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Demystifying the health law's coverage expansion: Where there are benefits, where there is confusion and who still needs help

The Fiscal Times reports on tools to help consumers understand changes that will occur as a result of the health law while HealthyCal reports that legislators in California are attempting to create a mechanism to provide health insurance for those who fall through the overhaul's cracks.

27 Jun 2013

Cruz says immigration plan would affect workers' benefits under health law; Senate panel hears concerns about Medicare audits

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, criticizes the pending immigration bill and health law while Medicare observation care and audits are hot topics during a Senate Finance Committee hearing. Also in the news, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, talks about hospital CEO pay. In addition, he and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., push to open the Medicare claims payment database.

27 Jun 2013

Ind., Ark. Medicaid expansion plans take shape, but also take time

Also, news outlets examine the idea that the expansion's new enrollees will likely be healthier than current beneficiaries but this will probably not relieve the expansion's pressure on the health care workforce.

27 Jun 2013

Tavenner outlines specifics on health exchanges, other health law issues

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services chief Marilyn Tavenner discussed health exchanges, among other things, with Georgia Health News. Other news outlets detailed the exchange developments in Minnesota and Colorado.

27 Jun 2013

Electronic health records bring risks as well as benefits

When Scot Silverstein's 84-year-old mother, Betty, starting mixing up her words, he worried she was having a stroke. So he rushed her to Abington Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania…Electronic health records are supposed to improve medical care by providing physicians quick and easy access to a patient's history, prescriptions, lab results and other vital data.

27 Jun 2013

Calif. fines Kaiser health plan $4M after mental health care delivery delays

Regulators said the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan delayed treatment -- sometimes for more than 14 days -- for patients who needed mental health care, which is a violation of the law.

27 Jun 2013

Survey finds at least 20% of Ontario adolescents had TBI in their lifetime

One in five adolescents surveyed in Ontario said they have suffered a traumatic brain injury that left them unconscious for five minutes or required them to be hospitalized overnight, a statistic researchers in Toronto say is much higher than previously thought.

26 Jun 2013

First Edition: June 26, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about the latest developments in the health care marketplace.

26 Jun 2013

Where states opt against Medicaid expansion, working poor likely to lose

News outlets also report the latest developments regarding the Medicaid expansion debate in Michigan and Mississippi.

26 Jun 2013

Supreme Court sides with generic drug makers

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that generic drugmakers cannot be sued under state law for adverse reactions to their products, a decision that consumer advocates called a blow to patient safety. In a 5-4 vote, the court ruled for Mutual Pharmaceutical Co, owned by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, overturning a multimillion-dollar jury award to a badly injured patient in New Hampshire who alleged a generic drug she had taken was unsafe based on its chemical design (Hurley and Berkrot, 6/24).

26 Jun 2013

Study: Despite struggles with poverty, more children getting health insurance

Families in the United States are making gains in education and health, two key factors in their overall well-being, a report released on Monday showed, adding to data that suggests the U.S. economy is slowly rebounding from the 2007-2009 recession. Still, the latest findings on the state of U.S. children and their parents by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found many families continue to struggle ... Most states also saw more children with health insurance, improvements in birth weights, and fewer youth deaths between 2005 and 2011, it said (Heavey, 6/24).

26 Jun 2013

Improving care for depression in low-income communities provides greater benefits: Study

Improving care for depression in low-income communities -- places where such help is frequently unavailable or hard to find -- provides greater benefits to those in need when community groups such as churches and even barber shops help lead the planning process, according to a new study.

26 Jun 2013

Lawsuits, or threat of them, hover over Medicare policy

News outlets report on the government's position on releasing doctor-specific information and on Medicare patients' access to physical therapy. And, ProPublica investigates prescribing practices.

26 Jun 2013

Viewpoints: Exploring the bond between caretaker and patient; Missouri looks beyond expansion to reform Medicaid

This Op-Doc video explores the relationship between an immigrant caretaker and an elderly woman in the last months of her life. Joesy, a Fijian immigrant, works long hours providing live-in care for 95-year-old Haru Tsurumoto in Sonoma County, Calif. Through intimate and quiet scenes, we explore Joesy's complex relationship with Haru. The two respect each other in part because each has experienced being an outsider in the United States - Joesy as an undocumented immigrant who fears she could be sent back to Fiji, and Haru as a Japanese-American who was sent to an internment camp during the Second World War (Theo Rigby and Kate McLean, 6/24).

26 Jun 2013

Supreme Court agrees to hear challenge to Massachusetts abortion law

As lawsuits over early abortion laws spring up across the country, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a different kind of abortion challenge - this one involving free speech. The court will consider a case challenging a Massachusetts law that bans demonstrations within 35 feet of entrances and driveways of abortion clinics. The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in January sided with the state in McCullen v. Coakley, ruling that the law strikes the right balance between protecting free speech and patients' rights (Millman, 6/25).

26 Jun 2013

Sebelius ramps up enrollment push

The Obama administration unveiled a revamped HealthCare.gov website, the centerpiece of its campaign in more than 30 states to enroll people in health coverage, as well as a 24-hour consumer call center. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius aims to enroll 7 million people by late March with help from major sports franchises and moms.

26 Jun 2013

Tenet's acquisition of Vanguard Health part of plan to buy other hospitals

While news emerges regarding Tenet's plan to acqure Vanguard Health for $1.73 billion, the Ford Motor Co. announces its plans to launch a two-year health management program.

26 Jun 2013

Many states missing out on Medicaid money for prisoners

Only a dozen states have taken advantage of a long-standing option to stick the federal government with at least half the cost of hospitalizations and nursing home stays of state prison inmates. The other states have left tens of millions of federal dollars on the table, either because they didn't know about a federal rule dating to 1997 or they were unable to write the laws and administrative processes to take advantage of it. States and localities have a constitutional obligation to provide adequate health care to prisoners, and they must pay for it out of their own budgets (Vestal, 6/25).

26 Jun 2013

Health panel urges baby boomers be tested for hepatitis C

An influential health advisory group has reversed itself and concluded that all baby boomers should be tested for hepatitis C, meaning that under the new health law many insurance plans will have to provide screening without charge to patients.

26 Jun 2013

Government to bargain with insurers over exchange plans

Hoping to get consumers the best prices, the Obama administration is negotiating with insurers looking to sell policies in online health insurance marketplaces this fall, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday (Galewitz, 6/24).

26 Jun 2013