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First Edition: January 6, 2012

In today's news, reports from the campaign trail and details about how nine states have asked the federal government for more funding to make sure their high-risk pools don't run out of cash before 2014.

6 Jan 2012

Candidates jockey for position, messages in post-Iowa landscape

News outlets report on how GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is being targeted by Republican rivals and the Obama campaign. Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann exits the primary race, and Rick Santorum, fresh from his Iowa caucus finish, draws headlines.

6 Jan 2012

IEHP announces expansion of Health Navigator program to High Desert

Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), the first health plan in the nation to have a full-time in-house team dedicated to helping members navigate the healthcare system, will expand its Health Navigator program to the Inland Empire High Desert in January.

6 Jan 2012

Major health insurers prosper with expanding roles in Medicare, Medicaid

Meanwhile, a California study shows health care costs in that state are rising, while benefits are shrinking. Another study finds that coverage gaps can be disruptive to preventive care.

6 Jan 2012

The 'doc fix' is high on Congressional to-do list

As Congress returns to work, it will face a full plate of difficult items -- including efforts to address the Medicare physician payment formula. Meanwhile, some observers are worried President Obama's recess appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will lead to trouble for the confirmation of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner.

6 Jan 2012

Viewpoints: Protecting home health workers; Minn. plans cuts in health safety net

President Obama is proposing an adjustment to laws governing working conditions for approximately 2 million workers whose job is helping elderly and disabled people with such basic tasks as eating, caring for their wounds and doing physical therapy. Under the Obama proposal, these workers would have to be paid at least a minimum wage and overtime, bringing them under the aegis of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Some Republicans are opposed to the measure, complaining that it will be expensive and may hurt the people it is intended to help.

6 Jan 2012

Lawsuit alleges hospice co. improperly pushed patients through nursing homes; N.Y. prosecutor investigates hospital practices

Kaiser Health News reports that a lawsuit unsealed this week alleges that a national hospice company committed Medicare fraud by improperly cycling patients through nursing homes. In the meantime, a N.Y. prosecutor is investigating a hospital's management practices.

6 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 5, 2012

Today's headlines include a report that health law opponents want to add plaintiffs to their lawsuit as well as dispatches from the GOP primary election compaign trail.

5 Jan 2012

Healthfirst to implement MedAssurant's Star Advantage solution

MedAssurant, Inc., a leading provider of data-driven healthcare solutions, today announced that Healthfirst, Inc., will implement Star Advantage, MedAssurant's quality outcomes improvement solution that enables health plans to both better understand and meaningfully impact their CMS Five-Star Quality Ratings.

5 Jan 2012

CMS acknowledges clinical improvement linked with use of Alair Bronchial Thermoplasty System

Boston Scientific Corporation announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that administers the Medicare program, has acknowledged the substantial clinical improvement associated with the use of the Alair Bronchial Thermoplasty System to perform bronchial thermoplasty for the management of severe asthma.

5 Jan 2012

Romney wins GOP Iowa caucus by eight votes

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney edged out rival Rick Santorum by a margin so slim it is viewed by many as a tie. News outlets review the political dynamics behind the vote tally, and highlight how the outcome reflects the ongoing GOP ideological divide as well as what might happen next.

5 Jan 2012

Congress returns to 'same old health fights' in 2012

Congress starts 2012 facing the same old health policy fights, including the GOP push to pay for a more permanent Medicare "doc fix" with cuts to health law programs or Medicare. Meanwhile, Politico Pro reports on how House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp, R-Mich., has been pivotal in Republican efforts to undermine the health overhaul law.

5 Jan 2012

Hospital stocks fall after analyst prediction of tough times

A new report from Citigroup Global Markets forecasts difficult times ahead for hospitals and other related businesses that rely on government spending.

5 Jan 2012

Michigan opts not to appeal feds' MLR rule

The state was one of 13 seeking an exemption from the health law's medical-loss ratio requirement that insurance companies spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care. Others, however, get a 30-day extension. Also in the news, the Department of Health and Human Services named 73 advisers to work with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.

5 Jan 2012

Viewpoints: Sebelius on 'essential benefits'; WSJ columnist on Democrats' 'Mediscare' argument - is it a lie?

Insurance needs and health systems vary state to state, and experience tells us that the best way forward is not to mandate a one-size-fits-all answer. Instead, our approach gives states the flexibility to take their own paths, while ensuring they all end up in the best place possible: with an Affordable Insurance Exchange that offers access to comprehensive, quality, affordable health insurance to small business owners and individuals who currently have few good choices in an expensive and broken market.

5 Jan 2012

Re-admission rates high among U.S. heart attack patients: Study

According to new research from U.S health experts, Americans who have a severe form of a heart attack are far more likely to be readmitted to the hospital than people from 16 other countries with the same kind of heart attack.

4 Jan 2012

Aseracare hospice in a federal lawsuit brought forth by whistleblowers

According to a federal lawsuit, AseraCare Hospice submitted “false and fraudulent” claims for payment to the U.S. and misspent millions of dollars in Medicare money meant for the care of terminally ill patients. AseraCare, based in Fort Smith, Arkansas, runs 65 hospice centers in 19 states, according to the lawsuit.

4 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 4, 2012

In today's headlines, Romney wins a historically close contest in Iowa caucuses and Wall Street Journal readers favor televising the Supreme Court arguments regarding the health law.

4 Jan 2012

Yale study questions accuracy of relying on patient death rates to compare hospital quality

Hospitals, health insurers and patients often rely on patient death rates in hospitals to compare hospital quality. Now a new study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine questions the accuracy of that widely used approach and supports measuring patient deaths over a period of 30 days from admission even after they have left the hospital.

4 Jan 2012

McConnell names conferees for tax-cut, doc fix negotiations

Late last month, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., named his picks to negotiate for a year-long extension of the payroll tax holiday and Medicare doc fix.

4 Jan 2012