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Health care comments prominent on the trail to Iowa caucus

In a campaign speech to potential caucusgoers here this afternoon, presidential candidate Michele Bachmann colored her calls for the repeal of the federal health care law passed in 2010 with a brief history of health care. When she was a child, she said, a visit to the doctor in Waterloo, Iowa, cost just $5, and people who couldn't afford that often would receive free care at the physician's discretion. Such prices and charity care are impossible today, she argued, because of government intervention into the health care system and the threat of lawsuits.

1 Nov 2011

State roundup: Public employee benefit controversy; Calif. hospital woes; Mass. medical homes

A centerpiece of Republican Gov. John Kasich's legislative agenda, the bill passed the Republican-dominated assembly in the spring. But opponents were able to gather 1.3 million signatures to halt the law's enactment and put it on the November 8 ballot for repeal. ... The bill allows bargaining on wages but bans it for health coverage, pensions or staffing levels. ... The law also requires firefighters, police officers and teachers to pay at least 15 percent of their health insurance premiums.

1 Nov 2011

Health insurers defend rate increases

In Maine and New Hampshire, insurance companies are challenging state regulation of rates.

31 Oct 2011

Humana third quarter consolidated revenues increase 11% to $9.30 billion

Humana Inc. today reported diluted earnings per common share (EPS) for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 (3Q11) of $2.67, compared to $2.32 per share for the quarter ended September 30, 2010.

31 Oct 2011

Book discusses how America can solve its weight problems without government intrusion

America's emerging "fat war" threatens to pit a shrinking population of trim Americans against an expanding population of heavy Americans in raging policy debates over "fat taxes" and "fat bans." These "fat policies" would be designed to constrain what people eat and drink - and theoretically crimp the growth in Americans' waistlines and in the country's healthcare costs.

29 Oct 2011

State highlights: Wash. Gov. announces more budget cuts

For the fourth year in a row, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Thursday outlined more than $1.5 billion in state cuts to health care, social services, prisons and education.The latest round would increase public-school class sizes, eliminate subsidized health care for the working poor and release hundreds of inmates early…. The state's Basic Health Plan would close, ending state-subsidized insurance for about 35,000 low-income people.

29 Oct 2011

State spending on Medicaid skyrockets, further straining state budgets

A 50-state survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that state spending on Medicaid will increase 29 percent this year.

29 Oct 2011

House votes to fix Medicaid glitch

The House easily passed legislation that would fix a Medicaid "glitch" created by the health law that would have allowed up to 3 million middle-class couples earning as much as $64,000 onto the already struggling Medicaid rolls starting in 2014. The House also voted to adjust a definition that determines eligibility for certain health care programs.

29 Oct 2011

Research roundup: Medicaid's long-term care bill; work-based coverage and the health law

This study examined Medicare data on beneficiaries diagnosed with colorectal cancer between 1995 and 2005 who ranged from 67 to 85 years old. The authors found, "Medicare beneficiaries with colon cancer had better outcomes if they had more primary care utilization before diagnosis. Even within this universally insured population, 28% of Medicare beneficiaries with colon cancer had no or only 1 contact with primary care physicians in the 3 to 27 months before the diagnosis.

29 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: The right amount of health care spending; protecting jobs in hospitals; Wal-Mart's signal about employer coverage

Unfortunately, few people really understand how much we spend on health care, how much we need to spend to provide quality care, and the difference between the two. Do we spend too much? Would cutting costs require rationing, or worse, death panels?

29 Oct 2011

New study highlights range of health law's Medicaid expansion estimates

The study, which was posted in Health Affairs online, makes clear the unknowns that surround this piece of the health law's implementation.

28 Oct 2011

Providing free health care more complex than usually thought

Over the last years, many low and middle-income countries have removed user fees in their health care sector. Researchers from Africa, Asia, Northern America and Europe have studied these policies; their findings are gathered in a supplement of the scientific journal Health Policy & Planning, coordinated by Bruno Meesen from the Antwerp Institute of Tropical medicine.

28 Oct 2011

First Edition: October 28, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the health law's public support, the latest on the super committee and news about the cost of Medicare Part B premiums.

28 Oct 2011

Study: Many older Ontarians are not visiting dentists regularly

Forty-five per cent of Ontarians 65 years and older did not see a dentist in the last year, increasing their risk of chronic diseases and a reduced quality of life , a new study by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital, Women's College Hospital and the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences (ICES) shows.

28 Oct 2011

Federal regulators to step up their rate review role

Federal regulators will step up their role in rate review for association health plans after determining nearly half the states lack a satisfactory mechanism for reviewing premiums on these special health insurance products, which trade groups sell to members.

28 Oct 2011

Medi-Cal payment rates back in the news; N.C. Medicaid program faces $140 million shortfall

Meanwhile, in Kansas, a working group met for the first time to figure out how the state's Medicaid program could interact with a health insurance exchange.

28 Oct 2011

Longer looks: Looking for the inventor of the individual mandate, Miss. abortion referendum may have wider effects

In the course of defending the health care bill he passed in Massachusetts, Mitt Romney told Newt Gingrich that he got the idea for the individual mandate -- a rule dictating that everyone must buy health insurance or pay a penalty -- from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington, D.C. think tank. Is it really responsible for creating the policy that is now so anathema to conservatives?

28 Oct 2011

Health insurance may lead to increased asthma diagnosis in children

Providing health insurance to more children could lead to diagnosing additional cases of mild or intermittent asthma, a new study shows. Some who treat childhood asthma say this could increase the number of kids receiving medication to control their asthma symptoms and seeking care for asthma flares.

28 Oct 2011

Obesity linked to increased complications after breast surgery in women

Obese women are at substantially higher risk of complications following breast surgery, according to a study in the November issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

28 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: Gephardt and Leavitt's bipartisan push for biomedical innovation; suggestions for the super committee

We Americans are rightfully proud of our can-do spirit. We know that our nation is capable of uniting for a common goal - and triumphing. In this time of economic challenge and political divisiveness, we are proposing an idea for our country's next common mission: biomedical innovation. From our combined decades of experience leading in the Congress and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, we see the biomedical frontier as America's greatest opportunity to align our nation's competencies and resources for a better future.

28 Oct 2011