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Research roundup: Accountable Care Organizations; Electronic health records; Medicaid and deficit reductions

Health Affairs: Accountable Care Organizations: Making Them Work - The January issue of the journal features several articles examining initiatives underway that could help form ACOs, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' "Alternative Quality Contract,"a modified global payment model in which annual payments to medical groups are linked to a per member per month budget.

7 Jan 2011

Roundup: Calif. and health reform; Conn. mental health parity; Insurance premium increases in Iowa, Fla.

Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield's proposed 11 percent health insurance premium increase is excessive, two experts have concluded. The company, which insures three-quarters of Iowans who buy their own policies, already raised premiums on those plans an average of 18 percent last spring. Wellmark sparked outcries when it announced in November that it wants to raise those rates again in order to keep up with rising prices and increased use of medical care (Leys, 1/7).

7 Jan 2011

GOP governors seek leeway to cut Medicaid rolls, The Wall Street Journal reports

Republican governors are pressing the Obama administration to make it easier for states to cut Medicaid enrollment, setting up a fight over one of states' costliest programs (Adamy, 1/7).

7 Jan 2011

New poll finds Americans split on repeal; Divide on Capitol Hill deepens

A new Gallup Poll found that public opinion is "closely divided" over whether Congress should vote to undo the health law. And on Capitol Hill, the divide is deep and entrenched, closely tracking with political loyalties. Even as GOP leaders point to the push to stop the health law as a way to "send a signal" to the American people, Senate Dems are plotting actions of their own.

7 Jan 2011

CBO analysis estimates health overhaul repeal price tag to be $230 billion

With the CBO findings, GOP efforts to undo the health law and claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility took a hit. Democrats immediately pounced on the cost estimate as new ammunition in an ongoing battle. But Republican leaders dismissed the document, saying it is a "job-killing" measure that would add to the nation's debt and instead pointed to a report of their own.

7 Jan 2011

California insurance watchdog asks insurer to delay rate hike

California's top insurance watchdog is asking one of his state's biggest health insurers to delay a planned rate increase for nearly 200,000 policyholders. For some, the rate hike by Blue Shield of California would be as high as 59%. It would be the third hike since last fall. Blue Shield says the increases are not related to health care overhaul (1/7).

7 Jan 2011

Fact-checking claims, questions in the continuing overhaul debate

News outlets review some of the health law's policy specifics and ask questions about specific components, such as how the law's prevention fund is faring.

7 Jan 2011

Today's Opinions: Brooks, Reich, Fund, Cook on repeal; End-of-life care controversy continues

The health care reform law was signed 10 months ago, and what's striking now is how vulnerable it looks. Several threats have emerged — some of them scarcely discussed before passage — that together or alone could seriously endanger the new system. ... After the trauma of the last two years, many people wish the issue would go away. But it's not going away, especially since costs will continue to rise. (David Brooks, 1/6).

7 Jan 2011

Study finds combined treatments safe and effective for severe acute pancreatitis

The use of combined treatments for severe acute pancreatitis is safe and effective in managing the disease, resulting in shorter hospitalizations and fewer radiological procedures than standard therapy, according to a study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. In a related study, doctors found that patients with infected pancreatic necrosis were able to avoid surgery through primary conservative treatment, which is in-patient medical treatment.

7 Jan 2011

Some Democrats wrestle with reform positions, others file amendments on repeal to force GOP votes against popular consumer protections

As the House vote on repealing the health law looms in the near future, some Democrats are contemplating their votes in the context of stiff election pressure or expressing their doubts about the measure's individual mandate. Meanwhile, in a strategic measure, other Democrats are pursuing amendments to the GOP repeal bill that would force up-or-down votes on the health care law's popular consumer provisions.

7 Jan 2011

First Edition: January 16, 2011

Today's headlines include news about public opinion regarding the GOP health law repeal effort.

7 Jan 2011

News outlets examine potential implications of record high food price levels

Though world food prices "jumped to a record high" in the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) latest index, the agency "is drawing comfort from the absence of widespread riots, usually the defining element of a food crisis," the Financial Times reports looking at the factors that have led some food prices to rise significantly without sparking international panic.

7 Jan 2011

Elevated rates of 'Sarcoid Like' Granulomatous Pulmonary Disease found in WTC responders

Mount Sinai researchers coordinating the largest clinical study to date of "Sarcoid Like" Granulomatous Pulmonary Disease in World Trade Center (WTC) responders have found that the rate of the condition was increased in this group as compared to the records of pre-9/11 FDNY personnel. The study is published online in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

7 Jan 2011

Lower co-payments help companies, workers save health-care costs

Companies can cut health-care costs - for themselves and for their workers - by lowering co-payments on prescription drugs while promoting disease management, according to a comprehensive, three-year study commissioned by the Florida Health Care Coalition (FHCC).

7 Jan 2011

IDSA releases MRSA treatment guidelines

Physicians now have help in their battle against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a potentially deadly infection that initially was limited to hospitals and health care facilities but has become a growing problem in healthy children and adults. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has released its first guidelines for the treatment of increasingly common MRSA infections.

7 Jan 2011

Massachusetts General borrows $420 million for improvements; Detroit hospital penalty reveals new trend

Partners HealthCare System Inc., which runs Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital, is borrowing $420 million for improvements including electronic medical records and to refinance debt, with average tax-exempt yields at close to a 16-month high.

7 Jan 2011

Study examines link between media consumption, eating disorders among adolescent girls in Fiji

For parents wanting to reduce the negative influence of TV on their children, the first step is normally to switch off the television set. But a new study suggests that might not be enough. It turns out indirect media exposure, i.e., having friends who watch a lot of TV, might be even more damaging to a teenager's body image.

7 Jan 2011

Roundup: In Oregon, New Gov. Kitzhaber vows to change state's health care delivery system; In Ariz., 2nd person denied transplant coverage dies

Oregon Governor-elect John Kitzhaber, a Democrat who will be inaugurated in Salem on Monday (January 10), is no stranger to the state's top political office: He was a two-term governor between 1995 and 2003. ... An emergency-room physician by background, Kitzhaber, 62, also is no stranger to the nation's health care system, which he sees as costly, ineffective and unsustainable.

7 Jan 2011

HHS Secretary releases statement on Blue Shield of California’s proposed insurance rate increase

The people of California have a right to be concerned when they see this kind of rate increase month after month. We have reached out to California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and know he is doing everything in his power to help consumers. We stand ready to assist him and the people of California in any way that we can.

7 Jan 2011

Opinions: Global health top foreign policy issue; Global food security; Opiate-substitution programs in Eastern Europe; Feed the future; Foreign aid lessons

In response to a story examining 2011's top foreign policy issues, Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity, writes in a letter to the editor, published in The Hill, that "[g]lobal health was disturbingly absent from" the story. "Global health policy is at a critical turning point right now with the impending implementation of President Obama's Global Health Initiative, which will change our fundamental approach to health programs and policy," according to Sippel.

7 Jan 2011

Health Care News and Research

Research roundup: Accountable Care Organizations; Electronic health records; Medicaid and deficit reductions

Roundup: Calif. and health reform; Conn. mental health parity; Insurance premium increases in Iowa, Fla.

GOP governors seek leeway to cut Medicaid rolls, The Wall Street Journal reports

New poll finds Americans split on repeal; Divide on Capitol Hill deepens

CBO analysis estimates health overhaul repeal price tag to be $230 billion

California insurance watchdog asks insurer to delay rate hike

Fact-checking claims, questions in the continuing overhaul debate

Today's Opinions: Brooks, Reich, Fund, Cook on repeal; End-of-life care controversy continues

Study finds combined treatments safe and effective for severe acute pancreatitis

Some Democrats wrestle with reform positions, others file amendments on repeal to force GOP votes against popular consumer protections

First Edition: January 16, 2011

News outlets examine potential implications of record high food price levels

Elevated rates of 'Sarcoid Like' Granulomatous Pulmonary Disease found in WTC responders

Lower co-payments help companies, workers save health-care costs

IDSA releases MRSA treatment guidelines

Massachusetts General borrows $420 million for improvements; Detroit hospital penalty reveals new trend

Study examines link between media consumption, eating disorders among adolescent girls in Fiji

Roundup: In Oregon, New Gov. Kitzhaber vows to change state's health care delivery system; In Ariz., 2nd person denied transplant coverage dies

HHS Secretary releases statement on Blue Shield of California’s proposed insurance rate increase

Opinions: Global health top foreign policy issue; Global food security; Opiate-substitution programs in Eastern Europe; Feed the future; Foreign aid lessons

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