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State roundup: Iowa reconsiders lawmakers' benefits

Two bills introduced in the Iowa House last week would curtail benefits for lawmakers. ... House File 2118 also removes per diem and daily allowances from inclusion in lawmakers' pension calculations, but also requires members and employees of the General Assembly to pay a portion of their health-insurance premiums. That premium payment would have to be at least $100 a month.

1 Feb 2012

The health care sector and jobs creation

News reports reflect significant activity within the health industry – some highlighting job creation, some reflecting employment reductions.

1 Feb 2012

HHS contraception rule continues to stir controversy

The Los Angeles Times reports that this new policy could face a difficult Supreme Court path and continues to draw outrage from Catholic clergy.

1 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: ACOs might replace health insurers; Losing a job while pregnant; Barring smokers from the workplace

Here's a bold prediction for the new year. By 2020, the American health insurance industry will be extinct. Insurance companies will be replaced by accountable care organizations - groups of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers who come together to provide the full range of medical care for patients.

31 Jan 2012

Catholic bishops, colleges resisting HHS rule on contraceptive coverage

Many Catholic colleges decline to prescribe or cover birth control, citing religious reasons. Now they are under pressure to change. This month the Obama administration, citing the medical case for birth control, made a politically charged decision that the new health care law requires insurance plans at Catholic institutions to cover birth control without co-payments for employees, and that may be extended to students. But Catholic organizations are resisting the rule, saying it would force them to violate their beliefs and finance behavior that betrays Catholic teachings.

31 Jan 2012

Viewpoints: Contraceptive controversy; Revising mental health definitions

It was good news that the Obama administration withstood pressure from Roman Catholic bishops and social conservatives to deny contraceptive coverage for millions of American women who work for religiously affiliated employers. Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services secretary, rejected broad exemptions from a new rule requiring all health plans to cover birth control, without a deductible or co-payment.

31 Jan 2012

OMB examining final rule on coordination of Medicaid, CHIP and exchanges

Also in the news, Roll Call takes a look at what action to expect, and who on Capitol Hill will be in the hot seat, as the Supreme Court works its way through the health law's constitutionality.

31 Jan 2012

Obama administration lawyers file brief in support of health law

The Obama administration told the Supreme Court on Friday that nearly all of President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul can survive if the court declares unconstitutional the law's centerpiece provision requiring health coverage. Administration attorneys argued in a written brief that all but two provisions can be separated from the requirement that Americans buy health insurance or pay a penalty by 2014, the law's cornerstone known as the individual mandate.

31 Jan 2012

Colo. dispute over Medicaid patient 'shared responsibility' simmers and other state Medicaid news

Colorado policymakers are wrestling to bring the burgeoning Medicaid budget under control, as critics fear health insurance for the poor will consume the state budget. But even the smallest cuts or cost-shares raise protests from patient advocates and objections that such measures will prove more expensive in the long run.

31 Jan 2012

Aetna to begin national PCMH program in New Jersey and Connecticut

Aetna announced today a national Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program that will begin in Connecticut and New Jersey. The program recognizes primary care physicians (PCPs) who more actively coordinate and manage their patients' care across the health care system.

31 Jan 2012

States roundup: 'Cost-conscious' coverage in Mass.; Health exchange planning to Gov. in Minn.; Kansas judges gave to anti-abortion PAC

In just three years, a new way of paying for medical care has spread rapidly across Massachusetts, and now more than 1.2 million people are covered by plans that put providers on a budget in an effort to restrain health spending.

30 Jan 2012

End alternative medicine degrees say scientists

A group of more than 400 doctors, medical researchers and scientists are urging universities to close down alternative medicine degrees.

30 Jan 2012

In Florida, GOP presidential hopefuls wrestle with health policy issues

The candidates appear to be proceeding with caution regarding politically risky plans to overhaul Medicare while painting opponents in a harsh light.

30 Jan 2012

HHS denies Texas' request for MLR waiver

On Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services rejected Texas' request to delay implementation of the health law's medical-loss ratio requirement.

30 Jan 2012

HHS denies Texas request for waiver from MLR insurance rule

The medical loss ratio rule is in the federal health law.

30 Jan 2012

Gingrich: Romney couldn't 'defend himself' on health care in debate against Obama

News organizations are covering the increasingly bitter Florida presidential primary race, which includes attacks on Mitt Romney's health care record by Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

30 Jan 2012

Viewpoints: Health law's consumer safeguards; Shredding Medicare's safety net; Georgia's trauma crisis

Requiring the makers of drugs and medical devices to disclose most payments and gifts to physicians will protect patients and reduce medical costs. ... [the federal health law] requires the makers of drugs and medical devices to disclose most payments and gifts to physicians (1/27).

30 Jan 2012

Research roundup: Families in high deductible plans more likely to delay care; Cancer screening prevalence

Delayed And Forgone Care For Families With Chronic Conditions In High-Deductible Health Plans -- Researchers studied 208 families in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) and 370 in traditional health plans who had children and at least one family member with a chronic condition.

30 Jan 2012

State roundup: Uninsured not the usual suspects in Texas, Calif.; Hopkins swanky new hospital; Georgia Medicaid

Nearly a quarter of the Texas population lacked health insurance in 2010, according to the most recent data released by the American Community Survey, which the U.S. Census Bureau conducted.

30 Jan 2012

Health policies in the fray of GOP presidential primary debate

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was challenged on the 2006 Massachusetts health law as his rivals pressed its similarities to the 2010 federal law.

30 Jan 2012