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Offices of family physicians appear to give preference to people with chronic health conditions

Some family physicians' offices discriminate against people of low socio-economic status, even when there is no economic incentive to do so under Canada's system of publicly funded universal health insurance, new research has shown.

27 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: GOP faces pressure from spending cuts effects on daily life; President needs to lead on Medicare cuts

Cuts this draconian have no place in a tottering economy. But, realistically, the only way to break this standoff is for the cuts to exact their toll on daily life, causing Republicans to face pressure from the public to negotiate an alternative plan with higher revenues in March as part of talks to finance the government for the final six months of the fiscal year.

26 Feb 2013

Govs brace for impact of scheduled cuts in home states

The nation's governors met in Washington over the weekend, and among their hottest topics: a White House warning regarding the state-by-state impact of sequestration, which is scheduled to kick in March 1.

26 Feb 2013

Report: Insurance rate hike requests drop as a result of Govt. scrutiny

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, requests by health insurers for double-digit rate increases dropped. The report credits the health law with this development.

26 Feb 2013

Re-election pressures may be driving some GOP governors to pursue Medicaid expansion

Meanwhile, news outlets report on health law implementation news from a variety of states, including Florida, California, Indiana, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Virgina, Kansas and Kentucky.

26 Feb 2013

GLP-1 may increase risk of hospitalization for people with acute pancreatitis

People who take the newest class of diabetes drugs to control blood sugar are twice as likely as those on other forms of sugar-control medication to be hospitalized with pancreatitis, Johns Hopkins researchers report.

25 Feb 2013

Sequester: Who's to blame? Who will feel the pain?

News outlets analyze the political pressure and partisan in-fighting that is taking shape as the sequester countdown continues. Meanwhile, McClatchy and The New York Times attempt to answer questions about the impact of the scheduled cuts.

24 Feb 2013

Expansion debate, decisions play out in Va., Ga., Texas

As state legislators and governors wrestle with budget issues and health law implementation decisions, the role of the Medicaid expansion is shaping up in different ways in different locations.

24 Feb 2013

HHS funds projects in 25 states to try to lower Medicaid costs, improve care

The Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday that it would provide 25 of the 50 states with funding to test new ways to lower costs and improve care within the national Medicaid program for the poor.

23 Feb 2013

Feds outline what insurers must cover

The final rule on essential health benefits, issued yesterday, defines what must be covered in health plans sold in online marketplaces beginning this fall, including prescription benefits and mental health services, and prohibits discrimination based on age or pre-existing medical conditions.

22 Feb 2013

Medicaid expansion divides GOP governors

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is the latest Republican executive to reverse his opposition to the health law's Medicaid expansion. Some other fervent opponents, however -- among them, Rick Perry of Texas and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana -- continue to hold the line.

22 Feb 2013

U.S., rest of world can learn from Rwanda's success in developing its health system

"Amidst the barrage of stories about failing states and civil wars that characterize the dour American media coverage of the developing world, the reinvention of Rwanda offers hope," Chicago-based writer Neal Emery states in an opinion piece in the Atlantic, adding, "Over the last 10 years, Rwanda's health system development has led to the most dramatic improvements of health in history."

22 Feb 2013

Roundup: HHS OKs key part of Fla.'s Medicaid managed care plan; Calif. lawmakers set to take up rules on its health insurance marketplace

The state of Florida won a second victory from HHS that will help the state introduce a statewide Medicaid managed-care program. The agency notified the state that it would grant its request for a medical assistance waiver -- a decision that comes just weeks after the department granted Florida's first request for a waiver for its long-term-care program.

22 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: Holtz-Eakin and Roy offer prescription to fix health law; Iowa lawmakers opposed to Medicaid expansion should give up their coverage

Over nearly a century, progressives have pressed for a national, single-payer healthcare system. When it comes to health reform, what have conservatives stood for? For far too long, conservatives have failed to coalesce around a long-term vision of what a free-market healthcare system should look like. ... Obamacare is the logical byproduct of this conservative policy neglect.

22 Feb 2013

Younger parents more likely to say online scores for physicians are very important

Numerous websites are available to rate just about any service or product: restaurant food, hotel service and even a pediatrician's care. However, a new poll from the University of Michigan shows that only 25 percent of parents say they consider doctor rating websites very important in their search for a child's physician.

21 Feb 2013

Bariatric surgery does not lower overall health care costs linked with obesity

Bariatric surgery is a well-documented treatment for obesity that leads to considerable weight loss and health improvement, but is the surgery successful in the long run in reducing costs associated with medical care for obesity? A team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine recently undertook a multi-year analysis of health insurance claims data to examine this question and found that although the procedure's success rate is well documented, it does not have a similar impact on health care costs.

21 Feb 2013

Health Insurance News and Research

Offices of family physicians appear to give preference to people with chronic health conditions

Viewpoints: GOP faces pressure from spending cuts effects on daily life; President needs to lead on Medicare cuts

Govs brace for impact of scheduled cuts in home states

Report: Insurance rate hike requests drop as a result of Govt. scrutiny

Re-election pressures may be driving some GOP governors to pursue Medicaid expansion

GLP-1 may increase risk of hospitalization for people with acute pancreatitis

Sequester: Who's to blame? Who will feel the pain?

Expansion debate, decisions play out in Va., Ga., Texas

HHS funds projects in 25 states to try to lower Medicaid costs, improve care

Feds outline what insurers must cover

Medicaid expansion divides GOP governors

U.S., rest of world can learn from Rwanda's success in developing its health system

Roundup: HHS OKs key part of Fla.'s Medicaid managed care plan; Calif. lawmakers set to take up rules on its health insurance marketplace

Viewpoints: Holtz-Eakin and Roy offer prescription to fix health law; Iowa lawmakers opposed to Medicaid expansion should give up their coverage

Younger parents more likely to say online scores for physicians are very important

Bariatric surgery does not lower overall health care costs linked with obesity

Calif. insurance official pans rate map proposal, warns of 20% hikes

Possible Medicare Advantage pay reductions cause insurer stocks to slip

Viewpoints: ACOs are doomed to fail; The need to expand Medicaid in Texas; The case against malpractice changes in Iowa

Growth in opioid use prompts safety concerns

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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