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Cigna to increase supplemental health insurance offerings with acquisition

Cigna plans to acquire a supplemental health insurance unit from American Financial Group for $295 million to increase its Medicare and other supplemental insurance offerings.

11 May 2012

N.J. Gov. vetoes bill creating health insurance exchange

Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who is often rumored as a possible running mate for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said the state should wait to see how the Supreme Court rules on the federal health law.

11 May 2012

GOP lawmakers doubt co-op loan program's ability to promote competition, lower health costs

They outlined their concerns in a letter sent this week to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Meanwhile, Marilyn Tavenner, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services acting administrator, provided details about the innovation center's staffing and funding to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

11 May 2012

Republican govs like free-market insurance exchanges but skewer 'Obamacare'

Many governors find themselves in an awkward spot since opposing the health care law is GOP orthodoxy. In the meantime, Iowa lawmakers approved a bill requiring licensure of advisers who help people navigate health insurance options.

11 May 2012

Longer looks: More 20-30 somethings are taking care of elderly, dissecting solutions to obesity problem

At 30, Suzette Armijo cares for her widowed 86-year-old grandmother, a retired National Park Service ranger in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease, while holding down a fulltime job, a part-time job and raising a 4-year-old son. "This was nothing that I had planned for," says Armijo, who moved her grandmother Elizabeth Armijo into a nearby six-bed assisted living home because veterans' benefits "wouldn't pay for her to live with me."

11 May 2012

Children with private, public and no insurance may receive differing levels of treatment in ED

In 2009, children with public insurance were three times more likely and children with no insurance were eleven time more likely not to have a primary care physician, compared with children with private insurance. Without a primary care physician, the Emergency Department (ED) often becomes the primary point of contact for treatments and diagnoses. A new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics reports that children with private, public, and no insurance may receive differing levels of treatment in EDs.

11 May 2012

ACS editorial calls for systematic approach to increase cancer screening participation

An editorial by Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH, director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), calls for a more organized and comprehensive approach to increase cancer screening participation among those who are insured or are likely to become insured through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

10 May 2012

DOJ probes fraud allegations at Dallas' Parkland hospital; Texas group calls Medicaid 'indispensable'

In other Medicaid news, Florida officials are trying to change the "Medically Needy" program and the Connecticut House passes a budget that would cut $50 million from Medicaid programs.

10 May 2012

U.S. spends $190.2 billion annually for adult obesity treatment

John Cawley is a professor of policy analysis and management and of economics at Cornell University. He is also co-director of Cornell's Institute on Health Economics, Health Behaviors and Disparities, and has served on advisory boards and expert panels for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

10 May 2012

Long Island women may be able to take advantage of free mammograms at MSKCC

Women on Long Island who don't have insurance or who are underinsured may be able to take advantage of free mammograms at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Commack. The Center has contracted with the New York State Cancer Services Program (CSP) of Western Suffolk County to provide breast cancer screening at no cost to patients who are uninsured or underinsured and meet certain eligibility criteria.

9 May 2012

House GOP bill cuts Medicaid to protect military spending

The budget plan, developed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R- Wis., targets a number of Obama administration domestic initiatives. It trims an estimated $261 billion in domestic spending over the next decade and undoes elements of the health law.

9 May 2012

Health budget focuses on dental and aged care

The states need to increase the number of public dental patients they treat or lose the reward payments offered by the federal government under its new $500 million dental package. A total of over $800 million of new money has come into the focal points of the health budget - dental and aged care.

9 May 2012

Viewpoints: Taking aim at 'superbugs'; Friending organ donations; Ariz. and Kansas abortion efforts hurt women

In the battle between humans and infectious bacteria, humans have had the advantage, at least since antibiotics were introduced into our arsenal 70 or so years ago. Now, however, our weapons appear to be turning against us as germs have found ways to outfox antibiotics…. A second challenge is to keep a steady stream of new antibiotics in the pipeline, and this is where the big pharmaceutical companies based in Europe and the U.S. come in….

9 May 2012

Ads for “affordable care act” claim to protect Medicare: Really?

Proponents of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have a very costly, tax-payer funded national advertising campaign--- posing as “protectors” of Medicare—even as the massively unpopular law cut $500-$800 billion from Medicare to fund expansion of Medicaid, shifting more medical care services to younger voters.

8 May 2012

First Edition: May 8, 2012

Today's headlines include highlights of how congressional action surrounding the budget and the student loan program could impact health policy.

8 May 2012

Obama on the stump: Don't turn back the clock on health reform (video)

Kaiser Health News has video clips of a pair of speeches Saturday by President Barack Obama, in which he fired up Democratic party faithful in Ohio and Virginia. He spoke about his plans for -- and record on -- Medicare, health insurance and birth control. And he vowed that the country "will not go back to the days when insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy."

8 May 2012

Viewpoints: Diabetes, future health ills & the GOP; Debate on FDA OTC plan; Sen. Brown's daughter's health insurance

A study of diabetes in overweight and obese youngsters bears an ominous warning about future health care trends in this country. It found that Type 2 diabetes, a new scourge among young people, progresses faster and is harder to treat in youngsters than in adults. ... Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, are bent on dismantling health care reforms that could greatly assist in curbing the obesity epidemic.

8 May 2012

School-based health centers highly effective in delivering comprehensive care

New research from the University of Colorado School of Medicine shows that school-based health centers are highly effective in delivering comprehensive care, especially vaccines to adolescents.

7 May 2012

Claraview reports successful deployment of Enterprise Data Integrity solution for Affinity Health Plan

Claraview, a division of Teradata, a strategy and technology consultancy focused exclusively on business intelligence (BI) and analytic solutions, announced today the successful deployment of the Enterprise Data Integrity (EDI) solution for Affinity Health Plan.

7 May 2012

Recession drives Medicaid spending

Job losses and diminishing income have pushed Medicaid spending to new heights, according to a study released Friday.

7 May 2012

Health Insurance News and Research

Cigna to increase supplemental health insurance offerings with acquisition

N.J. Gov. vetoes bill creating health insurance exchange

GOP lawmakers doubt co-op loan program's ability to promote competition, lower health costs

Republican govs like free-market insurance exchanges but skewer 'Obamacare'

Longer looks: More 20-30 somethings are taking care of elderly, dissecting solutions to obesity problem

Children with private, public and no insurance may receive differing levels of treatment in ED

ACS editorial calls for systematic approach to increase cancer screening participation

DOJ probes fraud allegations at Dallas' Parkland hospital; Texas group calls Medicaid 'indispensable'

U.S. spends $190.2 billion annually for adult obesity treatment

Long Island women may be able to take advantage of free mammograms at MSKCC

House GOP bill cuts Medicaid to protect military spending

Health budget focuses on dental and aged care

Viewpoints: Taking aim at 'superbugs'; Friending organ donations; Ariz. and Kansas abortion efforts hurt women

Ads for “affordable care act” claim to protect Medicare: Really?

First Edition: May 8, 2012

Obama on the stump: Don't turn back the clock on health reform (video)

Viewpoints: Diabetes, future health ills & the GOP; Debate on FDA OTC plan; Sen. Brown's daughter's health insurance

School-based health centers highly effective in delivering comprehensive care

Claraview reports successful deployment of Enterprise Data Integrity solution for Affinity Health Plan

Recession drives Medicaid spending

Industry Focus eBook - Forensics & toxicology (2nd edition) 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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