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New study highlights prevalence of diagnostic errors in US

According to El Paso, Texas personal injury attorney Michael Gopin, medical malpractice is a critical form of negligence that can not only result in legal action against the provider, but in harm against patients. While healthcare negligence can range from faulty surgeries to impaired physicians, Gopin explains that one common incident involves the wrongful diagnosis of patient medical conditions.

9 May 2013

State roundup: Ala. lawmakers OK shift to Medicaid managed care

A bill that restructures the way Medicaid is administered passed the Alabama Legislature Tuesday and now awaits the governor's signature. The State Medicaid Agency now pays doctors directly for services provided to Medicaid patients. Under the new policy, there will be several regions managed by privately owned, for-profit Regional Care Organizations that will contract with doctors and other providers (Wingard, 5/7).

9 May 2013

Viewpoints: S.C. House race spotlights Dems' discomfort with health law; Cannon, Cohn offer contrasting views of Medicaid study

The media tittering over Mrs. Colbert Busch's decision to publicly slap the former Republican governor over his extramarital affair obscured the more notable political comment of the night.

3 May 2013

$Johns Hopkins researchers find that diagnostic errors accounted for largest fraction of claims$

Johns Hopkins researchers find that diagnostic errors accounted for largest fraction of claims

In reviewing 25 years of U.S. malpractice claim payouts, Johns Hopkins researchers found that diagnostic errors — not surgical mistakes or medication overdoses — accounted for the largest fraction of claims, the most severe patient harm, and the highest total of penalty payouts.

23 Apr 2013

Ahead of big reforms, health care marketplace feels slowdown

Reuters reports a softening in demand for hospital chains and device makers, among others. Meanwhile, law enforcement officials warn of insurance scams that play on confusion over the health care overhaul.

23 Apr 2013

Roundup: Feds cut N.Y. Medicaid payments $1.2B; 93,000 fewer kids enroll in CHIP in Pa.; W. Va. lawmakers promise miners benefits

Federal authorities have dramatically lowered the amount that New York state can claim from the federal government for certain medical services, costing the state an estimated $1.2 billion.

3 Apr 2013

State roundup: NYC firms will be required to offer sick leave; Fla. government part-timers to get health coverage

New York is poised to mandate that companies with 15 or more employees provide paid time off for them when they are sick. A compromise agreement reached Thursday night resulted from a raw display of political muscle by a coalition of labor unions and liberal activists who overcame fierce objections from New York's business-minded mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg, and his allies in the corporate world (Barbaro and Grynbaum, 3/28).

30 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: N.D. abortion law is 'repressive and extreme;' States identify 'promising' ideas to overhaul medical malpractice

Late last week, the North Dakota legislature passed a bill that would ban a woman from having an abortion as soon as the heartbeat of the fetus is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

21 Mar 2013

State roundup: Conn. bill would require kids behavioral health assessments

A selection of health policy stories from New York, Connecticut, Oregon, Idaho, Georgia, Texas and California.

14 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: 'Grim' backlog at VA; Feds should stay away from reforming medical malpractice

A new report based on previously unreleased data from the Department of Veterans Affairs paints a distressing portrait of an agency buried helplessly in paperwork -- with a claims backlog that has gotten far worse in the past four years.

13 Mar 2013

Roundup: Candy, soda tax weighed in Mass.; N.H. health group rallies against higher smoker premiums; Ga. considers novel malpractice reform

Are candy and soda food? In Massachusetts, candy and soda are considered food and are exempt from the state's 6.25 percent sales tax. But Gov. Deval Patrick wants to change that. He's proposing that the legislature tax every bag of M&M's and bottle of Pepsi bought in the state.

2 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Michelle Obama makes a business case for healthy food; Orszag weighs reforms to Medical malpractice

For years, America's childhood obesity crisis was viewed as an insurmountable problem, one that was too complicated and too entrenched to ever really solve. According to the conventional wisdom, healthy food simply didn't sell-;the demand wasn't there and higher profits were found elsewhere-;so it just wasn't worth the investment. But thanks to businesses across the country, today we are proving the conventional wisdom wrong.

28 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: ACOs are doomed to fail; The need to expand Medicaid in Texas; The case against malpractice changes in Iowa

Spurred by the Affordable Care Act, hundreds of pilot programs called Accountable Care Organizations have been launched over the past year, affecting tens of millions on Medicare and many who have commercial health insurance.

21 Feb 2013

Roundup: Conn. governor's budget proposal would shed thousands from Medicaid; Insurance rates to rise 2.7% in Mass.; Calif. group wants tighter doc narcotic control

Gov. Dannel Malloy said he would close Connecticut's $1.2 billion budget gap with a mix of spending cuts, including to hospitals and programs for the poor, and new revenues, including the extension of some business taxes that were scheduled to expire.

10 Feb 2013

Longer looks: Dr. Oz, deconstructed; Malpractice and apology

Oprah Winfrey first referred to Mehmet Oz as "America's doctor" in 2004, during one of his earliest appearances on her television show. The label stuck. Oz was a rare find: so eloquent and telegenic that people are often surprised to learn that he is a highly credentialled member of the medical establishment. ... "The Dr. Oz Show" frequently focusses on essential health issues: the proper ways to eat, relax, exercise, and sleep, and how to maintain a healthy heart. Much of the advice Oz offers is sensible, and is rooted solidly in scientific literature.

1 Feb 2013

State roundup: Maine hospitals fighting for timely Medicaid payments

New York police plan to distribute "bait bottles" of fake pain-killers equipped with invisible GPS devices in a drive to combat the scourge of pharmacy robberies by addicts and sellers looking for oxycodone tablets, which can fetch more than $80 per pill on the street.

17 Jan 2013

High court turns away challenge to Obama administration stem cell policy

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case involving Medicaid and malpractice awards. In addition, the justices rejected an appeal from Social Security recipients who don't want Medicare benefits.

9 Jan 2013

State roundup: Mo. lawmakers look to cap malpractice awards

A selection of health policy stories from California, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Texas, Illinois and North Carolina.

8 Jan 2013

Findings quantify national rate of surgical 'never events'

After a cautious and rigorous analysis of national malpractice claims, Johns Hopkins patient safety researchers estimate that a surgeon in the United States leaves a foreign object such as a sponge or a towel inside a patient's body after an operation 39 times a week, performs the wrong procedure on a patient 20 times a week and operates on the wrong body site 20 times a week.

21 Dec 2012

Research Roundup: Health law's under-26 coverage 'significantly increased' access to care; Thousands of surgical 'never events' occur each year

The health law allows young adults to remain under their parents' health insurance plans until age 26, raising questions about the law's overall impact on access to care. Researchers used data from two nationally representative surveys to compare young adults who've gained access to dependent coverage to a control group of individuals (ages 26-34) unaffected by the new policy.