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The Affordable Care Act can benefit 18.3 million men and women ages 50 to 64

18.3 million men and women ages 50 to 64 stand to benefit from provisions in the Affordable Care Act, assure that all health insurance provides a standard comprehensive benefit, prevent insurers from denying coverage or charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions, and eliminate lifetime and annual limits in health insurance policies, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report released today.

14 Dec 2010

Consumers, employers and insurers work to incorporate reform's new rules

Big employers and insurers continue to brace for health reform's changes and new rules. In other news, CalPERS gives the new health law positive early reviews while other reports focus on how reform could impact Medicare coverage.

13 Dec 2010

Federal judge poised to issue ruling in Virginia health law challenge

A Virginia federal court judge is expected today to issue a much-awaited ruling on whether the new health law violates the Constitution. Meanwhile, legal arguments are scheduled to take place Thursday in a Florida courtroom regarding a separate challenge to the health overhaul.

13 Dec 2010

Mass. confronts high health costs

Massachusetts, four years into its own version of health reform, is now taking on the issue of spiraling health costs by attempting to change the health care payment system.

13 Dec 2010

1099 repeal foiled again, Politico reports

News outlets report on a number of Capitol Hill developments, including the latest failed attempt to repeal the 1099 reporting provision of the health overhaul.

13 Dec 2010

OpEds: Ryan on 'welfare state'; Wisconsin health care; Facing AIDS; Penn. safety net

Government health programs can help fulfill the mission of health security, but the current structures of Medicare, Medicaid - and now Obamacare - rely on a faulty architecture that puts the federal government in charge on health care decision-making.

13 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 13, 2010

Today's health policy headlines highlight today's expected ruling by a Virginia federal court judge on the health law's constitutionality.

13 Dec 2010

House clears the Medicare 'doc fix' for the President's signature; Senate falls short of passing 9/11 bill

In the midst of the lame duck session, House lawmakers approve a one-year Medicare pay fix for physicians — clearing the measure for the president's signature.

10 Dec 2010

Arizona's transplant funding cuts continue to trigger controversy; Florida, Kansas focus on state role in reforms; Wisc. plan would elminate tax on health savings accounts

[Arizona Gov. Jane] Brewer's transplant cutbacks have become a rallying cause for Democrats, who call her decision "Brewercare." It's hypocritical for Republicans to support the program's end while opposing President Barack Obama's health-care legislation on the ground it would create death panels run by bureaucrats, said Anna Tovar, a Democratic state representative from Tolleson (Palmeri, 12/10).

10 Dec 2010

HHS slaps 'mini-med' plans with new restrictions

The Department of Health and Human Services offers new guidance on "mini-med" health plans, requiring that insurers selling these limited coverage offerings must inform consumers "in plain language" how such plans fall short of the health law's minimum coverage standards.

10 Dec 2010

GOP lawmaker calls government funding bill a 'trojan horse' for health reform

Politics continue to swirl around health overhaul and deficit reduction issues. A new Bloomberg poll, for instance, indicates that the public wants the deficit addressed, but still wants Congress to stay away from Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs. Meanwhile, a GOP senator targets the catch-all spending bill to fund the government as a "trojan horse" to fund the health overhaul. Off the hill, groups are paying particular attention to the words used in discussing health policy issues.

10 Dec 2010

Rule makers in health reform hot seat; Number of administration waivers from key aspect of law climbing

As rulemaking continues to be the new focus in the health law debate, media outlets report on the Obama administration use of waivers regarding a key aspect of the new law.

10 Dec 2010

New Jersey judge dismisses another health reform legal challenge

In New Jersey, a federal district court judge issued the latest dismissal in the ongoing legal challenges to health reform. Still, all eyes continue to watch for a ruling from a Virginia court sometime this month.

10 Dec 2010

OpEds: How debt panel 'punted' on health costs; Sustainable 'doc fix;' Arizona 'death panel;' Sebelius on flu vaccine

In this Kaiser Health News column, Austin Frakt and Aaron Carroll write: "By some accounts, the Republican takeover of the House is a game changer for health reform. Already, it has reinvigorated debate over the law, and the media have focused on what federal legislators can or will do to alter it. But more attention should be directed elsewhere. The future trajectory of health reform will be shaped far more by interest group agendas and state-level actions than by the new House leadership's stated plans. Not only has the game changed, but so have the most important players" (12/9).

9 Dec 2010

MyHospital website goes live

The public will have access to nationally-consistent performance data for almost 1,000 Australian hospitals online for the first time at the federal government’s MyHospitals website. The website includes information on 922 public and private hospitals around the country and is live at 11am (AEDT) on Friday.

9 Dec 2010

Capitol Hill: Upton to lead energy and commerce; Dems unveil budget bill, Senate considers 9/11 worker health bill

The Hill: Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) "is in position to become the next chairman of the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce," which puts him in "an enviable position for any House Republican, as he will lead efforts to investigate, repeal and replace the new health care reform law." Upton received the endorsement of the Republican steering committee Tuesday night (Millman, 12/7).

9 Dec 2010

Senators announce deal to 'fix' Medicare doctor payments - for now

Senate leaders announced a deal late Tuesday to stave off deep cuts to physicians' Medicare payments by repurposing money set aside for the health law, Politico reports. The deal, announced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., changes ... "how much money consumers would have to repay if they receive too large a subsidy in the health insurance exchanges after 2014.

9 Dec 2010

Docs distrust hospitals; Americans divided over health law; Children's hospitals lose discounts on orphan drugs

"The successful implementation of the new health care reform law will hinge on physicians and hospitals working out trust issues with one another," according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers survey. "The reform law requires increased collaboration and information sharing between physicians and hospitals, including through new accountable care organization arrangements, to reduce costs and increase quality."

9 Dec 2010

HHS reaches out to defiant states for health law support

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is personally contacting incoming governors — many of whom are Republicans who campaigned against the health law — to try to build relationships that could prove critical to the law's implementation.

8 Dec 2010

Texas health officials confronting Medicaid costs

"The biggest culprit in Texas' growing debate over escalating Medicaid costs" is "[a] mathematical formula that calculates how much the federal government pays and what's left over for the state," Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with The Texas Tribune, reports. "Already facing a record budget shortfall, Texas' Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) will drop more than 2 percentage points in late 2011, equivalent to a $1.2 billion hit."

8 Dec 2010

Health Reform News and Research

The Affordable Care Act can benefit 18.3 million men and women ages 50 to 64

Consumers, employers and insurers work to incorporate reform's new rules

Federal judge poised to issue ruling in Virginia health law challenge

Mass. confronts high health costs

1099 repeal foiled again, Politico reports

OpEds: Ryan on 'welfare state'; Wisconsin health care; Facing AIDS; Penn. safety net

First Edition: December 13, 2010

House clears the Medicare 'doc fix' for the President's signature; Senate falls short of passing 9/11 bill

Arizona's transplant funding cuts continue to trigger controversy; Florida, Kansas focus on state role in reforms; Wisc. plan would elminate tax on health savings accounts

HHS slaps 'mini-med' plans with new restrictions

GOP lawmaker calls government funding bill a 'trojan horse' for health reform

Rule makers in health reform hot seat; Number of administration waivers from key aspect of law climbing

New Jersey judge dismisses another health reform legal challenge

OpEds: How debt panel 'punted' on health costs; Sustainable 'doc fix;' Arizona 'death panel;' Sebelius on flu vaccine

MyHospital website goes live

Capitol Hill: Upton to lead energy and commerce; Dems unveil budget bill, Senate considers 9/11 worker health bill

Senators announce deal to 'fix' Medicare doctor payments - for now

Docs distrust hospitals; Americans divided over health law; Children's hospitals lose discounts on orphan drugs

HHS reaches out to defiant states for health law support

Texas health officials confronting Medicaid costs

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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