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State highlights: Colo. effort to reduce hospital readmissions pays off

A 2-year-old initiative between the Colorado Hospital Association and UnitedHealthcare to reduce costly unnecessary readmissions is reporting major gains on a lingering problem. The readmission rate for "same cause" patients -- those coming back for the same malady as their initial visit -- dropped to just over 5 percent from 9.8 percent the year before, at 19 Colorado hospitals, according to a release by the collaboration (Booth, 8/21).

26 Aug 2013

Local governments wrestle with employee hours and health coverage

Even though the requirement that employers -- including governments -- offer full-time employees health coverage does not kick in for 16 months, there are already changes, The Washington Post reports.

26 Aug 2013

80 House GOP members urge Boehner to defund Obamacare

House Speaker John Boehner floated the idea of a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown in October. But conservatives in his caucus expressed opposition, insisting that funds be stripped from the health care law even if that forces a government shutdown.

26 Aug 2013

First Edition: August 23, 2013

Today's headlines include reports on what's becoming of the potential for a deficit deal, as well as the political posturing related to the House GOP efforts to block health law funding even if it means shutting down the government.

23 Aug 2013

UCLA-led study points to simple solution that could save Medicare dollars for patients

As everyone knows, medications are expensive, and even with insurance coverage, patients' out-of-pocket drug costs can be quite hefty. This holds true for individuals with Medicare Part D, also known as the prescription drug benefit, which subsidizes the cost of medications for about 28 million Medicare beneficiaries.

23 Aug 2013

Tufts Health Plan provides positive coverage decision and in-network provider status to bioTheranostics

bioTheranostics, a leading provider of molecular diagnostic solutions for cancer, has received a positive coverage decision and in-network provider status from Tufts Health Plan for its CancerTYPE ID molecular cancer classifier.

23 Aug 2013

State highlights: Health plan settles with D.C. over payments; Ga. judge won't stop contract despite UnitedHealthcare concerns; Calif. voters know little on Obamacare

A selection of health policy stories from the District of Columbia, Georgia, California, New York, Montana, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

23 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Health spending driving U.S. recovery; time to get rid of the insurance middle man

Here is the most interesting fact about the economy that you've never heard: Without health-care spending, the rest of the economy is barely producing more than it did in late 2007, just before the start of the Great Recession.

23 Aug 2013

Report finds number of doctors accepting Medicare patients is up

The number of physicians accepting new Medicare patients rose by one-third between 2007 and 2011 and is now higher than the number of physicians accepting new private insurance patients, according to a Department of Health and Human Services report obtained by USA TODAY. In 2007, about 925,000 doctors billed Medicare for their services. In 2011, that number had risen to 1.25 million, according to the report by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (Kennedy, 8/22).

23 Aug 2013

Political hijinx surround government shutdown threat, push to defund health law

News outlets report on the possible mid-term election impact of the GOP push to shut down the government if the health law receives funding.

23 Aug 2013

First Edition: August 22, 2013

Today's headlines include news reports about how summer politics are shaking out around the health law's implementation.

22 Aug 2013

Study looks at cost benefits of knee replacement surgery relative to societal, economic savings

The full impact of knee replacement surgery on both patients' lives and on society includes significant overall cost savings, according to a new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

22 Aug 2013

USA Today probe finds thousands of docs practicing despite misconduct

Also, a study finds that Medicare patients leaving the hospital can't always remember what was wrong with them and how to follow up.

22 Aug 2013

Generic, therapeutic drug substitutions can help lower Medicare costs

Therapeutic drug substitutions have the potential to double or even triple annual cost savings compared with savings achieved with generic substitutions, according to O. Kenrik Duru and colleagues from the University of California, Los Angeles.

22 Aug 2013

State insurance exchanges go for flashy (or not) branding

New York named its health exchange, complete with new logo and ad. In Idaho, the GOP governor, a vocal opponent of the health law, lauds his state's insurance marketplace. Meanwhile, Florida officials express concerns about the federal exchange's "navigator" concept.

22 Aug 2013