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Utah tries to improve state health insurance exhange; Mich. plans for doctor shortage

The Salt Lake Tribune: "State health reform got a boost Tuesday with House passage of a fix-it bill to improve the Utah Health Exchange, an online tool for purchasing health insurance. Pitched as a free-market approach to lowering costs for small businesses, the exchange has had limited success. Only 400 people are receiving health insurance in its experimental first stage. And some of its 66 plans are up to 130 percent more expensive than what some companies were already paying. That's because insurers are calculating premiums differently 'inside' and 'outside' the exchange, said House Speaker Dave Clark" (Stewart, 2/16).

17 Feb 2010

WellPoint cancels investor meeting to prepare for congressional hearing on premium hikes

WellPoint, the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross, has canceled an investor meeting "so that executives can prepare for a congressional hearing on the company's large rate hikes in California," the Los Angeles Times reports. "A subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has called WellPoint Inc. Chief Executive Angela F. Braly to testify Feb. 24 about planned premium increases of as much as 39% for many of Anthem's 800,000 individual policyholders in California."

17 Feb 2010

Calif. budget cuts would end aid to new legal immigrants; Minn. Dems criticize Pawlenty for relying on federal funds

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest proposals to close California's budget shortfall would end public assistance for most new legal immigrants, eliminating emergency cash, food and medical aid for those who don't yet qualify for federal welfare. The proposal would represent an about-face for the state.

17 Feb 2010

ACP urges Congress and Obama to enact comprehensive health care reform

"The unfortunate truth is that by many measures, the State of America's health care is in decline," Joseph W. Stubbs, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP), reported today at ACP's annual State of the Nation's Health Care briefing. "We have too many uninsured, too few primary care physicians, and the cost of health care is rising faster than we can afford."

17 Feb 2010

Former Senate parliamentarian questions reconciliation, Senators want public option back

A former Senate parliamentarian said Tuesday that using reconciliation to pass health care reform will be difficult because the procedure wasn't meant to make policy, Politico's Live Pulse blog reports. The former parliamentarian, Robert Dove, who now teaches at George Washington University, said there are many things that cannot be put into the reconciliation bill. "Dove would know. In 1974, in the midst of his 36-year Senate career, he helped design the Congressional Budget Act, which first created the rules for reconciliation.

17 Feb 2010

Health on the Hill - February 16, 2010

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey and Eric Pianin of the Fiscal Times talk with the Kaiser Family Foundation's Jackie Judd about recent events on Capitol Hill. For instance, President Obama has scheduled a bipartisan summit for Feb. 25 to discuss ways to pass health care overhaul legislation this year.

17 Feb 2010

Deficit panel to tackle worries of federal debt, including health spending

The New York Times reports that President Obama's appointment of a special panel to study the nation's debt will come "(a)fter decades of warnings that budgetary profligacy, escalating health care costs and an aging population would lead to a day of fiscal reckoning."

17 Feb 2010

COBRA expansion, Medicare payments to doctors 'fix' looming over Congress

Lawmakers seek ways to expand COBRA and address the Medicare doctor payment "fix."

17 Feb 2010

Top health groups increased political spending in 2009

USA Today: "Pharmacists, optometrists and groups representing an array of medical specialists boosted their political giving in 2009, as Congress worked on health care legislation that would dramatically reshape their industry. ... Donations by the top 15 health care political action committees rose to $11.7 million in 2009, a nearly 14% increase from 2007, the most recent non-election year, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data compiled by CQ MoneyLine."

17 Feb 2010

White House hints at new health bill as GOP sees possible upside in summit

White House officials "hinted on Tuesday that President Obama might post his own [health care] bill on the Internet before the bipartisan health care summit he is planning" next week, The New York Times reports. "In the nearly a year since Congress began debating a health care overhaul, Mr. Obama has yet to make his own priorities explicit. He said at the outset that he would set broad parameters for the measure and leave the details to lawmakers." Obama said last week that hoped to post to the Internet a merged bill that would address costs and expand coverage.

17 Feb 2010

MedCath to sell Heart Hospital of Austin to St. David's Healthcare Partnership

MedCath Corporation and its physician partners announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement to sell substantially all the assets of Heart Hospital of Austin to St. David's Healthcare Partnership, L.P. ("St. David's"). The transaction is expected to close during MedCath's third fiscal quarter of 2010, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory requirements.

17 Feb 2010

NCOA survey: Communication about safety of medical imaging for patients is often inadequate

Today, the National Council on Aging released the results of a national survey of older adults, caregivers and health care providers evaluating knowledge and awareness of medical imaging safety. The survey, which focused largely on electronic implantable device patients and their caregivers, reveals that communication about the safety of medical imaging for patients with these devices is often inadequate.

17 Feb 2010

Physicians of New York Walk In Medical Group open new center in New York City

The physicians of New York Walk In Medical Group, PC, are opening the doors today at the fifth "DR Walk-In Medical Center" in a Duane Reade Pharmacy in New York City. The "Doctor on Premises" center will open at 10:00 a.m. at the new Duane Reade at 17th Street and Eighth Avenue in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.

17 Feb 2010

Walgreen acquires Duane Reade for total enterprise value of $1.075 billion

Walgreen Co. and New York-based drugstore chain Duane Reade Holdings, Inc. today announced a definitive agreement under which Walgreens will acquire Duane Reade from affiliates of Oak Hill Capital Partners in a cash transaction for a total enterprise value of $1.075 billion, which includes the assumption of debt.

17 Feb 2010

Office Ally experienced strong growth in previous year, sees record-breaking expansion in 2010

Office Ally, a true health information network connecting patients, providers and payers, experienced strong growth in the previous year and sees further record-breaking expansion in 2010.

17 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 17, 2010

Today's headlines reflect more chatter about President Obama's upcoming health summit, as well as talk about budget deficits, the COBRA extension and party gridlock.

17 Feb 2010

Low-income nations lack advanced e-health tools that can help them achieve better health outcomes

In an essay in the February 2010 issue of Health Affairs, a special issue of the journal devoted to global e-health, William Tierney, M.D., of Indiana University School of Medicine and the Regenstrief Institute, and colleagues, who like Dr. Tierney have significant experience in the development of workable health information technology systems in low-income countries, identify critical steps toward allowing developing countries to cross the "digital divide" to realize the full potential of e-health to improve the quality and efficiency of their health care systems.

17 Feb 2010

ICAP Ocean Tomo offers Medcanica's patent portfolio for sale

ICAP Ocean Tomo, the intellectual property brokerage division of ICAP plc (IAP.L), is offering for sale a patent portfolio relating to a cardiothoracic surgery system owned by Medcanica, LLC. The portfolio consists of 14 U.S. issued patents, 4 non-U.S. patents, and 1 U.S. patent application.

17 Feb 2010

Patients and doctors differ when it comes to daily health activities

When it comes to daily health activities such as diet and exercise, Americans and their doctors may not always see eye to eye.

17 Feb 2010

New book by 12 world-leading scientists calls for renewed approach to drug policy

Drug policy - or really, the way our society controls and provides interventions for both legal and illegal psychoactive substances - is one of those things that seems inherently controversial.

17 Feb 2010

Health Care News and Research

Utah tries to improve state health insurance exhange; Mich. plans for doctor shortage

WellPoint cancels investor meeting to prepare for congressional hearing on premium hikes

Calif. budget cuts would end aid to new legal immigrants; Minn. Dems criticize Pawlenty for relying on federal funds

ACP urges Congress and Obama to enact comprehensive health care reform

Former Senate parliamentarian questions reconciliation, Senators want public option back

Health on the Hill - February 16, 2010

Deficit panel to tackle worries of federal debt, including health spending

COBRA expansion, Medicare payments to doctors 'fix' looming over Congress

Top health groups increased political spending in 2009

White House hints at new health bill as GOP sees possible upside in summit

MedCath to sell Heart Hospital of Austin to St. David's Healthcare Partnership

NCOA survey: Communication about safety of medical imaging for patients is often inadequate

Physicians of New York Walk In Medical Group open new center in New York City

Walgreen acquires Duane Reade for total enterprise value of $1.075 billion

Office Ally experienced strong growth in previous year, sees record-breaking expansion in 2010

First Edition: February 17, 2010

Low-income nations lack advanced e-health tools that can help them achieve better health outcomes

ICAP Ocean Tomo offers Medcanica's patent portfolio for sale

Patients and doctors differ when it comes to daily health activities

New book by 12 world-leading scientists calls for renewed approach to drug policy

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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