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Medical Accounts Systems, Jorge M. Abril, P.A. launch Healthcare Provider Payment

The staff at Medical Accounts Systems and the attorneys at Jorge M. Abril, P.A. are pleased to announce the launch of Healthcare Provider Payment, a blog dedicated to helping healthcare professionals and other interested parties stay abreast of relevant news and emerging trends in healthcare reimbursement, from insurance litigation news and Managed Care contracting issues, to health law and policy in general.

20 Sep 2010

New law brings changes to health insurance rules this week

A variety of consumer friendly health reform rules will go into effect this week, promising to make life easier for young adults, parents, children with preexisting conditions, people with chronic diseases, and people appealing claims that have been denied. Starting Thursday, insurance companies must allow young adults to remain on their parents' plans until age 26, with some conditions.

20 Sep 2010

Insurers say new health benefits will raise premiums

Starting next week, your insurance company can no longer put dollar limits on essential benefits such as hospital and lab services. Dependent children will be covered to age 26. You'll get preventive care with no deductible or co-pay. But there's a price some insurers are saying they will have to raise premium prices, CBS News reports.

20 Sep 2010

Lab testing is backbone of prevention: ACLA president

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and long-time advocate of prevention, will keynote a National Journal Policy Summit focused on unraveling the complexities of the cost and value of prevention in a post health reform world. The Sept. 21 event is being underwritten by the American Clinical Laboratory Association and its educational arm, Results for Life.

18 Sep 2010

La. doctors work from scratch to rebuild local health system; Mich. A.G. sues Blue Cross Blue Shield over rate changes; Wis. health programs make hefty budget request

PBS Newshour: The Newshour Health Unit, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, explores how doctors in Louisiana "are dealing with the unique challenge of reshaping a health care system that was badly damaged." Dr. Karen DeSalvo, vice dean for Community Affairs and Health Policy at Tulane University, said the response was like creating "health care in the wild. There was nothing."

18 Sep 2010

Judge releases schedule for health overhaul lawsuit proceedings; Poll finds voters indifferent to candidates' reform positions

The federal judge overseeing a lawsuit brought by 20 states against health reform released a schedule this week that lays out how the case will proceed, The Hill's Healthwatch Blog reports.

18 Sep 2010

Health premiums rise as states consider how they'll implement reforms

Overall health insurance premiums rose 7 percent in 2009, even as the number of people with health coverage fell. "Individual premium revenues rose 15 percent while group premiums, which involve mostly employers, rose nearly 3 percent, according to the report from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, an organization whose prominence has grown following passage of the new U.S. health reform law."

18 Sep 2010

Research Roundup: Assessing physician quality; Community health centers' future; Why doctors take gifts; Access to HIV treatment

Archives of Internal Medicine: Associations Between Physician Characteristics And Quality Of Care - Since "most patients do not have access to physician quality measures," they are often encouraged to use public information such as malpractice claims and board certification status to chose a doctor, according to this report that used 2004-2005 insurance claims from about 10,000 Massachusetts physicians for more than 1.13 million adults.

18 Sep 2010

Today's Opinions: Recession's impact on the uninsured; Repeal of health reform? Then what?

The record number of people last year without health insurance — 50.7 million, up from 46.3 million in 2008 — provides stark evidence of why the country desperately needs the health care reforms enacted in March (9/16).

18 Sep 2010

First Edition: September 17, 2010

"In a reflection of the battered economy, the number of people without health insurance rose sharply last year to 50.7 million — an all time high — according to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau" (Kaiser Health News). KHN also provides related resources, including a Census Bureau summary of key findings, the chapter on health insurance coverage and access the full report, "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009."

17 Sep 2010

Prematics partners with NaviNet to deliver healthcare content and applications to mobile devices

Prematics, a leading provider of e-prescribing and care communication solutions, today announced a partnership with NaviNet, America's largest real-time healthcare communications network, to enable the delivery of healthcare content and applications to mobile devices.

17 Sep 2010

Democratic candidates spend more on ads against than for health reform

Politico: Democratic candidates are spending three times more — nearly $1 million — in advertising against health reform than for it. "Since the beginning of Congress's August recess, Democratic candidates have poured $930,000 into ads deriding the health overhaul but just $300,000 in pro-reform spots, according to Evan Tracey at Kantar Media."

17 Sep 2010

First Edition: September 16, 2010

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, done in collaboration with The New Republic, Jonathan Cohn writes: "It will force a lot of people to pay higher premiums. It will lavish subsidies on the private insurance industry. It will put life-and-death decisions in the hands of bureaucrats. And it will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the federal debt" (Kaiser Health News).

17 Sep 2010

Despite recent health reform, dissatisfaction with health care system remains widespread: HCS

Findings from the 2010 Health Confidence Survey demonstrate that, despite the recent passage of health reform, dissatisfaction with the American health care system remains widespread. Furthermore, while confidence regarding various aspects of today's health care system is not high, it has neither fallen nor increased as a result of the passage of health reform.

16 Sep 2010

Rural doctors want greater say

The Rural Doctors Association has met with the Federal Government to ensure that it has a more significant say in health decisions after the rural health portfolio was scrapped.

15 Sep 2010

Democrats look to strike back with health care campaigns touting new law

Democratic leaders are plotting campaigns to rally support for the health law and improve Democratic chances in the November elections. The hope is that "new insurance restrictions due to go into effect Sept. 23 and an accompanying public relations push will help turn the tide and give Democrats campaign-ready ammunition six weeks ahead of the midterm elections."

15 Sep 2010

Health insurance mandate essential for expanding access of health care reform

The most politically charged feature of the health reform law is the mandate that legal residents have health insurance. Within weeks of the law's passage, twenty states had filed lawsuits charging that the mandate is unconstitutional because it gives the federal government more power than it actually has. The state lawsuits are widely expected to reach the Supreme Court next year. Legal scholar Lawrence O. Gostin writes that the health insurance mandate rests on firm legal ground.

15 Sep 2010

Democrats who voted 'no' on health overhaul face campaign fire, calls to 'de-fund' reform grow louder

The Hill: Labor unions are living up to their pledge to target and spend campaign dollars against Democrats who voted against the health overhaul. "The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), for instance, has spent almost $300,000 on direct mail and other activities in support of union activist Mac D'Alessandro's primary challenge to Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.)." The primary in that race is Tuesday (Miller and D'Aprile, 9/14).

15 Sep 2010

Senate amendments to strike health reform tax reporting provision fail

The Associated Press/Bloomberg Business: "The Senate failed Tuesday to repeal or ease an arcane tax reporting provision of the new health care law. ...Tucked into the health law is a requirement that businesses file tax forms called 1099s with the Internal Revenue Service for every vendor that sells them more than $600 in goods.

15 Sep 2010

White House supports effort to scale back small business provision of health law

"Facing a backlash from small businesses over a new tax-reporting requirement in the healthcare law the president signed in March, the Obama administration is embracing the first change to the landmark legislation," the Los Angeles Times reports. "In a letter to Senate leaders, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner urged the Senate to back a proposal to scale back the new reporting mandate.

15 Sep 2010

Health Reform News and Research

Medical Accounts Systems, Jorge M. Abril, P.A. launch Healthcare Provider Payment

New law brings changes to health insurance rules this week

Insurers say new health benefits will raise premiums

Lab testing is backbone of prevention: ACLA president

La. doctors work from scratch to rebuild local health system; Mich. A.G. sues Blue Cross Blue Shield over rate changes; Wis. health programs make hefty budget request

Judge releases schedule for health overhaul lawsuit proceedings; Poll finds voters indifferent to candidates' reform positions

Health premiums rise as states consider how they'll implement reforms

Research Roundup: Assessing physician quality; Community health centers' future; Why doctors take gifts; Access to HIV treatment

Today's Opinions: Recession's impact on the uninsured; Repeal of health reform? Then what?

First Edition: September 17, 2010

Prematics partners with NaviNet to deliver healthcare content and applications to mobile devices

Democratic candidates spend more on ads against than for health reform

First Edition: September 16, 2010

Despite recent health reform, dissatisfaction with health care system remains widespread: HCS

Rural doctors want greater say

Democrats look to strike back with health care campaigns touting new law

Health insurance mandate essential for expanding access of health care reform

Democrats who voted 'no' on health overhaul face campaign fire, calls to 'de-fund' reform grow louder

Senate amendments to strike health reform tax reporting provision fail

White House supports effort to scale back small business provision of health law

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