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Lawmakers struggle to balance interests as sweeping health legislation negotiations proceed

Lawmakers continue to try to shape health bills as they move closer to floor votes.

20 Oct 2009

Website answers questions about 'end of life'

Questions about end of life are as old as humanity, yet they can be new and overwhelming when someone we care about is dying.

19 Oct 2009

Baucus: Public insurance option 'alive' in Senate negotiations

USA Today: During a conference call with reporters today, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said the public option is "alive." Baucus, "one of a handful of senators engaged in behind-the-scenes health care negotiations, said Democratic lawmakers are continuing to debate whether to include a government-run health insurance program -- also known as the public option -- and what shape that program might take."

19 Oct 2009

Even with budget concerns, lawmakers fight for rural hospitals

Kaiser Health News' staff writers Eric Pianin and Mary Agnes Carey report in a story produced in collaboration with Politico on rural hospitals' stake in the ongoing efforts to overhaul the nation's health system.

19 Oct 2009

More details emerging on health reform's proposed changes to Medicare

The Dallas Morning News reports on some of health reform's proposed changes to Medicare and local consumer reactions. "The 10.4 million beneficiaries with private insurers' Medicare Advantage plans will still get coverage at least comparable to regular Medicare, but some will see fewer extra benefits or higher out-of-pocket costs. For most of Medicare's 45 million beneficiaries, an overhaul will improve coverage by beefing up drug benefits, preserving access to physicians, paying for more preventive care and putting Medicare on firmer financial footing."

19 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health News: Asia-Pacific reproductive health; developing country medical waste disposal; draft bill in Uganda; diarrhea deaths in China

"China has called on Asia-Pacific countries to attach greater importance to population and family planning and put more funds into the reproductive health and family planning programmes," the Daily Times reports (10/19).

19 Oct 2009

A selection of today's opinions and editorials

"The American people deserve facts and a fair discussion of what's most important as Congress tackles healthcare reform. AARP and the American Medical Association are committed to preserving the best of our current system and to working to improve it with policies that expand coverage, improve quality and make insurance more affordable" (Jennie Chin Hansen and J. James Rohack, 10/19).

19 Oct 2009

White House hedging bets on public option in health bills

The Associated Press "The White House is waiting for Congress to settle on a final health care bill, even though President Barack Obama has a clear preference in favor of at least one specific — the much-debated public option, advisers said. Obama, however, will not demand that legislation include a government-run insurance plan intended to drive down costs through competition with private insurers, they said."

19 Oct 2009

Analysts urge Democrats to tailor health reform pitch to women

Politico reports that provisions addressing women's concerns about health care may help Democrats build public support for their overhaul plans and grease the passage of a bill.

19 Oct 2009

Workers to pay more for health care next year, consultants say

Co-pays and deductibles are likely to increase in 2010 for employees, Hewitt Associates, a consulting group, says.

19 Oct 2009

Young adults struggle finding health care coverage

Young adults represent the largest group of uninsured people while they also increasingly report mental health issues in college.

19 Oct 2009

Medicaid expansion could hit struggling state budgets

"The government programs that provide health care to the poor would expand to cover nearly one in five Americans under health insurance legislation pending in Congress, putting pressure on federal and state budgets," USA Today reports.

19 Oct 2009

Health reform bills may not protect consumers from treatment denials

"Despite growing frustration with the way health insurers deny medical treatments, major healthcare bills pending in Congress would give patients little new power to challenge those sometimes life-and-death decisions," The Los Angeles Times reports.

19 Oct 2009

Insurers, other health businesses examine effect of reform bills

Health care industry CEOs are analyzing their wins and losses in the bills being considered in Congress.

19 Oct 2009

Campaign to educate men and women about fibromyalgia

Women and men have opposing views on many topics, and it turns out that they also have different takes on chronic pain.

19 Oct 2009

First Edition: October 19, 2009

Five Rivers Medical Center in Pocahontas, Ark., needs help to get a highly coveted "critical access" hospital designation - and the extra Medicare funding that comes with it. Sen. Mark Pryor, an Arkansas Democrat, intends to provide it.

19 Oct 2009

Pelosi has tough words for insurers as she pushes public plan

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is joining liberal Democrats in the House on warning insurers that health care reform could mean lower profit, more fees and new competition from government.

19 Oct 2009

Minnesota Governor proposes to let residents buy out-of-state insurance and other state headlines

News outlets report on a variety of state health stories including insurance in Minnesota, premiums and out-of-pocket costs in Massachusetts and high premiums for Blue Sheild in California.

19 Oct 2009

Readmission of elderly patients after colectomy strongly linked with mortality: Study

Readmission to a hospital after standard surgical treatment for colon cancer is far more common than suspected for elderly patients according to researchers who presented their findings at the 2009 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. Results from the first study to determine nationwide readmission rates following colectomy [surgical removal of malignant disease and part of the colon] in the Medicare population revealed that nearly one in nine patients over the age of 65 was readmitted within 30 days.

19 Oct 2009

Breakthrough discovery by scientists may lead to a new treatment for Alzheimer's Disease

A breakthrough discovery by scientists from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, may lead to a new treatment for Alzheimer's Disease that actually removes amyloid plaques-considered a hallmark of the disease-from patients' brains.

19 Oct 2009