Health Reform News and Research

RSS

CMS awards $230M task order contract to CSC

CSC announced today that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Clinical Standards and Quality awarded the company a task order to migrate key information technology systems to a new service-oriented architecture. The contract, which was awarded during CSC's fiscal 2011 second quarter, has a six-month base period and six one-year options, bringing the estimated 78-month contract value to $230 million.

16 Nov 2010

Republicans increase challenges to health law, repeal rhetoric

With their eyes on the 2012 election, Republicans are preparing to maximize conflict with Democrats over healthcare in the new Congress and minimize potential compromises, according to GOP strategists, lawmakers and lobbyists. That strategy is setting the stage for a bitter stalemate on Capitol Hill over the next two years ... Republican leaders and strategists think a renewed battle over healthcare will help the party expand its electoral gains and drive President Obama from the White House.

16 Nov 2010

KHN column: For health overhaul, implementation is now job one

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Timothy Jost writes, The foremost concern of many of us who fought for health care reform is what its fate will be in the post-midterm-election world.

15 Nov 2010

National health disparities conference wraps up with creative approaches, expectations for new healthcare reform

Focusing on the disparities in the quality of health care across demographic groups, the Fourth Annual National Conference on Health Disparities brought together White House officials and national and local healthcare executives to address a series of key questions about non-medical determinants of health quality and to recommend strategies to bring more equitable healthcare access to the underserved. The determinants discussed at the four-day-long conference, which began November 10, 2010 and concluded Saturday, November 13, 2010, included education levels, health literacy, poverty, public safety, community design, access to care, environmental quality and personal, government and corporate responsibility.

15 Nov 2010

Science and precedent do not support biosimilar approach for plasma protein therapies

The current science and experience does not support the safety and efficaciousness of a biosimilar pathway for plasma protein therapies. At a public hearing last week, the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association (PPTA) urged the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make patient safety its top priority by adopting a global approach in its evaluation of plasma protein therapies for the biosimilars process.

15 Nov 2010

State roundup: Calif. speeds ahead on health reform; Nebraska abortion provider expanding clinics; Ky. hospital merger

California has moved quickly to implement key provisions of the federal health care overhaul law, including a health benefits exchange, but the exchange and California's plans could be vulnerable as House Republicans threaten to starve the federal health program of funding.

15 Nov 2010

Republicans take hard line, look for Democrat health law repeal allies

Republicans aren't softening their tough criticism of the health law even as they seek Democratic allies to join them in their bid to repeal the overhaul.

15 Nov 2010

Baucus to offer bill to amend business provision in health law

A leading Senate Democrat vowed Friday to introduce legislation killing a part of the new healthcare reform law that imposes new tax-filing requirements on small businesses.

15 Nov 2010

Changes to flexible spending accounts raise concerns

NPR reports on the upcoming change to flexible spending accounts, when "you'll no longer be able to set aside pretax dollars in that account to use for medicines bought without a doctor's prescription," and looks at the "loophole" that may allow consumers to use FSA dollars on over-the-counter medication if they obtain a prescription for it.

12 Nov 2010

New leaders in Congress called upon to fix restrictions on flexible spending accounts

Save Flexible Spending Plans today called on the new leaders in Congress to follow through on their campaign promises to fix problems with the health care reform law, including restrictions on employer-provided flexible spending accounts (FSAs).

12 Nov 2010

Employer-based insurance, funding to states among future implementation issues

The Atlantic spoke with Andrew Webber, president and CEO of the National Business Coalition on Health, "a national, not-for-profit organization that represents public and private sector employers," who said: "There are a lot of different requirement issues [in the health reform law]. … To be brutally honest, do [employers] like a lot of new regulation? No, they're business people. But I like the delivery system reforms."

12 Nov 2010

Comparative effectiveness push tailed by controversy, distrust

Two-third of Americans agree that studies comparing treatments are needed, but even more 75 percent say the government and insurers would use the results of such studies to ration medical care, MarketWatch reports.

12 Nov 2010

Calif. nurses emerge as political force; Iowa official under fire for strict policy on nursing home inspections; new 'homey' facilities for seniors increasing

One of California's most powerful political players these days is a Bay Area-based nurses' union, which helped torpedo Republican Meg Whitman's efforts to become governor and boosted the prospects of the eventual winning candidate, Democrat Jerry Brown.

12 Nov 2010

Poll finds Americans' conflicting views about public health system

A comprehensive review of national opinion polls shows that Americans have conflicting views about the nation's public health system and are divided along partisan lines in their support of additional spending on public health programs. A majority supports increased spending on public health in general and sees public health interventions as saving money in the long term.

11 Nov 2010

GOP lawmakers push health law investigation, Democrats consider revisions and legacy

GOP lawmakers are considering using their new posts in powerful House committees to go after President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, and they're focusing on questions uppermost in the minds of consumers.

10 Nov 2010

Mont. Medicaid managed care plan chills health industry

A plan to privatize some Medicaid services trumpeted by Montana's Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer has received a chilly reception from the health industry, leaving no clear resolution to the state's Medicaid funding problems, The Billings (Mont.) Gazette reports.

10 Nov 2010

City and State officials, AHHE leaders to discuss quality of care for Hispanics

The Association of Hispanic Healthcare Executives announced today the City and State elected officials who will meet with the leaders of nine Hispanic health associations to discuss Hispanic Health Care Disparities, Policy and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Roundtable of Hispanic Professional Health Associations, which will formally be established at this meeting, will hold its 2010 State & National Legislative Summit on the heels of the 2010 election, which generated results that may challenge the implementation of the health reform law.

10 Nov 2010

Conference of The MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics to focus on health disparities

The 22nd annual conference of The MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago will be held at the University of Chicago Law School, 1111 E. 60th Street, on Fri., Nov. 12, from 1 to 5 pm, and Sat., Nov. 13, from 7:30 am to 5:15 pm.

10 Nov 2010

Health reform policy: Flexible spending, device taxes and waivers

One health law provision will be a bummer for people who use the tax-free dollars stored in flexible spending accounts, Kaiser Health News reports. "Starting in January, you'll no longer be able to use your FSA for over-the-counter drugs and medicines unless you have a doctor's prescription. Experts agree that the new rules will likely discourage people from tapping their FSAs for routine purchases of aspirin, vitamins, cough medicine and other drugstore essentials" (Andrews, 11/8).

10 Nov 2010

Republicans' committee plans take shape amid health reform questions

The Hill: "House Ways and Means Chairman-to-be Dave Camp (R-Mich.) is making his case for repealing and replacing the healthcare overhaul, touting his own version of a bill that he says would reduce premiums." Camp made his case in a USA Today editorial and says the GOP plan would reduce premiums by up to 10 percent. Camp says his plan would reform medical malpractice lawsuits, allow Americans to buy health insurance across state lines, and gives "states the flexibility to make changes that best meet the needs of their residents."

10 Nov 2010

Health Reform News and Research

CMS awards $230M task order contract to CSC

Republicans increase challenges to health law, repeal rhetoric

KHN column: For health overhaul, implementation is now job one

National health disparities conference wraps up with creative approaches, expectations for new healthcare reform

Science and precedent do not support biosimilar approach for plasma protein therapies

State roundup: Calif. speeds ahead on health reform; Nebraska abortion provider expanding clinics; Ky. hospital merger

Republicans take hard line, look for Democrat health law repeal allies

Baucus to offer bill to amend business provision in health law

Changes to flexible spending accounts raise concerns

New leaders in Congress called upon to fix restrictions on flexible spending accounts

Employer-based insurance, funding to states among future implementation issues

Comparative effectiveness push tailed by controversy, distrust

Calif. nurses emerge as political force; Iowa official under fire for strict policy on nursing home inspections; new 'homey' facilities for seniors increasing

Poll finds Americans' conflicting views about public health system

GOP lawmakers push health law investigation, Democrats consider revisions and legacy

Mont. Medicaid managed care plan chills health industry

City and State officials, AHHE leaders to discuss quality of care for Hispanics

Conference of The MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics to focus on health disparities

Health reform policy: Flexible spending, device taxes and waivers

Republicans' committee plans take shape amid health reform questions

Industry Focus eBook - Cell biology (5th edition) eBook

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

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

Applications Engineer

Latest News