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Virginia Mason earns Marine Stewardship Council certification

Virginia Mason announced today it is the first hospital in the United States to earn Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for its commitment to serving seafood grown and harvested by certified, environmentally sustainable methods.

29 Jul 2014

State highlights: Va. Lt. Gov.'s politics and pediatrics juggle; Md. hospital error reporting; ruling on Fla. 'Docs V. Glocks' law

A selection of health policy news from Virginia, Maryland, Florida, New York, Wisconsin, Washington state, New Jersey and Kansas.

29 Jul 2014

Trustees: Medicare now projected to remain solvent until 2030

The new projections give Medicare an additional four years of solvency compared to last year's report by the trustees for Medicare and Social Security.

29 Jul 2014

Medical malpractice attorney establishes Birth Injury Scholarship

The tragedy of a medical error resulting in a birth injury extends long past the insurance settlement. Victims and their families deal with the disability or the death of an infant for a lifetime.

26 Jul 2014

Highlights: Texas abortion rates falls dramatically; start-up problems for Virginia's psychiatric reforms

A four-month-old psychiatric-bed registry that is supposed to provide up-to-the-minute information for Virginians who need emergency mental health treatment is being updated as seldom as once a day, state officials told a panel of lawmakers this week (Shin, 7/22).

25 Jul 2014

Dueling rulings on health law subsidies leave states in lurch

States are pondering their places in the health law's federal- or state-based health insurance exchanges after a pair of contradictory appeals court rulings Tuesday threw up in the air if states that use the federal exchange can offer subsidies to their residents to help afford coverage.

24 Jul 2014

CBO: Slowed federal health spending yields savings

Federal spending on health care has slowed sharply, partly as a result of the federal health care law, reports the Congressional Budget Office.

17 Jul 2014

Glitch in Connecticut exchange resulted in thousands of problems

Access Health CT is reaching out to 5,784 customers who were either inaccurately enrolled in Medicaid, or who received inaccurate bills because their insurers received incorrect information from the exchange, officials say. Meanwhile, developments related to Minnesota's and Colorado's exchanges are also covered.

15 Jul 2014

Some doctors refuse to see Obamacare enrollees

Subscribers are running into closed doors from some doctors listed in their plans' networks, reports The Miami Herald. Meanwhile, Connecticut advocates express concern about how a proposed overhaul of the state's health care system could change Medicaid, and in Washington state, providers scramble to keep up with demand.

15 Jul 2014

Michigan surpasses Medicaid enrollment goal in 4 months

More people have enrolled in Medicaid's expansion in less than four months than were expected to sign up in the entire first year of the program, the Snyder administration announced Thursday.

13 Jul 2014

Those with mental illness face 80% unemployment

But, the report says that while 60 percent of those with mental illnesses want to work, only 2 percent of people in the public mental health system get help to find work.

11 Jul 2014

Eligibility for subsidies not properly checked, audit finds

The HHS inspector general issues two reports concluding the federal health marketplace and some state exchanges had inadequate safeguards to stop people who were ineligible from getting tax credits to help pay for premiums.

3 Jul 2014

Justices rule home health care aides can't be forced to pay union dues

The high court's ruling will make it more difficult for unions in some states to continue organizing the aides, a rapidly growing segment of the workforce.

1 Jul 2014

Inaccurate doctor lists hurt access for low-income Californians

Meanwhile, confusion over limited providers also has led to unforeseen bills for enrollees in private plans in California, reports The Los Angeles Times. Other stories look at the growing number of insurers who want to participate in the online marketplaces and how 19 states have passed laws restricting the workers who help consumers sign up, despite a new federal rule eliminating many such restrictions.

1 Jul 2014

Patients kept in the dark on costs of tests, treatments

The CT Mirror examines the difficulties patients face when trying to comparison shop or simply figure out how much they might have to spend on medical treatments.

27 Jun 2014

Chicago hospitals see little change in ER visits; Calif. probes Anthem's provider lists

The Chicago Sun-Times examines the health law's effect on local emergency rooms, while the Los Angeles Times reports that state officials are investigating whether Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California violated state law by posting inaccurate provider lists.

24 Jun 2014

State highlights: Illinois Medicaid digital shift delayed; N.C. hospitals fight cuts; heroin in New England

Alexian Brothers Health System is suspending its effort to launch a new Medicaid program, blaming the difficulty of connecting physicians using different electronic records systems. The Arlington Heights, Ill.-based health system was spearheading a so-called accountable care entity (ACE) to coordinate the care of about 46,000 patients on Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled. The ACEs are a form of managed care, one of Gov. Pat Quinn's initiatives to focus on preventative treatment to keep patients healthy and reduce health care costs (Schorsch, 6/17).

19 Jun 2014

Medicare faces cost tension with lawmakers, advocates

More than 130 lawmakers are urging the Obama administration to expand coverage for a lung-cancer test under Medicare that could cost the program billons, calling the screening important for vulnerable seniors. In a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the lawmakers called for a timely decision on coverage for low-dose CT scans for older patients at higher risk of developing lung cancer. ... A CMS spokesman said the agency's decision will be based on whether the test is "reasonable and necessary," without regard to its cost to Medicare (Yen, 6/17).

19 Jun 2014

Protein Metrics releases freeware version of Preview software for pre-search protein analysis

Protein Metrics, Inc., a leading provider of software for rapid and thorough protein and peptide characterization, today announced the release of a freeware version of their Preview™ software for pre-search protein analysis available for download from the company's website.

16 Jun 2014

State highlights: Calif. jails face problems with inmates with mental illness; Conn. patients to get 'facility fee' notice

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said board members and their staffs were not privy to communications sent by the U.S. Justice Department to Sheriff's Department and county mental health officials regarding ongoing problems until September. That's when county officials received a letter announcing a federal civil-rights investigation of the jail system (Sewell, 6/10).

12 Jun 2014