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Daschle says GOP might defund health plan, and other overhaul news

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, tells Kaiser Health News that a Republican strategy to defund the health law may be an effective way for the plan's opponents to unravel it.

25 Oct 2010

Daschle on health law: Defunding is 'a serious threat'

Tom Daschle, the former Senate Majority Leader and a senior, informal, advisor to President Obama during the health debate has been writing and talking about how the law got passed.

25 Oct 2010

Candidates debating health law as election nears

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) needled President Obama upon his planned campaign stop in the state on Saturday. Pawlenty, a potential Republican candidate to challenge Obama in 2012, leveled criticisms against the president.

25 Oct 2010

First Edition: October 22, 2010

Today's headlines detail the National Association of Insurance Commissioners vote on recommendations regarding a key provision of the health law.

22 Oct 2010

Patients are under-informed about treatments; Home-based care gains popularity

A survey of more than 3,000 patients age 40 and older reveals that physicians often leave information out when they present treatment plans to patients, who "hear far more from doctors about the pros than cons of medications, tests and surgeries." Often, "physicians tend to offer opinions, not options, the researchers found, and rarely mention to patients that they can decide not to do anything," according to the study, which was funded by the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making.

22 Oct 2010

KHN column: Yeah, those emergency rooms are crowded

"Almost everyone understands that our emergency medical care system has real problems. Yet a surprising number of people, on many sides of the policy debate, wrongly view reducing emergency department use as a key measure of health reform's success" (10/21).

22 Oct 2010

State races take on health care tone as candidates talk overhaul

The health overhaul is making itself felt in political races around the country.

22 Oct 2010

Insurance commissioners to vote on spending requirements

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners will make a final vote on its recommendations for regulating how much insurers must spend on medical services, a key health law provision, Kaiser Health News reports.

22 Oct 2010

Today's OpEds: Orszag on malpractice reform; debate over individual mandate; insurers' hard-ball tactics

Opponents of the act are generally off base in criticizing investments in improved care. In complaining about the missed opportunity to reform medical malpractice laws to promote evidence-based medical practice, on the other hand, the critics are entirely on target.

22 Oct 2010

First Edition: October 21, 2010

Today's headlines include news about how opponents of the health law are steering the educational efforts that surround it, as well as poll results that suggest continued Republican inroads at the polls.

21 Oct 2010

Idaho halts Medicaid cuts for dental care; Georgia and justice department reach accord on mental health services

Gov. C.L. 'Butch' Otter removed a political abscess Tuesday, restoring all previously contracted dental care providers to the state's Medicaid-funded Idaho Smiles program.

21 Oct 2010

HHS did not violate federal law for Medicare ads, GAO says

The Hill Healthwatch: "The Department of Health and Human Services did not violate federal prohibitions on publicity and propaganda with its health reform advertising and technical assistance contracts, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday. Two HHS television ads, however, 'overstate one of (the law's) benefits,' GAO writes in a letter to Reps. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). The lawmakers requested the office's legal opinion about the ads and HHS's contracts with MIT economist Jonathan Gruber.

21 Oct 2010

Unitedhealth says it will test lump sum payments for some cancer care, reports earnings

Health insurer UnitedHealth said Tuesday that it will test a new way payment method for cancer doctors. The program pays doctors a lump sum payment for providing care during an entire course of care for the disease instead of how it's done now with a fee for each service a doctor provides.

21 Oct 2010

Health reform law news: HHS awards $30 million in consumer assistance grants

The Department of Health and Human Services says it will award $30 million in consumer assistance grants to help states and territories either establish or strengthen programs that provide direct services to patients related to their health insurance, Modern Healthcare reports.

21 Oct 2010

Today's Opinions: The health law and Medicare, issues of implementation; the call for repeal

The reality is that the bill doesn't cut Medicare benefits a dime and doesn't "jeopardize access" for anybody, although it may very well force plenty of seniors to change the plans they're on. It also puts Medicare on sounder financial footing, postponing insolvency for about 12 years.

21 Oct 2010

NHS needs £20bn of efficiency savings

Britain’s NHS would become one of only two government departments not to face budget cuts in the latest spending review. However some key features have been removed. This includes one-week wait for cancer diagnosis and free prescriptions for people with long-term illnesses.

20 Oct 2010

Queensland Health payroll issues lead to resignation of another bureaucrat

Union representatives for Queensland Health (QH) payroll workers have backed an executive’s claims of being bullied at work. Tens of thousands of QH employees have been paid incorrectly since the payroll system was introduced in March.

20 Oct 2010

Studies explore efforts to measure, improve hospitals' surgical outcomes

Hospital Compare, an HHS website that allows patients to compare hospitals online using various indicators of quality, is intended to help them choose better facilities for their medical care. But a new report in the Archives of Surgery says the website doesn't help Medicare beneficiaries in need of certain high-risk surgeries find better facilities.

20 Oct 2010

Candidates continue to clash over health care law

Candidates around the nation are increasingly focusing on what they'll do with the new health law if they're elected as clashes over the overhaul's usefulness and future continue to occur on the campaign trail.

20 Oct 2010

As state commissioners meet on medical loss ratio, insurers warn of impact

Insurers are warning that a provision in the health law that requires them to spend 80 or 85 percent of premiums they collect on actual medical costs and not administrative expenses could put them out of business.

20 Oct 2010