hitting them with higher implicit tax rates than even multi-millionaires face"

18 Jan 2010

Health Policy Research Roundup: New Orleans clinic experiences, health reform and lagging biomedical research funds

Journal of the American Medical Association: Funding of US Biomedical Research, 2003-2008 - After doubling in a decade, the rate of increase in biomedical research in the U.S. has slowed since 2005, and the level of funding from the National Institutes of Health and industry appears to have decreased by 2 percent in 2008, after adjusting for inflation, the authors of this study report.

18 Jan 2010

Health Insurance News and Research

Blue Cross Blue Shield accepts grant proposals from elementary schools to reduce childhood obesity

Aetna and Walgreens collaborate to educate people on taking adequate levels of Vitamin D

Lawmakers discuss health reform bill's future; Reid says Senate won't take further action until Brown is seated

CIGNA International to develop and offer individual PMI for customers around the globe

Aetna announces new fitness and nutrition program for employers nationwide

Budget woes prompt health cuts in some states

First Edition: January 20, 2010

OAC calls for health insurance coverage of USPTF recommended childhood obesity treatments

St. Jude Medical completes second interoperability testing process for Merlin.net Patient Care Network

Recipients of comprehensive primary care twice as likely to rate healthcare as high-quality

News reports question health reform provisions, forecast legal issues

Medicare, consumers face challenges when trying to make choices based on value

First Edition: January 19, 2010

Anthem Blue Cross and California Regional Hospital Associations join in patient safety collaborative

New data shows significant rise in healthcare premiums

Wellness programs help retain employees

Patients have few barriers to affordable health care, efficient care in post-Katrina primary care clinics

Missouri best in using federal aid to combat Medicaid fraud, other states fight over federal rules

KHN column: Individual mandate would impose taxes on low-wage workers

Health Policy Research Roundup: New Orleans clinic experiences, health reform and lagging biomedical research funds

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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