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HHS Secretary to address National Association of Community Health Centers

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will deliver remarks at the National Association of Community Health Centers' 2009 Community Health Institute and Expo in Chicago.

23 Aug 2009

URAC extends support to develop and standardize health care quality improvement measures

URAC, the nation's leading healthcare accreditation and education organization, announced today that it has joined the more than 180 organizations supporting Stand for Quality. Stand for Quality is made up of organizations including AARP, the American Medical Association, National Consumers League, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that represent every segment of the health care industry.

21 Aug 2009

UFCW opposes Whole Foods CEO John Mackey's efforts to undermine meaningful health care reform

In response to a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed by Whole Foods’ Chief Executive Officer John Mackey, activists, consumers and labor groups around the country have been organizing in opposition to his efforts to undermine meaningful health care reform.

21 Aug 2009

Obama appeals to doubters: Health care plan a 'moral obligation'

Politico reports on the various paths the White House could take regarding strategy for passage of a health care reform bill. "No matter which way they go, the White House and congressional Democrats face long odds, and no guarantee of a bill at the end of the process.

20 Aug 2009

Obama stands by public plan in Conservative radio interview

"President Barack Obama is standing his position that a public option for health insurance coverage should be considered as part of legislation to overhaul the health care system," The Associated Press reports.

20 Aug 2009

Medicaid gap means young homeless go without

Homeless young people without Medicaid coverage often navigate a maze of emergency rooms and clinics to get care they need as advocates try to get them covered under health care reform, The Denver Post reports.

20 Aug 2009

Proposed Medicare cuts will harm seniors' care

A new American Health Care Association (AHCA) analysis of the pending House health reform bill, combined with the impact of a recently-enacted Medicare regulation cutting Medicare-funded nursing home care by $12 billion over ten years, finds seniors in fifteen states requiring nursing and rehabilitative care will face total funding cuts in excess of $1 billion over that same time period. Nationally, the study finds, seniors' Medicare cuts will total $44 billion over ten years, prompting AHCA President and CEO Bruce Yarwood to warn that U.S. seniors' care needs are endangered by the House bill, as are the jobs of more than 50,000 caregivers nationwide.

20 Aug 2009

Consumer groups urge transparency in health care reform for pharmacy benefit managers

Three top consumer groups are urging Congress to include in health care reform legislation transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) participating in any new federally sponsored health plans in a public health care exchange. The Consumer Federation of America (CFA), U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), and the National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices (NLARx) have sent a joint letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) supporting the provision, authored by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and included in the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.R. 3200).

20 Aug 2009

Kennedy pushes fast transition as hopes dim for his return to Washington

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., "is trying to make sure that the leading cause in his life, better health coverage for all, advances in the event of his death" with a recent letter to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and leaders in the state legislature, the Boston Globe reports.

20 Aug 2009

Senators to test bipartisan water on co-op plan

Key Senate negotiators - a group of three Republicans and three Democrats on the Finance Committee - will test the traction of a plan to create private health insurance cooperatives instead of a government-run insurance plan during a conference call today, The Los Angeles Times reports.

20 Aug 2009

Lawmakers face constituents' health care flak

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, "lashed out at protester who held a poster depicting President Obama with a Hitler-style mustache during a heated town hall meeting on federal health care reform," The Associated Press reports.

20 Aug 2009

Gary Bauer calls Obama's use of scripture to sell failing health care plans "clumsy attempt to manipulate"

Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer on Thursday called President Obama's invocation of scripture in defense of his failing health care takeover "breathtaking hypocrisy" as well as a "clumsy attempt to manipulate."

20 Aug 2009

As Democrats eye going it alone, some recommit to bipartisan reform

While some Democrats maintain that bipartisan health care reform work still has potential, others seem to be hedging their bets. The Christian Science Monitor reports that "In all likelihood, (White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and press secretary Robert Gibbs) are engaging in creative ambiguity, designed to send signals to multiple audiences - friend and foe - and keep options open as long as possible."

20 Aug 2009

House healthcare reform legislation and administrative rule combined cut $44 billion in Medicare funds for long term care

The Community Cares Coalition (CoCares) - a national coalition of community long term care businesses and organizations providing key services to the skilled nursing community - today said that while long term care businesses support reform measures to increase efficiencies in the healthcare system and promote cost savings, the current reform proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives and a recent administrative rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS') that cut $44 billion Medicare funds to long term care will have the opposite impact on nursing home care and the businesses and organizations that support the nation's long term care sector.

20 Aug 2009

Biden: $1.2 billion from stimulus for computerized medical records

"Vice President Joe Biden today announced $1.2 billion from federal stimulus dollars to allow hospitals to modernize record keeping systems," The Chicago Tribune reports.

20 Aug 2009

Heated town halls fire up Republicans

Town hall protestors are "part of a phenomenon enabling national conservative groups to galvanize grassroots anger about big government and reshape the debate over President Obama's health care plan. Suddenly, it's the conservatives' turn to be fired up," USA Today reports.

20 Aug 2009

Midcareer professionals find new opportunities in health care

"Health care may be a costly drag on the economy, but it's still a great place to find a job," The New York Times reports. "Midcareer managers and other workers have been migrating to health care jobs for years, of course. Now, with the recession, the lure is even stronger. Hospitals, which employ more than four million people, added 135,000 jobs last year and 19,400 more in the first half of 2009, even as millions of American workers wound up unemployed." For many working in the field, health care is a second career. "Many managers with experience in fields like human resources, finance and marketing find a welcome in health care, with a little studying up."

20 Aug 2009

Squabbling Democrats prepare to move ahead on health bills without GOP

The New York Times: "Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority's cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks. Top Democrats said Tuesday that their go-it-alone view was being shaped by what they saw as Republicans' purposely strident tone against health care legislation during this month's Congressional recess, as well as remarks by leading Republicans that current proposals were flawed beyond repair."

20 Aug 2009

US physicians talk on short fallings in the current healthcare reform bills

Physicians across the nation are speaking out on Sermo, the world's largest online physician community, about the short fallings in the current healthcare reform bills working their way through Congress.

20 Aug 2009

Study reveals that patient care is better in nonprofit nursing homes than in for-profit nursing homes

A major new statistical review of 82 individual research studies has revealed that nonprofit nursing homes deliver, on average, higher quality care than for-profit nursing homes. The findings could have a bearing on the present debate about the role of for-profit firms in U.S. health reform.

20 Aug 2009