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State highlights: States want home care worker wage changes delayed; Ga. delays nursing home rate hike

State officials that argued against providing overtime and minimum wage protections to the nation's 2 million home care workers are asking the Department of Labor to push back a Jan. 1 start date for the policy to take effect. State Medicaid officials concerned that their costs will rise are asking for a delay and tweaks to the policy, even though the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized the rule a year ago.

15 Sep 2014

Research roundup: Prevention services for seniors; drug shortages

This policy brief reports the findings of a systematic review conducted by the Community Health Innovations in Prevention for Seniors (CHIPS) project. ... Clinical preventive services such as colorectal cancer screening and pneumococcal immunization can help reduce rates of premature death and disability. Yet, many older adults are not receiving the full set of clinical preventive services that have been proven effective and are considered "high value" in terms of their costs per life saved. Rates are particularly low among racial and ethnic minority older adults compared to national goals.

15 Sep 2014

Health costs inch up as coverage expands

According to the Census Bureau's Quarterly Services Survey, total revenue at health care and social-assistance firms rose 3 percent in the second quarter of the year. But analysts described the increase as modest.

15 Sep 2014

Groups get $3.2 million to enroll minorities in Obamacare

Federal health officials award grants to 13 community organizations to sign up racial and ethnic minorities in health plans through online insurance marketplaces. Meanwhile, a group of South Florida hospitals raises money to help low-income patients pay their insurance premiums, and Massachusetts details plans to re-enroll 450,000 residents.

15 Sep 2014

PwC's HRI releases new report on retail health insurance

PwC's Health Research Institute today released a new report – The Rise of Retail Health Coverage – detailing how retail health insurance marketplaces, known as exchanges, are dramatically changing both the employer benefits environment and the health insurance business.

11 Sep 2014

HolaDoctor launches new Interactive Health Insurance Center to educate Hispanics

HolaDoctor.com, the leading health website in the Hispanic digital market, launched a new Interactive Health Insurance Center which aims to inform and educate Hispanics on how to apply for and acquire health coverage in 2015.

11 Sep 2014

Arches Health partners with Symptomly to provide more integrated care strategy to asthmatics

Arches Health Plan announced today that it has partnered with Symptomly to provide a more integrated care strategy to asthmatic members.

11 Sep 2014

State highlights: Scrutiny on for-profit surgery centers after Joan Rivers' death; Kaiser agrees to $4 million fine

A selection of health policy stories from New York, California, the District of Columbia, North Carolina and Georgia.

11 Sep 2014

Some Calif. consumers who bought exchange plans are being dropped or transferred to Medicaid

The shifts, which often happen without warning, come as the state works to verify incomes and make sure consumers are in appropriate health plans, the Associated Press reports.

11 Sep 2014

Viewpoints: Medicaid and assets; a surprising look at narrow networks

The 2010 federal health care reform law required virtually all adult Americans to carry insurance, starting this year. And to help make policies affordable, it offered subsidies to lower-income households while expanding the Medicaid insurance program to more of the poorest residents.

11 Sep 2014

Obamacare has not cut uninsured rate for kids

The children's uninsured rate hardly budged in the first year of the health law's expansion of coverage, even as the rate for adults dropped four percentage points, according to reports from the Urban Institute and Georgetown's Center for Children and Families.

11 Sep 2014

Health law may be reducing pressure on some ERs

The Affordable Care Act is relieving financial pressures on some hospitals by reducing unpaid emergency room bills and may also be curbing the growth of such visits, CBS News reports.

11 Sep 2014

Free online guide describes why outpatient procedure may be needed

When faced with a need for an outpatient procedure, Virginia Health Information's (VHI) Consumer Guide to Outpatient Procedures helps Virginians learn more about commonly performed outpatient procedures and where they are performed.

10 Sep 2014

Viewpoints: Health law is not affordable; narrow doctor networks may not sacrifice quality

The Affordable Care Act attempts to help low- and middle-income families avoid some of the tough sacrifices that would be necessary to purchase health insurance without assistance.

10 Sep 2014

With lawmakers blocking Medicaid expansion, Virginia governor scales back plan

Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, announced that as many as 25,000 Virginians would gain access to health coverage under his plan -- a fraction of the 400,000 who might have done so under the Medicaid expansion opposed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

10 Sep 2014

Young adults use ER less often after health law allowed them to stay on parents' plans

That conclusion is from one study of the expanded coverage. Another study finds young adults don't see themselves as healthier and many still find health care expensive.

10 Sep 2014

State, Congressional candidates go on the record with health policy issues

The physician who is campaigning to become Kansas's Lieutenant Governor talks health care payment models while candidates in Virginia, Massachusetts and Connecticut take on policies ranging from over-the-counter birth control to the interaction between the health law and Medicare.

10 Sep 2014

Health Insurance News and Research

State highlights: States want home care worker wage changes delayed; Ga. delays nursing home rate hike

Research roundup: Prevention services for seniors; drug shortages

Health costs inch up as coverage expands

Groups get $3.2 million to enroll minorities in Obamacare

PwC's HRI releases new report on retail health insurance

HolaDoctor launches new Interactive Health Insurance Center to educate Hispanics

Arches Health partners with Symptomly to provide more integrated care strategy to asthmatics

State highlights: Scrutiny on for-profit surgery centers after Joan Rivers' death; Kaiser agrees to $4 million fine

Some Calif. consumers who bought exchange plans are being dropped or transferred to Medicaid

Viewpoints: Medicaid and assets; a surprising look at narrow networks

Obamacare has not cut uninsured rate for kids

Health law may be reducing pressure on some ERs

Free online guide describes why outpatient procedure may be needed

Viewpoints: Health law is not affordable; narrow doctor networks may not sacrifice quality

With lawmakers blocking Medicaid expansion, Virginia governor scales back plan

Young adults use ER less often after health law allowed them to stay on parents' plans

State, Congressional candidates go on the record with health policy issues

Viewpoints: Health spending on the rise; GOP's new 'passion for the pill'

Companies move to make adjustments in workers' health benefits

Triple-S Salud collaborates with Voxiva and TracFone Wireless to improve health, satisfaction

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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