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UnitedHealth shareholders reject plan to weigh in on executive pay

A proposal to allow UnitedHealth Group shareholders to make suggestions about executive pay was voted down by the same shareholders it would have empowered at the firm's annual meeting Monday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The proposal failed with only forty-six percent of shareholders supporting it.

25 May 2010

Federal lawyers ask judge to dismiss Virginia overhaul lawsuit

Obama administration officials asked a judge to dismiss Virginia's lawsuit challenging the new health reform law because the state does not have standing to sue over the requirement that individuals will be required to buy health insurance, The Washington Post reports. "Federal attorneys argued that individuals, not the state, are affected by the requirement. … Further, they wrote that the mandate causes no injury to the state and will not take effect until 2014, making the legal challenge not yet timely."

25 May 2010

HHS 'special mailing' on health law's immediate Medicare benefits sparks GOP grumbles

CQ HealthBeat: "Education or propaganda? Or 'beyond propaganda?' The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Monday that it will soon send Medicare beneficiaries a special mailing on 'the immediate benefits they may see' from the health care overhaul law. Getting accurate information about key provisions of the law will help Medicare enrollees 'to be on the alert for any scams asking for personal information,' explained acting CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner in an agency news release Monday.

25 May 2010

First Edition: May 25, 2010

Today's headlines reflect health policy action at the federal level as the Obama administration issues a warning to the insurance industry about mergers and urges the courts to dismiss Virginia's lawsuit against the health reform law.

25 May 2010

UnitedHealth cut lobbying spending even as Congress finalized health reform measure

The UnitedHealth Group Inc. "dialed down" their federal lobbying in the first quarter of 2010, even as Congress prepared to pass the health reform bill. In the first quarter of 2010, it spent $660,000 on lobbying, less than half of the $1.5 million it spent in the first quarter of 2009 on lobbying.

25 May 2010

Regulators puzzling out what insurers must do under new health law

The Washington Post reports that regulators are "trying to resolve" which insurance plans must comply with the health law's new requirements. "In keeping with President Obama's promise that you can hold on to your insurance if you like it, the new law exempts existing health plans from many of its provisions. But the law leaves it to regulators to decide how much a health plan can change without giving up its grandfathered status."

25 May 2010

AMA's code of conduct helps ensure greater transparency and accountability from health insurers

The American Medical Association (AMA) today released its Health Insurer Code of Conduct Principles and called on all U.S. health insurance companies to adopt consistent corporate practices that will bring transparency and accountability to the multibillion-dollar health insurance industry

25 May 2010

Hospitals facing new payment squeezes

News outlets report on payment issues for hospitals, including those stemming from the new health law.

24 May 2010

Research roundup: Lessons from Medicare Part D; Evaluating medical homes; Insuring young adults

Lessons Learned: Who Didn't Enroll In Medicare Drug Coverage In 2006, And Why? - With data from the 2005 and 2006 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, this study examines enrollment of those who were previously without either public or private sources of prescription drug coverage. The authors report "63 percent of all eligible seniors and 69 percent of low-income beneficiaries were enrolled in Part D in 2006.

24 May 2010

Today's OpEds: Wyden on bipartisanship health reform; How to spend prevention funds; CLASS Act

I still think I had a pretty good idea for health reform — despite its rejection by significant Democratic and Republican leaders — but so did Bob Bennett. I was on the Senate floor three years ago when Bob walked across the center aisle to tell me he was willing to work with me on health reform (Sen. Ron Wyden, 5/21).

21 May 2010

In survey, employers say health reform will increase costs - somewhat

"More than 40 percent of employers surveyed by the consulting firm Mercer expect health care reform to raise health care costs by a modest 2 percent or less next year," the Associated Press reports.

21 May 2010

Health reform poll: Immediate effects not building public support, many getting information from cable news

"The White House has, for weeks now, rolled out popular health reform benefits well ahead of schedule, items like coverage for young adult children and tax credits for small business, hoping these early deliverables would shore up public support. But a new poll, released this morning by the Kaiser Family Foundation, suggests the accelerated implementation schedule has failed to sway a skeptical public—or even kept health reform's most ardent supporters on board."

21 May 2010

First Edition: May 21, 2010

In today's headlines, legislation containing a Medicare pay 'fix' and an extension of the COBRA subsidy is moving toward House consideration.

21 May 2010

Ariz. tax hike only a band-aid, and other state tales of budget woes

The Wall Street Journal: States are being squeezed by "shrinking state budgets and rising health-care costs" and often vulnerable residents are paying the price. Barbara Hickey, 67 of Florence, S.C., is one of them. She is confined to a motorized wheelchair, lives alone and "relies on certified nurse's assistants to get her in and out of bed, bathed, clothed and fed."

21 May 2010

Today's Opinions and Editorials: Legal challenges to health reform; Medicare pay fix; California's budgetary 'Sophie's Choice'

We believe the reform law has been carefully framed to stay within constitutional bounds (5/19).

21 May 2010

Analysis looks at how Democrats won health reform battle

In an analysis in The New Republic, Jonathan Cohn examines how Democrats ultimately won the health reform battle. "Of course, we know how this narrative concludes, with Obama sitting in the East Room, inscribing his signature onto the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 — completing a quest that eluded Harry Truman and a trio of his successors.

21 May 2010

States examine new law's impact on residents' health, budget bottom lines

States around the nation are examining the health reform law for its impact on their residents' health and their budgets' bottom lines.

21 May 2010

First Edition: May 20, 2010

Today's news includes the lastest developments regarding the Medicare pay fix and continuing analysis regarding how health reform votes will play into the 2010 electoral landscape.

20 May 2010

Health care votes may have influenced primaries

News outlets report on how health reform may have influenced Tuesday's primary elections. The Washington Post says that the Democratic primary election for Arkansas' Senate seat was influenced by labor unions who campaigned for Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, in part because of incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln's vote on health care.

20 May 2010

Today's Opinions and Editorials: Childhood obesity, the interworkings of the FDA, the constitutionality of 'Obamacare'

The White House report offers recommendations related to early childhood, parenting, food in schools, access to healthy and affordable food and physical activity. Taken individually, none of these is a silver bullet (Tom Newton, 5/19).

20 May 2010

Health Reform News and Research

UnitedHealth shareholders reject plan to weigh in on executive pay

Federal lawyers ask judge to dismiss Virginia overhaul lawsuit

HHS 'special mailing' on health law's immediate Medicare benefits sparks GOP grumbles

First Edition: May 25, 2010

UnitedHealth cut lobbying spending even as Congress finalized health reform measure

Regulators puzzling out what insurers must do under new health law

AMA's code of conduct helps ensure greater transparency and accountability from health insurers

Hospitals facing new payment squeezes

Research roundup: Lessons from Medicare Part D; Evaluating medical homes; Insuring young adults

Today's OpEds: Wyden on bipartisanship health reform; How to spend prevention funds; CLASS Act

In survey, employers say health reform will increase costs - somewhat

Health reform poll: Immediate effects not building public support, many getting information from cable news

First Edition: May 21, 2010

Ariz. tax hike only a band-aid, and other state tales of budget woes

Today's Opinions and Editorials: Legal challenges to health reform; Medicare pay fix; California's budgetary 'Sophie's Choice'

Analysis looks at how Democrats won health reform battle

States examine new law's impact on residents' health, budget bottom lines

First Edition: May 20, 2010

Health care votes may have influenced primaries

Today's Opinions and Editorials: Childhood obesity, the interworkings of the FDA, the constitutionality of 'Obamacare'

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

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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