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Health law implementation issues: Challenges with exchanges, doc-owned hospitals

A small but growing number of prominent, Republican governors — including Mitch Daniels and Haley Barbour — are taking the lead to shape a key component of the health care overhaul their party fought so hard to kill. It's a delicate balancing act for Republicans who, on the one hand, oppose federal health reform, even challenging its constitutionality in federal court, and, on the other hand, are pragmatically trying to control as much of the implementation process as they can.

1 Jun 2011

Romney and other GOP leaders have complicated histories with health law

The former governor has faced a fusillade from the right for the plan they call RomneyCare. But a look back at the birth of the Mass. law shows why he can't, and won't, back away. It was an amazing political feat, and no one's role was bigger than his. ... Six years later, the decision to press ahead with an individual mandate has had far-reaching and still evolving consequences.

1 Jun 2011

Government questions plantiff's standing in challenge to health law

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on the Thomas More Law Center case in Cincinnati tomorrow. Government lawyers say one of the plaintiffs lacks standing.

1 Jun 2011

HHS cutting high-risk pool premiums

The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) announced new steps Tuesday to bolster enrollment in insurance pools for sick people, which have come under fire from Republicans after falling short of their enrollment goals. The department announced that it is cutting premiums and easing eligibility criteria for the high-risk pools.

1 Jun 2011

State roundup: Texas budget cuts; Florida's 'F' in kids' teeth; new insurance programs for Conn., Maine

Texas lawmakers adopted a state budget Saturday night ... Facing a massive revenue shortfall, lawmakers crafted the $172 billion budget by making cuts and using deferrals rather than raising taxes or dipping into the $10 billion reserve fund.

1 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Political impact of Ryan plan; would VA health system work for all?; Calif. insurance rates

Representative Paul Ryan is rebutting critics of his plan to turn Medicare into a "premium support" program, pointing to two existing programs that he says prove his approach would be better for beneficiaries. Don't believe it. The two programs he cites as prototypes — the insurance program for members of Congress and the Medicare prescription drug program — differ in critical respects from his proposal to sharply limit federal spending. The losers will be the beneficiaries who have to pay more.

1 Jun 2011

Health IT roundup: Feds monitor privacy breaches and propose changes to HIPPA records sharing

Federal health officials call it the Wall of Shame. It's a government Web page that lists nearly 300 hospitals, doctors and insurance companies that have reported significant breaches of medical privacy in the last couple of years. Such lapses, frightening to consumers, could impede the Obama administration's effort to shift the nation to electronic health care records.

31 May 2011

First Edition: May 31, 2011

Today's headlines include articles on the federal efforts to improve hospital quality, the politics of Medicare and the move by some GOP governors to set up health exchanges.

31 May 2011

Improvements to Medicare prescription drug program benefit MS patients in the 'donut hole'

As the average cost of MS in the United States is nearly $70,000 a year, with the overall annual economic cost of MS being an estimated $28 billion, people living with MS face high out-of-pocket costs even when covered by health insurance.

30 May 2011

Politics of Medicare making Democrats, Republicans testy and disputatious

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on NBC's "Meet The Press" that he supports the controversial plan by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to transform Medicare into a voucher-like system in which future beneficiaries — those 54 and younger — would get subsidies to buy health insurance rather than have the government directly pay their doctor and hospital bills.

30 May 2011

McConnell, Romney, freshmen Republicans face tough questions on GOP Medicare plan

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that Medicare reform must be part of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, despite indications that changing the entitlement will be politically unpopular. Democrats made Medicare reforms pushed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan a central issue in a special election in upstate New York they won last week.

30 May 2011

Doctor rating website upsets medical groups

Australian doctors are miffed about a website that will for the first time publicly rank the performance of the nation's medical practitioners. The Newcastle-based health fund NIB will launch a website - whitecoat.com.au next month which will compare dentists, physiotherapists and other health providers on the internet. But the Australian Medical Association (AMA) says it is certain to make unfair comparisons.

29 May 2011

Research Roundup: Medicaid co-payments, access to docs causes worse health

Disparities In Child Access To Emergency Care For Acute Oral Injury -- This study looked at the "impact of insurance status on dental practices' willingness to schedule an appointment for a child with a symptomatic fractured permanent front tooth." Six researchers posed as mothers of 10-year-old boys who all had the same injury but different coverage: Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or private Blue Cross dental insurance.

27 May 2011

States struggle to rein in medical costs

About half of all states are cutting public health care, an area that is already stretched thin by previous cuts in 31 states and a spike in Medicaid enrollment induced by high unemployment. Services for mental health, abused children, the elderly and the underinsured are the primary targets (Hube, 5/27).

27 May 2011

California's largest non-profit insurer releases details of executive pay

For the first time, California's largest nonprofit health insurer has released the salaries of its 10 highest-paid executives in response to a new state law intended to keep health care insurance costs under control.

27 May 2011

Senate Democrats force a vote on House-passed Republican budget, put GOP in hot seat

Just a day after Democrats claimed an upset win in the New York special election to fill a historically Republican-controlled congressional seat, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., held a vote on the GOP budget as a means to force Republicans to go on the record with their support. They responded by standing by the plan to revamp Medicare.

27 May 2011

First Edition: May 27, 2011

Kaiser Health News' Insuring Your Health columnist Michelle Andrews talks with Jackie Judd about the provisions in the health law that provide for free preventive tests. While the law doesn't apply to all insurance plans, it should cut costs for many people.

27 May 2011

Parties differ on selling insurance across state lines

Basic consumer protections that exist in almost every state would be eroded if insurance companies could sell policies across state lines, Democrats said Wednesday.

27 May 2011

SEIU-UHW members at Tenet Hospitals reach tentative agreement to maintain high quality patient care

Certified nurse assistants, respiratory therapists, ER technicians and other caregivers who are members of Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers - West at Tenet Hospitals have reached a tentative agreement that will help the hospitals maintain high standards for patient care.

27 May 2011

Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center offers free life-changing procedures for uninsured patients

Patients from Family Health Care Centers of Greater Los Angeles received pro bono outpatient surgeries to repair hernias, remove cataracts and gallbladders on Saturday, May 21. A team of about 70 doctors, nurses and support staff from Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center worked for free to provide patients with life-changing procedures—some have been waiting for months even years for these surgeries.

27 May 2011

Health Insurance News and Research

Health law implementation issues: Challenges with exchanges, doc-owned hospitals

Romney and other GOP leaders have complicated histories with health law

Government questions plantiff's standing in challenge to health law

HHS cutting high-risk pool premiums

State roundup: Texas budget cuts; Florida's 'F' in kids' teeth; new insurance programs for Conn., Maine

Viewpoints: Political impact of Ryan plan; would VA health system work for all?; Calif. insurance rates

Health IT roundup: Feds monitor privacy breaches and propose changes to HIPPA records sharing

First Edition: May 31, 2011

Improvements to Medicare prescription drug program benefit MS patients in the 'donut hole'

Politics of Medicare making Democrats, Republicans testy and disputatious

McConnell, Romney, freshmen Republicans face tough questions on GOP Medicare plan

Doctor rating website upsets medical groups

Research Roundup: Medicaid co-payments, access to docs causes worse health

States struggle to rein in medical costs

California's largest non-profit insurer releases details of executive pay

Senate Democrats force a vote on House-passed Republican budget, put GOP in hot seat

First Edition: May 27, 2011

Parties differ on selling insurance across state lines

SEIU-UHW members at Tenet Hospitals reach tentative agreement to maintain high quality patient care

Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center offers free life-changing procedures for uninsured patients

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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