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MHS wins EPA's 2011 National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management

Centene Corporation announced today that Managed Health Services (MHS), its Indiana subsidiary, won the 2011 National Environmental Leadership Award (Health Plan Division) in Asthma Management from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).

10 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Sebelius on medical errors; Lieberman on Medicare; The Massachusetts track record

There is no doubt that America has the world's most skilled doctors and nurses and its finest hospitals. Every day, many Americans receive care that is as good as or better than any in the world. But far too often, we fall short of that high standard when good people get trapped in flawed systems (Kathleen Sebelius and Sue Currin, 6/10).

10 Jun 2011

State news: Mass. immigrant care; Pension benefit changes in Calif. cities

Thousands of legal immigrants may have to wait weeks longer to find out whether the state's highest court will order Massachusetts to restore their full health insurance benefits. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Robert J. Cordy today ordered lawyers for the state to file their motions by June 23.

10 Jun 2011

States make progress setting up exchanges

Even governors who are opposed to the federal health law appear to be taking steps to comply with the health overhaul's exchanges provision. Meanwhile, in Oregon, the governor is expected to sign the exchange legislation passed by the legislature earlier this week.

10 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 10, 2011

Today's health policy headlines include reports about health law funding and policy particulars, as well as Dems' push to protect Medicaid.

10 Jun 2011

Battle over health law moves to Atlanta courtroom as judges weigh limits of the measure's powers

In perhaps the weightiest of the dozens of challenges to the Obama health care law, a panel of appellate judges grappled Wednesday with the essential quandary of the case: if the federal government can require Americans to buy medical insurance, what constitutional limit would prevent it from mandating all manner of purchases and activities?

10 Jun 2011

Roundup: Maryland program treats prisoners' medical problems

A sweeping deal to cut pensions and health-care benefits for hundreds of thousands of New Jersey public workers was teetering Wednesday, as rank-and-file Assembly Democrats refused to go along with an agreement struck between top legislative Democrats and Gov. Chris Christie.

10 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Health law's latest day in court; Obama's "abdication" on Medicare; Blue Shield profits vs. premiums

Provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, "may violate the constitution of Ayn Rand, but they do not violate the Constitution of the United States," acting solicitor general Neal Kumar Katyal told a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday. Conversely, attorney Paul Clement, representing Georgia and 25 other states, framed the issue of mandated purchase of health insurance as an issue of liberty.

10 Jun 2011

Deadline extended for ACO pioneer program

The new deadline is Aug. 19. Meanwhile, in other policy-related news, the White House pushed back against study findings released earlier this week by McKinsey & Co. that as many as 30 percent of companies may stop offering health insurance to their employees and said the president's healthcare plan "will reduce costs overall."

9 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 9, 2011

Today's headlines include reports from yesterday's action in an Atlanta courtroom where oral arguments were held in an appeal related to the multi-state challenge to the health law.

9 Jun 2011

Study finds lifelong difference in health-related quality of life between rich and poor

"We can't buy our way out of ageing," says Nancy Ross, a McGill geography professor. "As we get older we start to have vision problems, maybe some hearing loss, maybe lose some mobility - ageing is a kind of a social equalizer."

9 Jun 2011

A big day for the multi-state challenge to the health law

Florida already leads a lawsuit challenging the federal health care law, but state officials are going a step further and ignoring the law almost entirely — rejecting millions of federal dollars to provide health care for retirees, seniors, children and people with disabilities.

9 Jun 2011

National survey finds women more likely to see doctor on regular basis than men

A national survey found that women were three times more likely to see a doctor on a regular basis than men. Even though men on average die younger than women and have higher mortality rates for heart disease, cancer, stroke and AIDS, trying to get a man to a doctor can be harder than pulling teeth. So, why do men hate it so?.

9 Jun 2011

Massachusetts 'pay for performance' health care program finds no signs of racial, ethnic disparities

Massachusetts' innovative use of "pay-for-performance" bonuses to try to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the case of Medicaid patients has turned up no evidence of the problem at any of the state's 66 acute-care hospitals, according to a new study that raises questions about the effectiveness of the state's novel approach.

9 Jun 2011

Costs, insurance company regulations can make physical therapy a pain

Rebecca Neusteter fell off her bike and shattered her knee. ... She pays $140 out of pocket for each weekly physical therapy session. ... Scott Ward, the president of the American Physical Therapy Association says insurance company regulations and policies essentially force physical therapists to see as many patients as they can. ... Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, says it's a dilemma caused by the rising cost of care in the U.S.

9 Jun 2011

Eight out of 10 countries using mHealth services, WHO report says

Eighty-three percent of countries are using mobile phone technology for health services, according to a WHO study released on Tuesday at the Mobile Health Summit in Cape Town, South Africa, Agence France-Presse reports.

9 Jun 2011

HHS rule for health exchanges takes shape

In a Tuesday conference call on state health exchanges organized by the Commonwealth Fund, HHS Director of Coverage Policy Chiquita Brooks-LaSure dropped many hints of what to expect from the agency's proposed rule on health exchanges, due out sometime this month.

9 Jun 2011

Older people who engage in moderate to intense exercise less likely to have silent strokes

Older people who regularly exercise at a moderate to intense level may be less likely to develop the small brain lesions, sometimes referred to as "silent strokes," that are the first sign of cerebrovascular disease, according to a new study published in the June 8, 2011, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

9 Jun 2011

Study: Many employers will cut back on health plans when overhaul kicks in

A report by McKinsey & Co. concluded that at least 30 percent of employers will stop offering health insurance in 2014. The projection is based on a survey of more than 1,300 businesses of various sizes and industries.

9 Jun 2011

State roundup: N.J. plan would cut Medicaid by $500 million

States and territories are eligible for up to $40 million to strengthen and coordinate efforts to prevent chronic disease, the Health and Human Services Department announced Tuesday. The initiative is funded by the healthcare reform law and targets the nation's five leading chronic diseases: heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and arthritis.

9 Jun 2011