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Aetna makes it easier for tornado affected members in Texas

In response to the tornadoes in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, Aetna (NYSE: AET) is making it easier for its affected members to refill prescriptions and access employee assistance and behavioral health programs. The company is also helping members who have evacuated find care outside their home areas.

7 Apr 2012

States and health reform: Md. passes health exchange legislation; Ore., Mass. prepare their own reforms

Maryland is moving aggressively to implement health reform as it passes legislation creating health insurance exchanges. In other news, Oregon and Massachusetts officials make plans to overhaul their state-based health care systems, and Washington state's attorney general is talking positively about the law's Medicaid expansion after previously criticizing it.

7 Apr 2012

DOJ reaffirms court's power to review health law case but urges caution

In response to a demand from a federal appeals court judge, Attorney General Eric Holder says the Supreme Court has the power to review whether the health law is constitutional, but he also urged the court to show "deference."

7 Apr 2012

ODJFS selects Aetna to administer services in Ohio

Aetna Better Health of Ohio, an Aetna health plan that administers benefits for Medicaid members, has been selected by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to administer services in Ohio. The contract will be effective January 1, 2013.

7 Apr 2012

Cost of preventive exams varies as much as 700%, report finds

The health law seeks to make preventive screening and procedures available to more people, but it could come at a high cost.

7 Apr 2012

World Health Care Congress to be held in Washington D.C.

The 9th Annual World Health Care Congress will be held April 16-18, 2012 in Washington D.C.. The event is a cross-industry event convening of health care leaders from business, government and academia.

7 Apr 2012

State roundup: Health costs cloud forecast for state budgets; Minnesota to use HMO refund on personal care

U.S. state and local governments' fiscal situations have improved recently but will still deteriorate through 2060, the Government Accountability Office said on Thursday. ... The outlook remains gloomy for the future, with healthcare costs, both for public employees and for the Medicaid insurance program for the poor, swelling and weighing on budgets, GAO said.

7 Apr 2012

California regulator calls Aetna rate hike 'unreasonable'; Maricopa County (Ariz.) hikes premiums for stealth smokers

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones used authority, granted under a year-old state law, to call out the rates as unreasonable. In Arizona, Maricopa County raised premiums on hundreds of county workers who either failed a saliva testing for nicotine or refused to take it.

7 Apr 2012

Research roundup: Effects of health exchanges; Improving provider performance; Governors' 2013 budgets and Medicaid

Authors analyzed the cost and coverage implications of various scenarios of the health insurance exchanges that are called for in the health law. They predicted that about 1 million uninsured people in the state would get insurance through the exchanges and said that premiums in the small group and individual market would be lower than if the health law was not in effect.

7 Apr 2012

New medical loss ratio rules would have provided significant rebates

Consumers nationwide would have received an estimated $2 billion in rebates from health insurers if the new medical loss ratio (MLR) rules enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act had been in effect in 2010, according to a new study from The Commonwealth Fund.

6 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 6, 2012

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the Obama administration's response to a federal court about the Supreme Court's power.

6 Apr 2012

Study: MLR rule would have translated into $2B in rebates to consumers

If the health law's requirement that insurers spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care had gone into effect in 2010, instead of a year later, private plans would have had to refund as much as $2 billion to consumers, either in rebates or reduced premiums, according to a study by the Commonwealth Fund, which supports the law.

6 Apr 2012

Questions emerge after Obama spars with the Supreme Court

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama made comments that "implicitly" warned the court against overturning the health law. Since then, defenders and critics have weighed in on his words and strategy.

6 Apr 2012

Longer looks: Berwick calls for leaders to rise above 'political catechism'; Convincing the healthy to feel sick

Between July 2010 and December 2011, Dr. Donald Berwick was head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that runs the government's health insurance programs. In a sane world, he would be still. But Senate Republicans refused even to let his confirmation come up for a vote ... A pediatrician by training and a widely respected expert in health care policy, Berwick should have been a lock for the CMS job. But he was a backer of Obamacare; a believer in data and science; a proponent of universal health care.

6 Apr 2012

Electronic pathology report more accurately identifies nonmelanoma skin cancer

Henry Ford Hospital dermatology researchers are urging caution about using claims data for identifying nonmelanoma skin cancer, suggesting that the commonly used method, which previously had not been validated, may be unreliable.

6 Apr 2012

Perspectives: Obama's initial sharp comments on court were overbearing -- and so was appeals court response

I chided President Obama this week for his remarks on the Supreme Court and the role of "unelected" judges. The president, wisely, has since chosen to clarify his statement, and express his (correct) view -- that courts should be hesitant to overturn acts of Congress -- in a much more appropriate way. Now the problematic behavior is coming from the other branch, with a federal appeals court going out of it way to pick a fight with the president. Talk about judicial activism -- this is a judicial temper tantrum.

6 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Support for drug benefit merger; Health reform comes too slowly for some patients; Pinpointing Romney's views on mandate

It seems counterintuitive, but the Federal Trade Commission has just decided that a $29 billion merger of two of the three largest companies that manage pharmaceutical benefits for employers and health plans - Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions - would not substantially lessen competition. That judgment deserves credence because of the thoroughness of the F.T.C.'s eight-month inquiry and the willingness of the agency to oppose other mergers when the evidence warrants.

6 Apr 2012

State roundup: Advocates in Va. back shifting disability care from state institutions; New Vt. law overhauls mental health system; Aetna mistakenly tells thousands in Calif. their doctors were dropped

A state agency that looks out for the rights of people with disabilities is advocating for a proposed settlement that would shift the care of Virginians with intellectual disabilities from state-run institutions.

6 Apr 2012

SelectHealth announces 2012 Select 25 award recipients

SelectHealth is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2012 Select 25 award. The nonprofit health insurance carrier will give $2,500 to each of the 25 winners to assist them in their efforts to improve health and wellness, or to serve populations with special needs.

6 Apr 2012

African-Americans and Hispanics with MDD less likely to get antidepressants

African-Americans and Hispanics with major depressive disorder are less likely to get antidepressants than Caucasian patients, and Medicare and Medicaid patients are less likely to get the newest generation of antidepressants.

6 Apr 2012

Health Insurance News and Research

Aetna makes it easier for tornado affected members in Texas

States and health reform: Md. passes health exchange legislation; Ore., Mass. prepare their own reforms

DOJ reaffirms court's power to review health law case but urges caution

ODJFS selects Aetna to administer services in Ohio

Cost of preventive exams varies as much as 700%, report finds

World Health Care Congress to be held in Washington D.C.

State roundup: Health costs cloud forecast for state budgets; Minnesota to use HMO refund on personal care

California regulator calls Aetna rate hike 'unreasonable'; Maricopa County (Ariz.) hikes premiums for stealth smokers

Research roundup: Effects of health exchanges; Improving provider performance; Governors' 2013 budgets and Medicaid

New medical loss ratio rules would have provided significant rebates

First Edition: April 6, 2012

Study: MLR rule would have translated into $2B in rebates to consumers

Questions emerge after Obama spars with the Supreme Court

Longer looks: Berwick calls for leaders to rise above 'political catechism'; Convincing the healthy to feel sick

Electronic pathology report more accurately identifies nonmelanoma skin cancer

Perspectives: Obama's initial sharp comments on court were overbearing -- and so was appeals court response

Viewpoints: Support for drug benefit merger; Health reform comes too slowly for some patients; Pinpointing Romney's views on mandate

State roundup: Advocates in Va. back shifting disability care from state institutions; New Vt. law overhauls mental health system; Aetna mistakenly tells thousands in Calif. their doctors were dropped

SelectHealth announces 2012 Select 25 award recipients

African-Americans and Hispanics with MDD less likely to get antidepressants

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 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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