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Pelosi signals openness to bill without public option, others also eye possibilities

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled Wednesday that she is open to health care reform that doesn't include a public option, "a strong signal that Congress could agree on a plan early next year," McClatchy reports.

17 Dec 2009

HCC Medical Insurance Services develops business and customer relationships through social media

There was a time when customers had to make personal visits to receive assistance. To make these tasks more convenient and cost-effective, companies developed automated systems to support customers 24/7. However, as popular radio host Clark Howard frequently comments, the result has been “customer no service.”

17 Dec 2009

New comparison of subsidized COBRA premiums and non-group health insurance premiums

Today eHealth, Inc. released a new comparison of subsidized individual COBRA premiums and non-group health insurance premiums for individuals using data derived from eHealth's December 2009 Cost and Benefits Report and a Families USA Foundation report released in January 2009.

17 Dec 2009

Quantros launches new healthcare IT consulting division

Quantros, Inc., a leading provider of safety and quality software and professional services solutions for the healthcare industry, announces the creation of a new healthcare IT consulting division.

17 Dec 2009

Obama 'cautiously optimistic' on reform after meeting with Senate Democrats

President Obama told Senate Democrats Tuesday in an hour-long meeting that they are on the "precipice" of health reform and said that he was "cautiously optimistic" that health reform would get done, the Los Angeles Times reports. "President Obama, acknowledging that he will have to accept serious compromises in the passage of a healthcare overhaul, insisted today that he would not let the public down on an issue that he had made the centerpiece of his first-year domestic agenda."

16 Dec 2009

States battle budget cuts and recession

Houston Chronicle: "Texas scores high in emergency preparedness during a time when many other states are suffering cuts in state and federal public health funding and losses in medical staff, according to the Ready or Not? report, sponsored by Trust for America's Health, a disease prevention advocacy group, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation." But, economic turmoil has led to a "nationwide backslide in overall emergency preparedness" (Burton, 12/15).

16 Dec 2009

ACI survey: 48% of Americans oppose the Senate bill

Consumers oppose the current Senate Healthcare legislation by a two-to-one margin. In a nationwide survey conducted by the American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research (ACI), 48% of Americans oppose the Senate bill, while 24% support it.

16 Dec 2009

Cost-effective alternative to original Medicare or Medicare supplement plan for Syracuse-area residents

At a time when many people with Medicare in Syracuse are increasingly concerned about finding affordable health insurance, they now have a new Medicare Advantage option for 2010.

16 Dec 2009

First Edition: December 16, 2009

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey explores some of the key issues within current health reform proposals related to Medicare and cost. "In an effort to rein in health costs, Senate Democrats are proposing steps that would give federal agencies more power to overhaul how Medicare pays for medical care - and thus reduce Congress' own role in running the giant program for the elderly" (Kaiser Health News).

16 Dec 2009

HealthInsight and HealthMedia join to deliver Internet-based Digital Coaching solutions

HealthInsight, provider of the only value-based health care administration platform, today announced a partnership with HealthMedia, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, to deliver Internet-based Digital Coaching™ solutions focused on lifestyle and behavioral change.

16 Dec 2009

Consumer Watchdog calls for preserving state authority, ban on annual benefit limits and effective rate regulation

Consumer Watchdog condemned the removal of the Medicare buy-in provision for those over 55 and the public option from the U.S. Senate health reform bill. But the group said that the Senate must still make three essential fixes to the greatly weakened bill to prevent ceding the entire health care system to the insurance industry.

16 Dec 2009

Challenges U.S. and U.K. cancer patients face in gaining access to expensive treatments

Cancer patients in both the United States and the United Kingdom face challenges in gaining access to expensive treatments, according to research published in the December issue of The Milbank Quarterly.

16 Dec 2009

Senate Democrats vote against tax amendment

The Senate will vote today on an amendment which would send the healthcare bill back to the Finance Committee to strip out its numerous tax hikes on families making less than $250,000 per year. The vote sets up a showdown for Senate Democrats as President Barack Obama has made a "firm pledge" not to raise "any form" of taxes on these families.

16 Dec 2009

MU researcher says older American women face unique barriers in healthcare

For Americans living in rural areas, obtaining and maintaining health care can be challenging. Aside from common barriers, including shortages of care providers and facilities, older women face additional challenges, according to Kay Libbus, a public health researcher at the University of Missouri. Libbus says that women ages 50-65 living in rural areas are at-risk for inadequate health care coverage and limited access to health information.

16 Dec 2009

Lieberman ready to support health bill without Medicare buy-in or public option

CNN: "Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman said Tuesday he is prepared to back a comprehensive health care reform bill if it excludes both a public health insurance option and a provision allowing 55- to 64-year-olds to buy into Medicare."

15 Dec 2009

U.S. questions California's CHIP program; Milwaukee schools face rising retiree health care costs

News outlets report on California's children's health program, health care costs for Milwaukee's schools and indigent care in Minnesota.

15 Dec 2009

News outlets check the facts and explain health care reform

MarketWatch/The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on "the five biggest myths about health reform" -- that reform would lead to a government takeover of health care, that it would ration care, that it wouldn't address "out-of-control" growth, that you could keep your insurance if you like it, and that changes would be better suited piecemeal instead of by one large bill.

15 Dec 2009

Democrats say victorious Lieberman flip-flopped on Medicare buy-in

CNN: Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., "an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, has emerged as the majority party's main obstacle to its efforts to get a health care bill through the Senate before Christmas. He ratcheted up his public opposition to the bill Sunday by threatening to join a Republican filibuster if the legislation contains either a government-run public health insurance option or a proposed alternative that would expand Medicare to people as young as 55" (Bash and Cohen, 12/14).

15 Dec 2009

After tense meeting, Dems likely to ditch Medicare buy-in plan in health bill

Top Senate Democrats were prepared Monday night to sacrifice proposals to expand Medicare in a bid to win over moderates and amass the 60 votes needed to pass their health legislation, according to news reports.

15 Dec 2009

First Edition: December 15, 2009

A glance at today's health policy headlines offers a common theme: Senate Democrats are likely to abandon the Medicare buy-in plan, which just last week was heralded as part of a compromise plan in that chamber's health bill.

15 Dec 2009

Health Insurance News and Research

Pelosi signals openness to bill without public option, others also eye possibilities

HCC Medical Insurance Services develops business and customer relationships through social media

New comparison of subsidized COBRA premiums and non-group health insurance premiums

Quantros launches new healthcare IT consulting division

Obama 'cautiously optimistic' on reform after meeting with Senate Democrats

States battle budget cuts and recession

ACI survey: 48% of Americans oppose the Senate bill

Cost-effective alternative to original Medicare or Medicare supplement plan for Syracuse-area residents

First Edition: December 16, 2009

HealthInsight and HealthMedia join to deliver Internet-based Digital Coaching solutions

Consumer Watchdog calls for preserving state authority, ban on annual benefit limits and effective rate regulation

Challenges U.S. and U.K. cancer patients face in gaining access to expensive treatments

Senate Democrats vote against tax amendment

MU researcher says older American women face unique barriers in healthcare

Lieberman ready to support health bill without Medicare buy-in or public option

U.S. questions California's CHIP program; Milwaukee schools face rising retiree health care costs

News outlets check the facts and explain health care reform

Democrats say victorious Lieberman flip-flopped on Medicare buy-in

After tense meeting, Dems likely to ditch Medicare buy-in plan in health bill

First Edition: December 15, 2009

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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