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ACP unveils tools to improve health outcomes in patients following ACS event

The American College of Physicians today unveiled two evidence-based interventions and two videos to improve the health outcomes of patients in the first year following an initial acute coronary syndrome event such as heart attack and unstable angina (chest pain or discomfort but no part of the heart muscle dies), the most common indications of ACS.

15 Apr 2013

Viewpoints: Progress toward a 'grand bargain'; States' 'rare chance' to expand Medicaid

Obama has acknowledged that the federal budget is on an unsustainable path. ... The president has set the right contours for a deal, and some of the specific proposals - including higher Medicare premiums for high-income seniors and those with generous Medigap policies, as well as a more aggressive effort to move providers to more efficient payment systems - are welcome (4/11).

15 Apr 2013

State highlights: Baby boomers eye expanding end-of-life rights in states across nation; Calif. judges threaten governor with contempt of court over prison care

Claudia Burzichelli doesn't want to die like her dad. … In states across the country, including New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont, graying baby boomers have been lobbying lawmakers in recent months at hearings, in letters and by phone, pushing to make it legal for doctors to prescribe life-ending drugs to terminally ill patients.

15 Apr 2013

Catholics for Choice not happy with Obama's support for abortion restrictions

"Under the president's budget for FY 2014, more than nine million women—women who are young, poor or disabled, as well as women serving our country in the military, the Peace Corps, the civil service and many others—will be denied coverage for abortion," said Jon O'Brien, president of Catholics for Choice.

15 Apr 2013

Nearly 8% of patients in VHA visit emergency department two or more times per year: Study

Even with health insurance, ready access to preventive, specialty and behavioral health care and comprehensive electronic medical records, nearly 8 percent of patients in the Veterans Health Administration visit the emergency department two or more times per year, according to a study published online Tuesday in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("What Drives Frequent Emergency Department Use in an Integrated Health System: National Data from the Veterans Health Administration").

15 Apr 2013

Research roundup: Lesson for insurance exchanges from Europe; Health care disparities among Hispanics

As states and the federal government begin creating insurance exchanges under the health law, researchers highlight several lessons from Switzerland and the Netherlands.

15 Apr 2013

Health exchange cost estimates go up

Meanwhile, uncertainty continues about the premium price tags consumers will pay if they purchase health insurance from these online marketplaces. Also, debate heats up about how the Obama administration hopes to offset the set-up costs.

15 Apr 2013

Medicaid expansion: Stiff resistance in South, Fla. Gov. Scott blasts watered-down plan

While most Southern states resist expanding Medicaid under the health law, Virginia appoints its final voting members to a commission that will oversee expansion there.

15 Apr 2013

First Edition: April 12, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about a new study measuring how the health law has expanded young adults access to care.

12 Apr 2013

Challenges in changing behaviors, factors to reduce cancer risk continue

An annual report from the American Cancer Society finds continuing challenges in changing behaviors and risk factors in order to reduce suffering and death from cancer.

12 Apr 2013

Ohio Gov. vows to keep trying on Medicaid expansion; Ark. lawmakers near key votes on issue

The Ohio House is dropping expansion from Gov. John Kasich's budget while he says hospitals and other stakeholders must help in the effort to expand the health care program for low-income people. Meanwhile, supporters of an expansion try to rally support in Arkansas.

12 Apr 2013

More details: Paying for health exchanges, other parts of the health law's implementation

According to the Obama administration's 2014 budget document, the federal government will spend about $4 billion on federal- and state-run marketplaces for individual and small businesses purchasing insurance coverage.

12 Apr 2013

Report: Fewer employees getting health insurance at work, paying more

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report found that employer-sponsored coverage fell from 69 to 60 percent between 1999 and 2010.

12 Apr 2013

Obama budget would replace SGR formula, boost Medicaid, mental health

Among the changes included in the president's 2014 budget blueprint are the elimination of the SGR formula to set Medicare physician payment rates, and funding boosts for mental health and food and drug safety. The proposal also delays funding cuts to hospitals that treat the uninsured.

12 Apr 2013

Budget plan would allow federal employees to add same-sex partners to their health plans

The Obama blueprint would create beginning in 2015 a "self plus one" category within the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

12 Apr 2013

First Edition: April 11, 2013

Today's headlines include details regarding how Medicare and Medicaid, as well as funding for the health law's implementation, fared in President Barack Obama's budget plan.

11 Apr 2013

Viewpoints: Obama budget doesn't address 'heart of our debt crisis;' Attention deficit crisis; Insurer sings a different song when consumer owes it money

The U.S. has huge budget challenges. And for the first time in years, we will have three budget proposals to carefully consider -- instead of speeches and talking points.

11 Apr 2013

State-level debate about Medicaid expansion heats up

ov. Jay Nixon led a three-front charge Tuesday to expand Missouri's Medicaid program, meeting privately with reluctant state senators, rallying publicly with hundreds of disability advocates and chatting with the nation's top health care official about whether particular Medicaid proposals could win federal approval.

11 Apr 2013

Nev. jury orders HMO to pay $500M in punitive damages after hepatitis C outbreak

A Nevada jury has awarded three plaintiffs $500 million in punitive damages after finding negligence.

11 Apr 2013

Roundup: Minn. Democrats push pay hike for nursing home workers; Colo. official warns of possible exchange delays due to IT

A selection of health policy stories from Minnesota, Colorado, New York, Delaware, Georgia, Oregon, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Massachusetts and California.

11 Apr 2013

Health Insurance News and Research

ACP unveils tools to improve health outcomes in patients following ACS event

Viewpoints: Progress toward a 'grand bargain'; States' 'rare chance' to expand Medicaid

State highlights: Baby boomers eye expanding end-of-life rights in states across nation; Calif. judges threaten governor with contempt of court over prison care

Catholics for Choice not happy with Obama's support for abortion restrictions

Nearly 8% of patients in VHA visit emergency department two or more times per year: Study

Research roundup: Lesson for insurance exchanges from Europe; Health care disparities among Hispanics

Health exchange cost estimates go up

Medicaid expansion: Stiff resistance in South, Fla. Gov. Scott blasts watered-down plan

First Edition: April 12, 2013

Challenges in changing behaviors, factors to reduce cancer risk continue

Ohio Gov. vows to keep trying on Medicaid expansion; Ark. lawmakers near key votes on issue

More details: Paying for health exchanges, other parts of the health law's implementation

Report: Fewer employees getting health insurance at work, paying more

Obama budget would replace SGR formula, boost Medicaid, mental health

Budget plan would allow federal employees to add same-sex partners to their health plans

First Edition: April 11, 2013

Viewpoints: Obama budget doesn't address 'heart of our debt crisis;' Attention deficit crisis; Insurer sings a different song when consumer owes it money

State-level debate about Medicaid expansion heats up

Nev. jury orders HMO to pay $500M in punitive damages after hepatitis C outbreak

Roundup: Minn. Democrats push pay hike for nursing home workers; Colo. official warns of possible exchange delays due to IT

Event guide: 4th Extra-Hepatic Lipid-Based Nanoparticles Delivery Summit eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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