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Obama administration avoids political backlash by allowing states flexibility on essential benefits

By allowing states the flexibility to make key decisions, the administration avoided a "political hot potato" regarding essential benefits - the medical benefits insurers must cover under the U.S. health care.

20 Dec 2011

State roundup: Financial issues threaten N.Y.'s Brookdale Hospital

On two separate occasions this year, Brookdale Hospital Medical Center - a once-venerable institution that serves some of the city's most impoverished patients - has been threatened with expulsion from public-health insurance programs after flunking multiple government safety inspections. The hospital relies heavily on Medicaid and Medicare for financial support.

20 Dec 2011

Ariz. eyeing first budget surplus in four years; Wis. study finds low Medicare, Medicaid rates shift costs

Here's something Arizona hasn't seen in a while: a state budget surplus. Estimates range from $416 million to as much as $650 million when the new budget year starts in July. ... "We'll fund population increases in K-12, AHCCCS (the state's Medicaid program) and prisons," said House Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh, who's starting his fourth year as budget chairman.

20 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Is Wyden-Ryan Medicare plan a game changer?; The GOP and the individual mandate

In the maelstrom of dysfunction and partisanship better known as the 112th Congress, it is always surprising and gratifying when lawmakers from opposing parties manage to work together. That is particularly true when their collaboration involves an issue as politically charged and substantively complex as Medicare. So we begin by congratulating Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) for having the tenacity to try again, with a revamped version of Medicare reform unveiled last week.

20 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 19, 2011

In today's headlines, the tax cut extension bill -- which includes a temporary Medicare 'doc fix' -- has hit a new snag.

19 Dec 2011

EHB Coalition releases statement on HHS' essential health benefits bulletin

Neil Trautwein, chairman of the Essential Health Benefits Coalition and vice president and employee benefits policy counsel at the National Retail Federation, released the following statement on the release of a bulletin today by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the essential health benefits package.

17 Dec 2011

Research roundup: Insurance coverage in the Great Recession; PCIP vs. CHIP

The researchers how physicians examined claims of lower back back pain and note that part of the "rising economic cost of this epidemic is the burgeoning use of indiscriminate imaging," specifically MRIs. Researchers divided patients into two groups and "the treating physician in group 1 patients was blinded to the MRI results, while the physician for group 2 patients decided on treatment after reviewing the MRI findings."

17 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Fascination with Wyden, Ryan plan; Need for school nurses; Pa. abortion bill controversy

The new Wyden-Ryan Medicare framework is the most fascinating policy and political maneuver of the year. Let me try to explain why.

16 Dec 2011

Young adults make insurance coverage gains under health law

Data from the Department of Health and Human Services estimate that 2.5 million young adults have remained on their parents' health insurance plans as a result of the 2010 health law.

16 Dec 2011

Historical context: The intersection of politics and Medicare policy

The 1920s-era charge that national health insurance was socialist eventually begat Ronald Reagan's 1961 anti-Medicare record album. A 1972 carve-out won special Medicare treatment for patients with end-stage renal disease.

16 Dec 2011

Health law implementation efforts drawing praise from some critics

The LA Times reports that the Obama administration is taking steps to ease some of the requirements of the health law in an effort to "prevent further backlash." Also in the news, the latest on the essential benefits rule and more on the early retiree program.

16 Dec 2011

State roundup: Florida awaits Medicaid waiver news

Now, nurses regularly do everything from give insulin shots to empty urinary catheter bags. At the same time, state budget cuts mean the number of school nurses in California is shrinking. As a result, nurses say, they are responsible for more students every year and are largely consumed with keeping "medically fragile" children in class.

16 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Berwick's advice; Romney's wager; Fighting AIDS

Dr. Donald Berwick, who was blocked by Republicans from serving a full term as the administrator of the agency that runs Medicare and Medicaid, has been speaking out. He makes a compelling case about the harm caused by partisan demagoguery and about the need for health care professionals to take the lead in implementing reforms.

15 Dec 2011

Administration report finds 2.5 million young adults gain health insurance coverage

A report to be released today by the Obama administration finds that the number of people between the ages of 19 and 25 who have gained coverage exceeds earlier estimates.

15 Dec 2011

Roundup: Nonprofits get big money in disabled payments; Calif. budget problems bring additional Medicaid cutbacks

Spending on this little-known home care program, called Community Habilitation, has soared in recent years, creating multimillion-dollar surpluses at some nonprofit agencies and eye-popping salaries and benefits for those who run them. And it helps explain how New York's costs of caring for developmentally disabled people have ballooned in recent years, creating the nation's most generous system of Medicaid-financed programs, with little scrutiny of its efficiency or result.

15 Dec 2011

Cancer screening: Is it necessary in the elderly?

There is a long ongoing debate on whether the elderly need to be routinely screened for cancers. A new survey shows that the majority of nearly 19 million Americans over age 75 dutifully get screened for breast, prostate, and colon cancers each year.

14 Dec 2011

House vote scheduled on payroll tax reduction package

The bill, which also would extend a number of other expiring measures and includes "must-pass" provisions such as the Medicare "doc fix," has drawn opposition. Hospitals groups have blasted it because it includes billions of dollars in cuts to hospital payments.

14 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: The high cost of treating patients who may die; Young girls and Plan B

You've probably heard that we spend a lot of money on patients who die. It's true. ... But what about my patient? How could it be that we were prudent with health care dollars because he lived, but would have been described as wasteful had he died? Doctors in an emergency room cannot know which will occur. They do not have divining rods that direct them to patients they can save and away from those they can't. Rather, caring for the sick means caring for people who may die.

14 Dec 2011

Roundup: FBI reportedly questioning Prime Healthcare billers in Calif.; Uninsured ranks grow in Wash.

The FBI is interviewing witnesses about billing practices at Prime Healthcare Services, the hospital chain that has charged Medicare for treating elderly patients with rare medical conditions at far higher rates than other California hospitals. The FBI would neither confirm nor deny an investigation, but at least two former Prime medical coders say they were approached by the agency to discuss the chain's billing practices. ... A spokesman for Prime said the chain is unaware of an FBI probe.

14 Dec 2011

NJ underserved children less likely to receive dental care

When it comes to receiving dental care, New Jersey has its share of underserved children, according to a Rutgers study.

13 Dec 2011

Health Insurance News and Research

Obama administration avoids political backlash by allowing states flexibility on essential benefits

State roundup: Financial issues threaten N.Y.'s Brookdale Hospital

Ariz. eyeing first budget surplus in four years; Wis. study finds low Medicare, Medicaid rates shift costs

Viewpoints: Is Wyden-Ryan Medicare plan a game changer?; The GOP and the individual mandate

First Edition: December 19, 2011

EHB Coalition releases statement on HHS' essential health benefits bulletin

Research roundup: Insurance coverage in the Great Recession; PCIP vs. CHIP

Viewpoints: Fascination with Wyden, Ryan plan; Need for school nurses; Pa. abortion bill controversy

Young adults make insurance coverage gains under health law

Historical context: The intersection of politics and Medicare policy

Health law implementation efforts drawing praise from some critics

State roundup: Florida awaits Medicaid waiver news

Viewpoints: Berwick's advice; Romney's wager; Fighting AIDS

Administration report finds 2.5 million young adults gain health insurance coverage

Roundup: Nonprofits get big money in disabled payments; Calif. budget problems bring additional Medicaid cutbacks

Cancer screening: Is it necessary in the elderly?

House vote scheduled on payroll tax reduction package

Viewpoints: The high cost of treating patients who may die; Young girls and Plan B

Roundup: FBI reportedly questioning Prime Healthcare billers in Calif.; Uninsured ranks grow in Wash.

NJ underserved children less likely to receive dental care

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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