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Contraception coverage mandate could drive health law back to Supreme Court

A number of challenges to the birth control coverage requirement are making their way through the lower courts. Meanwhile, a U.S. district judge issued a ruling that the property mangement firm owned by the founder of Domino's Pizza will not have to immediately comply with this health law provision.

3 Jan 2013

Roundup: Medicaid waiver challenges in Texas; Detailing Sandy's impact on NYC's mental care

By 2012's end, health care providers across Texas will have submitted proposals to state leaders to transform the way they care for the poor and uninsured. They have been spurred by a Medicaid waiver Texas officials sought and received in 2011 from the federal government, one that ties financing to cooperation, cost efficiency and better patient outcomes.

2 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Republicans reject their own market-based ideas; Analyzing entitlement spending; Access to after-hours care reduces ER visits

It's harder and harder for politicians on the right to think straight about health care. Conservatives once genuinely interested in finding market-based ways for the government to expand health insurance coverage have, since the rise of Obamacare, made choices that are dysfunctional, even from their own perspective. Start with the decision of the vast majority of Republican governors to refuse to set up the state insurance exchanges required under the law.

2 Jan 2013

First Edition: January 2, 2013

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a number of reports about congressional efforts to avert the "fiscal cliff."

2 Jan 2013

Park Nicollet, HealthPartners complete merger

HealthPartners and Park Nicollet Health Services today announced the completion of their agreement to combine their organizations. Effective today, the two organizations are officially joined under the name HealthPartners and a single, consumer-governed board of directors.

1 Jan 2013

As fiscal cliff nears, there's a 'flurry of activity,' but hope for a deal is still slim

News outlets report that a patch to prevent a scheduled cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients is among the items that could wind up in a last-minute fiscal deal.

29 Dec 2012

Rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps ‘predisposes to psoriasis’

People who suffer from chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps have around twice the risk for psoriasis as the general population, a Taiwanese study has found.

28 Dec 2012

Hospitals that provide uncompensated care may undergo unintended cuts

The decision by several states not to expand Medicaid health insurance for the poor may create unintended cuts for hospitals that provide uncompensated care, according to a study by John Graves, Ph.D., a Vanderbilt policy expert in the Department of Preventive Medicine.

28 Dec 2012

Implementation of appropriateness criteria required for elective procedures

Many of the most common inpatient surgeries in the United States are performed electively. These surgeries are expected to significantly increase with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act.

27 Dec 2012

Taxing health coverage would lead some to drop coverage, survey finds

Proposals to tax health benefits, sometimes touted as a way to help reduce the deficit, could have unintended consequences, according to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

21 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: Playing chicken on entitlements; 'Getting serious' about mental illness; Hospital labs devastated by Sandy

This is no time for a Grand Bargain, because the Republican Party, as now constituted, is just not an entity with which the president can make a serious deal. If we're going to get a grip on our nation's problems - of which the budget deficit is a minor part - the power of the G.O.P.'s extremists, and their willingness to hold the economy hostage if they don't get their way, needs to be broken. And somehow I don't think that's going to happen in the next few days (Paul Krugman, 12/20).

21 Dec 2012

Republicans press Obama administration for information on contractors

GOP members of the Senate Finance Committee say they want more information from the Department of Health and Human Services, even as House and Senate GOP lawmakers pressed for details about the contractors who will set up insurance markets in states that don't do it themselves.

21 Dec 2012

Feds OK health insurance exchange plans for three more states; Other 'Obamacare' implementation news

The Obama administration gave conditional approvals to Delaware, Minnesota and Rhode Island, saying they will be ready to open new insurance markets in 2014, as required under the health care law. Meanwhile, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper indicates he's likely to push for Medicaid expansion.

21 Dec 2012

Research Roundup: Health law's under-26 coverage 'significantly increased' access to care; Thousands of surgical 'never events' occur each year

The health law allows young adults to remain under their parents' health insurance plans until age 26, raising questions about the law's overall impact on access to care. Researchers used data from two nationally representative surveys to compare young adults who've gained access to dependent coverage to a control group of individuals (ages 26-34) unaffected by the new policy.

21 Dec 2012

CMS awards $306M to states for enrolling more kids in Medicaid

The Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services on Wednesday awarded $306 million in bonuses to 23 states for enrolling more children in Medicaid. The move is meant to help offset the expense of covering more kids in the state-federal health care program.

21 Dec 2012

Court challenge to contraception coverage mandate paused as administration writes rules

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals allows suit by religious school to continue but says it will hold the government to its deadlines for revising rules for religiously affiliated employers.

21 Dec 2012

Many uninsured still don't understand health law's benefits while employers remain concerned about costs

The New York Times examines efforts by a nonprofit group to explain the overhaul's provisions to the uninsured. And the Wall Street Journal looks at an employer's efforts to keep the number of workers low so he can avoid the law.

21 Dec 2012

Akorbi announces aggressive growth strategy in early 2012

Akorbi, one of the health insurance industry's largest suppliers of translation and interpretation services, announced an aggressive growth strategy in early 2012 that included the addition of multilingual and technology consulting staffing services.

21 Dec 2012

Viewpoints on the fiscal cliff: Boehner as 'adult in charge'?; Sorting through entitlement program spending

Since the election, House Speaker John Boehner has emerged as that Washington rarity, the adult in charge. ... Shortly after the election, Mr. Boehner made the first move by acknowledging that Washington could draw additional revenue if it also cut spending.

21 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: Could expanding mental health services curb gun violence?; Opinions on other aspects of health law

President Obama said he would use whatever powers his office holds to address this violence. ... Currently, nearly half of all gun sales in the U.S. are conducted without a background check. Criminals, the mentally ill, minors and domestic abusers are all prohibited from purchasing guns, but they all can do so as easily as attending a gun show or going online.

20 Dec 2012

Health Insurance News and Research

Contraception coverage mandate could drive health law back to Supreme Court

Roundup: Medicaid waiver challenges in Texas; Detailing Sandy's impact on NYC's mental care

Viewpoints: Republicans reject their own market-based ideas; Analyzing entitlement spending; Access to after-hours care reduces ER visits

First Edition: January 2, 2013

Park Nicollet, HealthPartners complete merger

As fiscal cliff nears, there's a 'flurry of activity,' but hope for a deal is still slim

Rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps ‘predisposes to psoriasis’

Hospitals that provide uncompensated care may undergo unintended cuts

Implementation of appropriateness criteria required for elective procedures

Taxing health coverage would lead some to drop coverage, survey finds

Viewpoints: Playing chicken on entitlements; 'Getting serious' about mental illness; Hospital labs devastated by Sandy

Republicans press Obama administration for information on contractors

Feds OK health insurance exchange plans for three more states; Other 'Obamacare' implementation news

Research Roundup: Health law's under-26 coverage 'significantly increased' access to care; Thousands of surgical 'never events' occur each year

CMS awards $306M to states for enrolling more kids in Medicaid

Court challenge to contraception coverage mandate paused as administration writes rules

Many uninsured still don't understand health law's benefits while employers remain concerned about costs

Akorbi announces aggressive growth strategy in early 2012

Viewpoints on the fiscal cliff: Boehner as 'adult in charge'?; Sorting through entitlement program spending

Viewpoints: Could expanding mental health services curb gun violence?; Opinions on other aspects of health law

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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