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Health law causing ripples in Congress, insurance industry, among doctors

The Washington Post: "One of the most significant savings envisioned in the new health- care law - limiting payments to the private health plans that cover 11 million older Americans under Medicare - is, so far, bringing little of the turbulence that the insurance industry and many Republicans predicted. ... Early clues to the actual effects have now materialized, as elderly Americans may sign up for a health plan for 2011 during an enrollment period through the end of the year, and the warnings of swift, serious damage to the program are not borne out.

1 Dec 2010

Health care models: Accountable Care Organizations, medical homes

Kansas Health Institute News Service examines accountable care organizations (ACOs): "In an effort to combat the lack of coordination that is widely recognized as a major shortcoming of the current health system, the new federal health reform law includes provisions intended to encourage wider use of Accountable Care Organizations or ACOs."

30 Nov 2010

Queensland allied health workers go on strike over pay issues

Nearly 10,000 allied health professionals of Queensland health have gone on strike for 24 hours from midnight (AEST) over a pay dispute with the government. The health workers include occupational therapists, social workers, radiographers, pharmacists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, theatre technicians and dental workers. They feel that the government’s proposed 7.5 per cent pay increase over three years is not enough.

30 Nov 2010

Texas gives disability oversight to quasi-government authorities; Colorado rural ambulance services face crisis

Texas Tribune: "For years, the state paid private providers who care for people with disabilities to help the clients decide how many services they need and how intensive they should be. But an 11th-hour change state lawmakers inserted into the budget last session stripped the private providers of this case management responsibility, giving it instead to local, quasi-governmental Mental Retardation Authorities, who administer publicly funded services to people with disabilities.

30 Nov 2010

Support elusive for debt panel as Wednesday deadline nears

The chairmen of a bipartisan panel appointed by President Barack Obama are altering an early draft of recommendations to reduce the nation's debt, in hopes of attracting broader support, The Wall Street Journal reports. Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican (former) Sen. Alan Simpson "need 14 of the 18 members of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to support their proposal in order to issue a formal recommendation, which could then be voted on by Congress before the end of the year.

30 Nov 2010

Groups sharpen distinctions on health reform repeal as court cases continue

With Republicans set to take control of Ohio and the U.S. House of Representatives, patient advocates say they are worried about the future of health-care reform.

29 Nov 2010

Health reform law facing showdown in courts, Congress

As the Obama administration presses ahead with the health care law, officials are bracing for the possibility that a federal judge in Virginia will soon reject its central provision as unconstitutional and, in the worst case for the White House, halt its enforcement until higher courts can rule.

28 Nov 2010

NSW emergency departments falling short on targets

According to the Bureau of Health Information’s latest Hospital Quarterly Figures emergency departments in New South Wales hospitals are still not meeting recommended waiting targets. The figures reveal that more than a third of patients transferred by an ambulance waited longer than the accepted 30 minutes to be taken into the care of emergency departments.

25 Nov 2010

Public health: Frequency of dialysis treatment questioned, chemotherapy drug shortages

A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health suggests that receiving dialysis six days a week results in better self-reported patient health than the conventional treatment of three times per week.

25 Nov 2010

Privacy complaint targets online health sites

The New York Times: Consumer groups have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging popular health websites are collecting too much information from users, saying that "site visitors who provide personal details about themselves might not be aware that QualityHealth [among other websites] collects information about people's medical conditions, preferred medicines and treatment plans and uses it to profile its users for prescription drug marketing" (Singer, 11/23).

25 Nov 2010

Democrats, liberal groups urge GOP lawmakers who opposed health law now to reject federal insurance

When a little-known GOP Congressman-elect who campaigned against the new health law demanded that the benefits of his new federal health plan start immediately, it was an irresistible opening for some.

24 Nov 2010

Poll shows majority favor health reform; N.Y. Democrat dares GOP to repeal law; Court allows legal challenge

McClatchy Newspapers: "A majority of Americans want the Congress to keep the new health care law or actually expand it, despite Republican claims that they have a mandate from the people to kill it, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll. The post-election survey showed that 51 percent of registered voters want to keep the law or change it to do more, while 44 percent want to change it to do less or repeal it altogether.

24 Nov 2010

Cancers detected late leading to unnecessary deaths: Report

A new report released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that in spite of the widely available screening tests many cancers are not diagnosed until the disease is well-advanced and, therefore, less treatable and more fatal. The report says that half of colorectal cancers and cervical cancers and one-third of breast cancers in the United States are detected at a late stage.

24 Nov 2010

Insurers' stocks rise on new HHS rules designed to protect consumers, increase insurer spending on care

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius unveiled regulations requiring insurers to spend 80 to 85 percent of premiums collected on medical care, Politico reports. "The rules will have vast implications for how insurance companies spend money as well as for other aspects of the health care industry. Insurers' worries that the Department of Health and Human Services would rule against them on a number of issues were unfounded, and many of the nation's largest insurance companies' stocks rose on the news Monday."

24 Nov 2010

Kansas hospitals report sharp increases in uncompensated care

News outlets report on a dramatic increase in uncompensated care at Kansas hospitals because of the economic downturn and a new study that finds poor families with high-deductible plans often put off needed care.

23 Nov 2010

Health law repeal murky as groups press officials, target specific provisions

In an analysis, The New York Times, reports that while "Republicans have a big majority in the House, Democratic control of the Senate and the presidential veto power make repeal [of the health law] or major change impossible. [But] there is another reason. More than a few Republicans know that while the politics of trying to nitpick provisions and curb funding are appealing, any wholesale repeal of major provisions of the health care overhaul is likely to generate a backlash.

23 Nov 2010

State roundup: Calif. stem cell research; Mass. prisons change HIV medicine procedure; Native Americans' high suicide rates

When millionaire Silicon Valley real estate developer Bob Klein launched his ballot drive to create a $3-billion state fund for stem-cell research in 2004, he pitched it as a way of taking politics out of science and focusing on cures.

22 Nov 2010

The conservative way forward on health care

The landslide Republican victory, in taking the House and electing some strong conservatives to the Senate, can be interpreted as a mandate to rein in government spending, and specifically to repeal ObamaCare, as these issues were clearly behind the large turnout. There is still a very real possibility the Supreme Court will find the “individual mandate” to buy private insurance unconstitutional. If this provision is thrown out, it’s hard to see how the law survives, since the mandate is needed to finance it.

22 Nov 2010

Today's Op-Eds: The Ryan roadmap; Democrats and the doc fix; Health reform's failed promises; 'Don't litigate, innovate'

According to tax records unearthed by Bloomberg News, the health insurance lobby secretly gave $86.2 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2009 to try to prevent the health care bill from becoming law. The huge contribution — 40 percent of the chamber's spending for that year — allowed the group to run ads against the bill without tainting the insurance industry, which was negotiating with Democrats on the bill at the same time (11/22).

22 Nov 2010

Employers scrutinize dependents for health coverage

The Wall Street Journal: "More employers are scrutinizing employees' health-insurance dependents in order to weed out ineligible beneficiaries" in an effort to cut costs. "Benefits-consulting companies say interest in dependent audits has been growing for the past few years, but has ticked up more recently. … These companies aim to verify the relationships of dependents such as spouses and children, soliciting documents including marriage and birth certificates. In many cases, employers haven't previously asked employees to verify dependents' eligibility" (Mattioli, 11/22).

22 Nov 2010

Health Reform News and Research

Health law causing ripples in Congress, insurance industry, among doctors

Health care models: Accountable Care Organizations, medical homes

Queensland allied health workers go on strike over pay issues

Texas gives disability oversight to quasi-government authorities; Colorado rural ambulance services face crisis

Support elusive for debt panel as Wednesday deadline nears

Groups sharpen distinctions on health reform repeal as court cases continue

Health reform law facing showdown in courts, Congress

NSW emergency departments falling short on targets

Public health: Frequency of dialysis treatment questioned, chemotherapy drug shortages

Privacy complaint targets online health sites

Democrats, liberal groups urge GOP lawmakers who opposed health law now to reject federal insurance

Poll shows majority favor health reform; N.Y. Democrat dares GOP to repeal law; Court allows legal challenge

Cancers detected late leading to unnecessary deaths: Report

Insurers' stocks rise on new HHS rules designed to protect consumers, increase insurer spending on care

Kansas hospitals report sharp increases in uncompensated care

Health law repeal murky as groups press officials, target specific provisions

State roundup: Calif. stem cell research; Mass. prisons change HIV medicine procedure; Native Americans' high suicide rates

The conservative way forward on health care

Today's Op-Eds: The Ryan roadmap; Democrats and the doc fix; Health reform's failed promises; 'Don't litigate, innovate'

Employers scrutinize dependents for health coverage

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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