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Republicans stay quiet on new health law rules related to birth control coverage

Republicans who swept to power last year vowing to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law have been nearly silent about new rules that will force health insurance companies to cover birth control and other women's health services without co-pays.

10 Aug 2011

Study finds highest and lowest healthcare spending regions in the U.S.

A study released today has found vast differences from one city to the next in the amount spent on healthcare for Americans with employer-sponsored health plans.

10 Aug 2011

Roundup: Mass. Gov. remains committed to health payment changes; insurers fight Fla. decision on state workers' HMO

The Patrick administration is still angling to get the Legislature to pass a sweeping overhaul of the state's health care payment and delivery system by the end of 2011, Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray said yesterday.

10 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: DeLauro on discretionary spending 'value'; S&P downgrade's entitlement effects; docs and guns

The deficit reduction plan signed by President Barack Obama last week focused sharply on the narrow slice of the budget labeled as "non-defense discretionary spending."

10 Aug 2011

New research unveils privacy risks from combinations of demographics

There are increasing pressures for health care providers to make individual-level data readily available for research and policy making. But Canadians are more likely to allow the sharing of their personal data if they believe that their privacy is protected.

9 Aug 2011

Health law tests include controlling premium costs, religious groups' objections to covering birth control

Meanwhile, Texas and Michigan are seeking waivers from the law's medical-loss ratio rule and the Department of Health and Human Services posts information about patients' appeals rights.

9 Aug 2011

Roundup: Calif. adult day care plan?; R.I. shift to Medicare; Texas mental health coverage

State health officials are circulating a plan they say will help keep about 35,000 elderly and disabled Californians out of institutionalized care when Medi-Cal stops offering an adult day healthcare benefit in December.

9 Aug 2011

Primary care shortage may lead to ever-increasing rates of emergency department visits

A shortage of primary care may lead to ever-increasing rates of emergency department use, even for people who have health insurance, according to a new study released today by the Archives of Internal Medicine.

9 Aug 2011

SUNY Downstate signs new three-year agreement with Aetna

Aetna and the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center announced a new agreement for SUNY Downstate's resumed participation in the Aetna network, and the continuing participation of University Hospital of Brooklyn's recently acquired Long Island College Hospital campus.

9 Aug 2011

Provider groups weigh in with Supreme Court on Calif. Medicaid case; Fla. docs oppose Medicaid revamp

In other Medicaid news, Texas switches its Medicaid recipients to cards instead of using monthly proof-of-coverage letters to save cash while some advocates worry that children's health could be at risk.

9 Aug 2011

American Shared Hospital Services first half 2011 revenues increase 4.0% to $8,573,000

AMERICAN SHARED HOSPITAL SERVICES, a leading provider of turnkey technology solutions for advanced radiosurgical and radiation therapy services, today announced financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2011.

8 Aug 2011

Most leading health plans see enrollment gains in first quarter 2011

Most of the nation's leading health plans saw enrollment gains in the first quarter of 2011 and all saw improved profit margins both year-over-year and for the quarter, a promising start for 2011. Between December 2010 and March 2011 top plans saw an aggregate increase of more than 2.0 million members. While aggregated fully-insured business continued to experience losses, the administrative services only (ASO) segment gained over 2.2 million members during the primary 2011 open enrollment season.

8 Aug 2011

First Edition: August 8, 2011

Kaiser Health News staff writer Marilyn Werber Serafini reports: "GOP presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty has scorned the health plans engineered by President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, even linking them with the term Obamneycare. Instead, the former Minnesota governor is brandishing a health plan his state passed in 2008 as a model for the nation".

8 Aug 2011

Medicare prescriptions premiums expected to decrease for seniors

According to an Obama administration announcement last Thursday as the health costs continue to rise, Medicare beneficiaries will see the average price of a Part D drug plan decline slightly next year. This is expected to offer some relief amid pressure to cut the federal health insurance program for the elderly.

8 Aug 2011

Congressional heavy-hitters back Michigan's MLR waiver request

Michigan Republican lawmakers Dave Camp and Fred Upton endorsed their home state's request for a temporary waiver from the health law's medical-loss ratio requirement. Meanwhile, The Miami Herald asks if ACOs will be the next health care revolution.

6 Aug 2011

Sebelius, Berwick tout drop in Medicare Rx costs

Even as health costs continue to rise, Medicare beneficiaries will see the average price of a Part D drug plan decline slightly next year, the Obama administration announced Thursday, offering some relief amid pressure to cut the federal health insurance program for the elderly.

6 Aug 2011

Pentagon officials urge lawmakers to find savings in Medicare

As the yet-to-be named members of the debt deal's 'super committee' set to work, Pentagon officials say deep cuts in defense spending will place the nation's security at risk. Meanwhile, one of the defense budget's fastest growing line items is health care costs.

6 Aug 2011

Roundup: State workers in Conn. get lock on retirement health funds

State employees have never warmed to the idea of having to contribute a portion of their pay to help fund their retirement health care, and one of the arguments they make against it is the history of special accounts' being used as a piggybank by legislators and governors when money is tight.

6 Aug 2011

Research roundup: Hospitalists & health costs; treating substance abuse

This study looks at the effects hospitalists -- or physicians who specialize in hospital medicine and health care -- have on patient care, costs and use of medical services.

6 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: Birth control decision fallout; docs on Medi-Cal reimbursement; cutting out middlemen insurers

The most important financial matter for members of Congress when they return from their vacation is to figure out what is essential and what should be reduced or eliminated. … Medicare and Medicaid are absolutely justified for all of us at all ages.

6 Aug 2011

Health Insurance News and Research

Republicans stay quiet on new health law rules related to birth control coverage

Study finds highest and lowest healthcare spending regions in the U.S.

Roundup: Mass. Gov. remains committed to health payment changes; insurers fight Fla. decision on state workers' HMO

Viewpoints: DeLauro on discretionary spending 'value'; S&P downgrade's entitlement effects; docs and guns

New research unveils privacy risks from combinations of demographics

Health law tests include controlling premium costs, religious groups' objections to covering birth control

Roundup: Calif. adult day care plan?; R.I. shift to Medicare; Texas mental health coverage

Primary care shortage may lead to ever-increasing rates of emergency department visits

SUNY Downstate signs new three-year agreement with Aetna

Provider groups weigh in with Supreme Court on Calif. Medicaid case; Fla. docs oppose Medicaid revamp

American Shared Hospital Services first half 2011 revenues increase 4.0% to $8,573,000

Most leading health plans see enrollment gains in first quarter 2011

First Edition: August 8, 2011

Medicare prescriptions premiums expected to decrease for seniors

Congressional heavy-hitters back Michigan's MLR waiver request

Sebelius, Berwick tout drop in Medicare Rx costs

Pentagon officials urge lawmakers to find savings in Medicare

Roundup: State workers in Conn. get lock on retirement health funds

Research roundup: Hospitalists & health costs; treating substance abuse

Viewpoints: Birth control decision fallout; docs on Medi-Cal reimbursement; cutting out middlemen insurers

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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