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GOP lawmakers draw comparisons between Medicare plan, FEHBP

GOP Lawmakers Tout Medicare Reform By Stretching A Comparison To The Health Benefits They Receive During the congressional recess, Rep. Ryan and other Republican lawmakers have been selling their proposal to restructure Medicare with what appears to be a poll-tested phrase: It will be similar to a system "just like" what members of Congress have.

3 May 2011

Incentive-based wellness programs can lead to low health care costs

A new longitudinal study conducted among participants in the world's largest incentive-based health enhancement program shows that wellness programs incorporating positive incentives can lead to behavior change that, over time, are associated with lower health care costs.

3 May 2011

State roundup: Assisted living hazards in Fla.; Ariz.'s Medicaid limits

Despite some efforts to ease the blow to pediatric health care providers, Texas' proposed budget cuts will most likely have a disproportionate effect on children's hospitals.

3 May 2011

Viewpoints: Ryan plan politics; senior care; health care consumerism

Democrats spent the last week of Easter recess bashing the GOP on the Medicare reforms in the Paul Ryan budget, and Republicans tell me they are feeling the heat back home.

3 May 2011

First Edition: May 2, 2011

With Congress due back to work in Washington, D.C., after its spring recess, the next stage of the budget battle is expected to heat up. News reports detail the part Medicare and Medicaid will play in the debate.

2 May 2011

Humana reports EPS of $1.86 for quarter ended March 31, 2011

Humana Inc. today reported diluted earnings per common share for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 of $1.86, compared to $1.52 per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

2 May 2011

Study shows even families with insurance put off or go without care

The high cost of health care is deterring parents from taking their children to the doctor or buying prescription medication, regardless of how much money they make or whether they have health insurance, according to a study to be presented Sunday, May 2, at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Denver.

2 May 2011

State news highlights: Texas Senate approves Medicaid savings bill

The Senate unanimously approved Sen. Jane Nelson's bill to find extensive cost savings in Texas' Medicaid program, the primary health care provider for children, the disabled and the very poor. ... The measure expands Medicaid managed care into South Texas, where it has long been carved out — expected to save the state $290 million over the biennium.

30 Apr 2011

AHF advocates to attend drug giant Abbott Laboratories' Annual General Meeting

A group of advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation will attend drug giant Abbott Laboratories' Annual General Meeting Friday April 29 at 9:00am in Abbott Park, Illinois planning to speak at and question Abbott executives regarding Abbott's pricing and policies on its HIV/AIDS medications.

30 Apr 2011

Aetna becomes California's third insurer to scale back rate hikes

Meanwhile, a new insurance market trend is picking up steam as one of the nation's largest employer-benefits consulting firms announced that it will launch a private exchange for large companies.

30 Apr 2011

North Dakota moves forward on health law's insurance exchange

other news related to the health law, NPR reports that emergency room docs predict that the health law will worsen ER crowding.

30 Apr 2011

Washington magazine releases list of peer-selected top physician specialists

Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States announced today that 75 Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group physicians were named among the region's best doctors in Washington Consumers' Checkbook magazine's Spring/Summer 2011 edition.

30 Apr 2011

Research roundup: Saving lives through health literacy

Health Literacy And Outcomes Among Patients With Heart Failure -- This study examines the correlation between health literacy, or the ability to understand basic health information, and the mortality rate among patients with heart failure, which is a condition that "requires self-management and frequent interactions with the health care system."

30 Apr 2011

First Edition: April 29, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about how independent groups and activists are taking positions on the Ryan plan for the budget and Medicare.

29 Apr 2011

CBO offers savings estimate on GOP plan to repeal health law provision

According to the Congressional Budget Office, a bill approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee that would abolish the law's planning grants designed to help states establish health insurance exchanges could save about $14 billion over the next 10 years. Meanwhile, discussion and debate continues regarding pending legal challenges to the measure.

29 Apr 2011

Study finds low pediatric flu vaccination acceptance rates in Atlanta

A study of H1N1 and seasonal influenza vaccination in a sample of black and Hispanic children in Atlanta found a low rate of vaccine acceptance among parents and caregivers.

29 Apr 2011

State roundup: Mass. House votes to limit collective bargaining rights

A week after lawmakers reached a compromise that leaves SustiNet backers short of their goals, leaders of the push for the proposed state-run health plan told supporters that the fight isn't over. House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan, one party to the compromise, told the crowd that their goals would be achieved.

29 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Taking the deficit seriously; despite low numbers, high-risk pools are succeeding

The deficit debate, now fully engaged, is also an evaluation of political seriousness. House Republican leaders have passed the test, supporting a politically risky budget that changes Medicare into a premium-support program and eventually returns federal spending to sustainable levels.

28 Apr 2011

Aetna first quarter operating earnings is $560.2 million for 2011

Aetna today announced first-quarter 2011 operating earnings of $560.2 million, or $1.43 per share, a per share increase of 46 percent over 2010.

28 Apr 2011

Aetna enters agreement to procure Prodigy Health Group

Aetna today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Prodigy Health Group, the nation's largest independent third party administrator of self-funded health care plans.

28 Apr 2011