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DNC pulls health reform ad after Dole complains

After a group of Republicans voiced support for health reform last week, the Democratic National Committee produced an ad featuring those comments - but, withdrew it at the request of former Senate Majority leader, Bob Dole, R-Kan., The Associated Press/The Boston Globe reports. Dole and other Republicans were quoted in the commercial, with Dole saying "I want this to pass. … We've got to do something."

12 Oct 2009

Benefits of health overhaul won't be immediate

Mechanisms to make health insurance more affordable for families and low- and middle-income households won't start until 2013 if health care reform passes.

12 Oct 2009

Today's selection of opeds: Cutting health costs

Many commentators have treated the Senate Finance bill as the likely template for any final legislation because it may be more palatable to conservative Democrats, and deficit hawks, in both houses.

12 Oct 2009

Even with early shortages, public is conflicted about getting the swine flu vaccine

A federal health official downplays risks from swine flu vaccine while the demand for the vaccine causes shortages.

12 Oct 2009

Young 'invincibles,' small businesses worry about proposed mandates

Newspapers report on how young adults and small businesses might be affected by the mandates proposed in the health care bills pending in Congress.

12 Oct 2009

Insurers change course, attack health care reform, predict huge premium increases

Insurers who backed Democratic attempts to reform the health care system in America are now attacking the Senate Finance Committee bill, saying it would cause premiums to increase.

12 Oct 2009

Female lawmakers shape health care with their own stories

CQ Politics reports that Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Ohio, is one of several women lawmakers who is using her own history with multiple sclerosis to lobby for changes in the health care system: "As the health care debate rages on, [Kilroy] has decided to use her personal story to help fellow lawmakers understand how important it is to make health care available for all Americans. In a 'Dear Colleague' letter she sent last week, Kilroy told them about her own diagnosis."

12 Oct 2009

Obama highlights GOP reform supporters; Capitol Hill battle grinds on

President Barack Obama praised health reform efforts in Congress in his weekly Saturday address, highlighting support from some Republicans who have spoken out recently on the issue, a scheduled vote in the Senate Finance Committee and a Congressional Budget Office report that found the Finance bill would not add to the deficit, the Wall Street Journal reports.

12 Oct 2009

Horizon BCBSNJ to use NaviNet’s Web-based portal for secure information exchange with providers

NaviNet, America’s largest real-time health care communications network, and New Jersey’s largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ), announced today an agreement in which Horizon BCBSNJ will use NaviNet’s multi-payer, Web-based portal as its exclusive secure information exchange with providers.

12 Oct 2009

Congressional -- and political -- agenda tied to outcome of health care reform

Questions abound about what may happen if health care reform does happen.

12 Oct 2009

VirtualHealth Technologies, Wound Care Innovations enter licensing agreement to use Cifra healthcare platform

VirtualHealth Technologies, Inc., a provider of secure technology for electronic health records and connectivity for web-based healthcare solutions, announced today that its subsidiary Secure eHealth has entered into an agreement with Wound Care Innovations, LLC, a subsidiary of Wound Management Technologies Inc., to use its Cifra secure healthcare platform.

12 Oct 2009

Cifra healthcare platform from Wound Management Technologies

Wound Management Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: WNDM) a rapidly growing provider of specialty medical products, announced today that its subsidiary Wound Care Innovations, LLC has launched the Cifra(TM) healthcare platform to securely exchange and store information for ongoing evidence based case studies on its patented collagen CellerateRx® products in managing all types of wound care.

12 Oct 2009

Employers offering more high-deductible plans this enrollment season

When open enrollment rolls around again this year, workers may be faced with more health insurance choices: "more employers may include a new type of plan that can chop premium payments by nearly 20 percent and give consumers a tax break," The Associated Press reports.

12 Oct 2009

Physician shortage worries rural communities but gets little attention in health bills

Garfield Memorial Hospital in Pomeroy, Wash., has been struggling to make ends meet for years - through patient revenues and property taxes that helped cover a $70,000 roof repair - the Seattle Times reports. Many rural hospitals face similar problems, and in the case of Pomeroy, if the hospital closed, residents would have to travel miles to find other choices.

12 Oct 2009

States struggle with Medicaid issues

Various newspapers examine Medicaid issues including the coverage needs of kids in Michigan, financial worries for Medicaid programs in California and New Hampshire and concerns that Medicaid pay may be cut again when stimulus money runs out.

12 Oct 2009

'Modern' patients help drive up health care costs

Patients who request specific medications and procedures, even though they may not need them, help to drive up health care costs, NPR reports.

12 Oct 2009

OptumHealth’s conference to focus on advancements in fetal diagnosis and treatment

OptumHealth Inc. has teamed with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to present a two-day educational conference focused on clinical advancements in fetal diagnosis and treatment, neonatal care and pediatric care. The gathering runs through today, and is part of OptumHealth’s Network Spotlight Conferences program.

12 Oct 2009

GF Capital Private Equity Fund purchases Airborne

Airborne, Inc., maker of dietary supplements that support immune health, today announced that it has been purchased by GF Capital Private Equity Fund, LP, a New York City-based private equity firm. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Stockton Road Capital, LLC, advised and partnered with GF Capital with respect to this investment.

12 Oct 2009

State representatives to announce patient-centered plan for health care reform

On Tuesday, October 13, in response to national calls for an alternative to Obamacare, representatives from 33 state think tanks will announce their "patient-centered" plan for health care reform.

12 Oct 2009

President of Consumers Union calls health reform 'vital'

This week, Consumers Union, the nonprofit organization that publishes Consumer Reports magazine, stepped into the health care debate by airing a 30-second television ad supporting an overhaul.

12 Oct 2009