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House Republicans, Senate Democrats to release competing budget plans next week

As President Barack Obama courts Republican lawmakers who might be interested in a "grand bargain," the chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees are expected to release competing budget proposals. Some hope a conference committee might be able to work out the differences on taxes and spending, including changes to Medicare.

8 Mar 2013

New Orleans residents continue to face increased risk of heart attack post-Katrina

New Orleans residents continue to face a three-fold increased risk of heart attack post-Katrina-a trend that has remained unchanged since the storm hit in 2005, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session.

7 Mar 2013

Roundup: N.J. seeks to recover $10M from adult day care centers after Medicaid bills; Ga. panel to implement provider fee picked; Pa.'s adultBasic in limbo after ruling

A state agency that serves as a watchdog over New Jersey government announced Wednesday that it has found improper billing of Medicaid by five adult day care centers and is asking the centers to pay settlements totaling more than $10 million. The state comptroller's office found that centers were charging the state for caring for patients when they did not receive care in some cases and for providing care that was not needed in others.

7 Mar 2013

Health insurance and poverty the important predictors of late stage breast cancer

Home may be where the heart is, but where you live could affect your health. "Regardless of geographic location, women who live in high poverty areas or are uninsured are at greatest risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer at a later stage," said lead author Kevin Henry, Department of Geography, University of Utah.

7 Mar 2013

Medical pricing transparency: Sometimes the real cost matters

For many people with health insurance, the actual final cost of a medical service they receive is a mystery not worth solving.

7 Mar 2013

Minn. House's exchange bill faces challenges with Senate and Governor

The plan to create a state insurance marketplace includes some abortion restrictions that are expected to meet resistance.

7 Mar 2013

Va. Gov. McDonnell sends Sebelius a stern message on Medicaid expansion

Meanwhile, Iowa's governor offers an outline of his alternative expansion plan while Ohio officials continue to press federal officials for flexibility.

7 Mar 2013

Ryan's Medicare plan said to back away from age cutoff

News organizations report that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is expected to exempt people 55 years old and older from his Medicare overhaul - despite his personal preference to raise that age to 56.

7 Mar 2013

Feds to kick off campaign to reach uninsured in July

Politico reports that the Obama administration will begin a pitch to enroll the uninsured beginning in July.

7 Mar 2013

Roundup: States form panels to fight federal powers, health law; Review shows 3,000 dropped from Medicaid in Pa. were eligible

One bill would make it a felony to enforce the new federal health care law, punishable by up to five years in prison. Another prohibits a physician from asking a patient about firearms.

7 Mar 2013

Viewpoints: Doctors, nurses not reaping same health care 'bonanzas' as other providers; House GOP spending plan doesn't solve budget problems

When I followed the money trail in Time magazine's story "A Bitter Pill" behind the drugs, medical devices or CT scan equipment that the patients or their insurance companies were billed for, the profit margins for the hospitals that supplied them, as high as they were, were eclipsed by the margins of the manufacturers that sold them to the hospitals.

6 Mar 2013

Minn. House passes bill to create a health exchange

An amendment restricting abortion coverage was also approved. In Connecticut, the state awarded a contract to handle its exchange to a company that has come under fire in the state before.

6 Mar 2013

Across the nation, C-section rates show wide variation

C-sections, a very common operating room procedure, can boost the cost of delivery from about $9,000 for a vaginal birth to $13,000.

6 Mar 2013

Roundup: San Francisco to get two new hospitals; Ariz. foster care and mental health bill moves along; Medicaid safety-net struggles in Kan.

San Francisco officials have struck a deal with California Pacific Medical Center to build two seismically safe hospitals following months of negotiations after city supervisors balked at the original agreement Mayor Ed Lee had negotiated.

6 Mar 2013

Good dental health ‘cuts stroke risk’

Good dental health, including prophylaxis of periodontal disease, is associated with a reduced risk for ischemic stroke, results of a large retrospective cohort study indicate.

5 Mar 2013

States continue to formulate Medicaid expansion strategies

As the Obama administration gives some states the OK to pursue alternatives to the health law's Medicaid expansion, the shape of the debate in state legislatures changes.

5 Mar 2013

Health law implementation largely untouched by automatic spending cuts

The Associated Press reports that only a small fraction of the overhaul's funding is subject to the sequester's cuts. Meanwhile, the Obama administration indicates that insurers will have to report rate increases no matter how small and offers rules to clarify other provisions.

5 Mar 2013

Automatic budget cuts lead Republicans to sharpen focus on Medicare cost-cutting plans

With the deadline for averting sequestration having come and gone, lawmakers and the White House are jockeying for position in the next round of budget battles.

5 Mar 2013

Roundup: Mass. health costs may start accelerating again; Review questions Minn. HMO payment rates; Calif. lawmakers approve health care bills

After several years of moderating costs, there are signs the rate of increase in Massachusetts health care prices -- and insurance premiums -- may soon start accelerating again, exceeding a heralded cost cap set by the state last year.

5 Mar 2013

GP consultations: an interview with Associate Professor Helena Britt, University of Sydney

Well it hasn’t varied at all over the last 15 years, which I find pretty amazing because we’ve been through a lot of changes in general practice. Yet, the average length of consultation, as measured from a start to finish time, in a sample of 40,000 consultations in Australia in a year, shows that the average is 15 minutes and the median is 13 minutes.

4 Mar 2013

Health Insurance News and Research

House Republicans, Senate Democrats to release competing budget plans next week

New Orleans residents continue to face increased risk of heart attack post-Katrina

Roundup: N.J. seeks to recover $10M from adult day care centers after Medicaid bills; Ga. panel to implement provider fee picked; Pa.'s adultBasic in limbo after ruling

Health insurance and poverty the important predictors of late stage breast cancer

Medical pricing transparency: Sometimes the real cost matters

Minn. House's exchange bill faces challenges with Senate and Governor

Va. Gov. McDonnell sends Sebelius a stern message on Medicaid expansion

Ryan's Medicare plan said to back away from age cutoff

Feds to kick off campaign to reach uninsured in July

Roundup: States form panels to fight federal powers, health law; Review shows 3,000 dropped from Medicaid in Pa. were eligible

Viewpoints: Doctors, nurses not reaping same health care 'bonanzas' as other providers; House GOP spending plan doesn't solve budget problems

Minn. House passes bill to create a health exchange

Across the nation, C-section rates show wide variation

Roundup: San Francisco to get two new hospitals; Ariz. foster care and mental health bill moves along; Medicaid safety-net struggles in Kan.

Good dental health ‘cuts stroke risk’

States continue to formulate Medicaid expansion strategies

Health law implementation largely untouched by automatic spending cuts

Automatic budget cuts lead Republicans to sharpen focus on Medicare cost-cutting plans

Roundup: Mass. health costs may start accelerating again; Review questions Minn. HMO payment rates; Calif. lawmakers approve health care bills

GP consultations: an interview with Associate Professor Helena Britt, University of Sydney

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Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

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