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Viewpoints: What price for a life?; Texas tort reform; health law and job creation

Bob Iritano died Thursday morning. He was 51. ... His insurer, Health Net, decided last year not to cover a life-extending procedure that had worked just a few months earlier. ... Iritano faced a situation that many others with terminal illnesses or chronic diseases face: What price do you put on a life? How much money and medical resources are too much when it comes to prolonging a doomed existence?

3 Sep 2011

Research roundup: Health IT and diabetes care; Kids' care on insurance exchanges; Medicare and the 'super committee'

Electronic Health Records And Quality Of Diabetes Care -- This study focuses on one chronic condition to examine how EHRs could improve the quality of health care. Researchers "analyzed data from a retrospective cohort of primary care practices of seven diverse health care organizations that publicly reported achievement of quality standards for adults with diabetes between July 2007 and June 2010."

2 Sep 2011

NAIC members raise concerns about exchange waiver process

The nation's insurance commissioners are raising concerns about how much flexibility states will have to tweak their exchanges once the new insurance markets are up and running. Under the first set of exchange rules, released in July, states that want to alter their exchange plans would have to get permission from HHS.

2 Sep 2011

Medicaid changes plaguing some recipients

State Medicaid program cutbacks are having an effect on care for low-income Americans.

2 Sep 2011

Calif. bill to regulate health insurance rates dies

Heavy lobbying in the state Senate helped kill the bill, which would have strengthened the state's ability to review insurance premium increases.

2 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Barrasso on employer insurance; Oberlander on austerity, Jennings on 'pick your poison'; Lamm on your mother

Most American workers value their employer-provided health insurance. It gives them the security of knowing they can get the care they need, from the doctor they want, at a price they can afford. All that will change drastically if the president's health care law remains on the books.

2 Sep 2011

GAO reviews impact of health law's medical-loss ratio provision

Also in today's health policy headlines, the Wall Street Journal reports that a new state-federal program will put steep health premium increases under the microscope and the Washington Post showcases a map detailing state-by-state progress on creating health exchanges.

31 Aug 2011

Poll: Understanding of health law slipping — especially among uninsured

The poll also shows that, among people with employer-sponsored health insurance, very few respondents would accept changes - such as a more restricted list of doctors or hospitals - to their current coverage levels.

31 Aug 2011

Roundup: Laid-off IT workers in Conn. prepare for health jobs

Julie Michaelson has spent five years working on her hospital's information technology system. ... Mary McAward worked for years in data processing before being laid off. ... Both are taking federally funded courses at Capital Community College, part of a national effort to educate more than 10,500 people in the electronic systems that, after years of discussion, are poised to become commonplace in medicine. That means jobs, to build, install and maintain the systems.

31 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: States' anti-abortion laws; unproven cancer therapy; paying for retirees' health benefits

Since last year, 13 states, including Kansas, have enacted laws banning insurance coverage of abortion in the health insurance exchanges created by the federal health care reform law. Some states have gone even further, aggressively restricting abortion coverage even in private insurance plans sold outside the exchanges. ... These cases, some of which are being appealed, are testing whether the antiabortion movement will get its way. It shouldn't.

31 Aug 2011

First Edition: August 30, 2011

Today's headlines include a report about a new federal and state program that will apply scrutiny to any health-premium increase of more than 10 percent.

30 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: Spotlight on insurance industry; local health costs rising; obesity debate

The GOP candidate's positions are not a vision of the future for the U.S. but of a discredited past. ... Perry's proposed fixes for the healthcare system - tort reform, individual ownership of health insurance, portability of plans for people who move or change jobs - would do nothing to slow the growth of healthcare costs or reduce the number of uninsured Americans.

30 Aug 2011

Roundup: Calif. ruling may extend mental health coverage; Conn. dropping early intervention program; Alaska clinic focuses on Medicare patients

A Northern California woman's treatment for anorexia at a residential facility was medically necessary and must be covered by her healthcare plan, a federal appeals court has ruled in a case that could lead to more extensive benefits for those being treated for mental illnesses.

30 Aug 2011

For NAIC, some signals suggest broker bill is losing traction

The Hill reports that a spokeswoman for the chairman of the NAIC's Professional Health Insurance Advisors Task Force said no major action on the issue was planned for the group's conference. In other news, MSNBC reports that, as insurance prices rise, options appear to diminish, creating questions about how much relief the health law will provide. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel explores health reform's winners and losers.

29 Aug 2011

Kassebaum reflects on HIPAA's impact

[Nancy Landon] Kassebaum [Baker], the name she went by in the Senate as a three-term Republican from Kansas and before her marriage to former Sen. Howard Baker (R-Tenn.), was a co-sponsor along with Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Kassebaum, now 79, is living with her husband in Huntsville, Baker's hometown in the Cumberlands of northeastern Tennessee.

29 Aug 2011

‘Designer vaginas’: More women going under the knife

Latest research from University College London’s (UCL) Women’s Health Institute shows that more and more women and even girls as young as 11 are looking for cosmetic procedures to obtain “designer vaginas”.

26 Aug 2011

Research roundup: The costs of obesity; Patients' post-hospital medicine; Women and heart failure

Association of ICU or Hospital Admission With Unintentional Discontinuation of Medications for Chronic Diseases -- Researchers examined records of older people admitted to a hospital in Ontario, Canada from 1997-2009 who were already taking medicines for chronic health problems. They measured "failure to renew the prescription within 90 days after hospital discharge," and found that patients "prescribed medications for chronic diseases were at risk for potentially unintentional discontinuation after hospital admission.

26 Aug 2011

States putting more kids into CHIP programs, but some Medicaid programs squeezed

Thirty states increased the number of children under the program, Stateline reports. Also, Medicaid advocates are urging federal officials to deny California's request to cut the program, and in Georgia, officials are looking for more funding.

26 Aug 2011

Roundup: Virginia's abortion rules; Calif. rate regulation bill; Georgia's spending plans for disabled

Virginia health officials are planning to release draft emergency regulations for abortion clinics as soon as Friday that reproductive-health activists say could impose strict physical, staffing and equipment requirements and could force many of the state's clinics to close.

26 Aug 2011

Health law funding creates dilemma for GOP governors

Even as many Republican state executives oppose the health law, many are moving forward in creating state-run exchanges. Meanwhile, the availability of public health funding as a result of the law also is a politically challenging windfall.

26 Aug 2011

Health Insurance News and Research

Viewpoints: What price for a life?; Texas tort reform; health law and job creation

Research roundup: Health IT and diabetes care; Kids' care on insurance exchanges; Medicare and the 'super committee'

NAIC members raise concerns about exchange waiver process

Medicaid changes plaguing some recipients

Calif. bill to regulate health insurance rates dies

Viewpoints: Barrasso on employer insurance; Oberlander on austerity, Jennings on 'pick your poison'; Lamm on your mother

GAO reviews impact of health law's medical-loss ratio provision

Poll: Understanding of health law slipping — especially among uninsured

Roundup: Laid-off IT workers in Conn. prepare for health jobs

Viewpoints: States' anti-abortion laws; unproven cancer therapy; paying for retirees' health benefits

First Edition: August 30, 2011

Viewpoints: Spotlight on insurance industry; local health costs rising; obesity debate

Roundup: Calif. ruling may extend mental health coverage; Conn. dropping early intervention program; Alaska clinic focuses on Medicare patients

For NAIC, some signals suggest broker bill is losing traction

Kassebaum reflects on HIPAA's impact

‘Designer vaginas’: More women going under the knife

Research roundup: The costs of obesity; Patients' post-hospital medicine; Women and heart failure

States putting more kids into CHIP programs, but some Medicaid programs squeezed

Roundup: Virginia's abortion rules; Calif. rate regulation bill; Georgia's spending plans for disabled

Health law funding creates dilemma for GOP governors

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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