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State roundup: N.Y. malpractice fight; costly prisoners in Calif.; abortion battles

Last week, hospital leaders stood alongside Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo at the Capitol, pledging their support for billions in cuts proposed by his Medicaid redesign team.

4 Mar 2011

AHRQ: More than 59 million Americans diagnosed with high blood pressure in 2008

More than 59 million Americans age 18 and older were diagnosed with high blood pressure in 2008, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

4 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Medicaid costs making Ohio 'ill'?; Penn. adultbasic cuts 'bad'; Calif.'s prisoner dilemma

The president's health care overhaul has made Ohio's budget situation worse. The law prohibits states from changing eligibility requirements, cutting reimbursements or reducing benefits, which would allow our state to live within its means.

4 Mar 2011

First Edition: March 3, 2011

Today's headlines highlight the difficulties lawmakers will face in finding a compromise on long-term budget issues, such as Medicare and Medicaid spending.

3 Mar 2011

SAMHSA survey: 65% of substance abuse treatment facilities accept private health insurance

A new nationwide survey of substance abuse treatment facilities reveals that in 2008 nearly two thirds accepted some private health insurance payment.

3 Mar 2011

SSLG files Class Action lawsuit against SSA for failure to disclose queried information

The Social Security Law Group, LLP announced today that it has filed a Class Action lawsuit against the Social Security Administration on behalf of its clients after SSA's repeated failures to disclose queried information as required by the Freedom of Information Act and the 1974 Privacy Act.

3 Mar 2011

Roundup: States' angst and anger continues about Medicaid, health spending cuts

Ken Kewley woke up Tuesday without health insurance for the first time in nearly nine years. So did most of the 41,467 other Pennsylvanians who had been covered by adultBasic, a state-subsidized insurance program for the working poor that Gov. Tom Corbett shut down on Monday in one of the largest disenrollments in recent memory.

2 Mar 2011

State news: Ariz. may cut fewer from Medicaid; Pa. adultbasic closes

In a meeting with the Obama administration Monday, Gov. Jan Brewer proposed some Medicaid changes that she hopes will allow Arizona to drop fewer people than previously proposed from the state's Medicaid rolls. Brewer's office already has received permission to cut coverage for 250,000 members, mostly childless adults, as the state tries to close an ongoing budget shortfall.

2 Mar 2011

Individual mandate analysis: Could it be a policy nonstarter?

Politico reports on how some experts say the health law's individual mandate as written is not an effective tool to compel people to buy health insurance.

2 Mar 2011

Barbour, other Republicans attack Medicaid requirements, 'Romneycare'

Three governors testified before the Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce Committee today, as the GOP released a report on Medicaid costs.

2 Mar 2011

Majority of U.S. adults age 50 and over fail to take colon cancer screening

Despite the fact that colon cancer screening saves lives, the majority of U.S. adults age 50 and over who are eligible for such screening fail to take advantage of it. Consider the numbers: In 2000, only 16.3 million of 80 million eligible adults received colon cancer screening such as the fecal occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy.

2 Mar 2011

Market demands shape health sector growth

The Wall Street Journal reports on how a string of recent acquisitions are being spurred by an increased demand for outpatient facilities and senior care. However, The Washington Post reports that some specific facilities — those that are doctor-owned, for instance — are sparking criticism.

1 Mar 2011

Doctors should transit patients to adult medical care for congenital heart disease during early adolescence

Doctors should transition their patients from pediatric to adult medical care for congenital heart disease during early adolescence, experts recommend in a scientific statement published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

1 Mar 2011

ACP praises Obama for 'Empowering States to Innovate Act' on health insurance coverage

The American College of Physicians today applauded President Obama for advocating that states have an earlier option to design their own approaches to provide coverage to their residents, as long as it is comparable to those offered through the health exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act.

1 Mar 2011

New AARP survey shows measurable gap between health and financial security of older Marylanders

A new AARP survey of Marylanders age 50 and older shows a measurable gap between the importance they place on health and financial security and older Marylanders' confidence in their ability to meet these needs.

1 Mar 2011

Obama says he backs state flexibility for health law's coverage goals

The New York Times: "In remarks to the National Governors Association, Mr. Obama said he backed legislation that would enable states to request federal permission to withdraw from the law's mandates in 2014 rather than in 2017 as long as they could prove that they could find other ways to cover as many people as the original law would and at the same cost.

1 Mar 2011

Health law ups the ante in state-federal Medicaid budget battle

As this health insurance program for low-income people continues to place a huge burden on state budgets, governors are pressing for more flexibility regarding Medicaid's eligibility standards. The health law's expansion of this program — scheduled to take effect in 2014 — adds a sense of imperative to the conversation, as do the spending cuts being considered by Congress.

28 Feb 2011

Viewpoints: Judge Kessler's decision; Utah is role model; Malpractice system flaws

The Republican strategy is to split the vast middle and working classes -- pitting unionized workers against nonunionized, public-sector workers against nonpublic, older workers within sight of Medicare and Social Security against younger workers who don't believe these programs will be there for them and the poor against the working middle class.

28 Feb 2011

State News: N.Y. Medicaid's compromise; Va. ups health spending; Medi-Cal ruling

One of the most familiar criticisms of the new national health care law is that it doesn't do much to contain costs. ... Cost controls are supposed to come later. "Later" has arrived now for Massachusetts' statewide plan, enacted in 2006 and similar in many ways to the federal one. Some 98 percent of all adults and nearly 100 percent of all children are covered, but costs have spiraled out of control.

28 Feb 2011

First Edition: February 28, 2011

Today's headlines include news about the budge struggles the nation's governors continue to face -- with Medicaid spending a central issue.

28 Feb 2011

Health Insurance News and Research

State roundup: N.Y. malpractice fight; costly prisoners in Calif.; abortion battles

AHRQ: More than 59 million Americans diagnosed with high blood pressure in 2008

Viewpoints: Medicaid costs making Ohio 'ill'?; Penn. adultbasic cuts 'bad'; Calif.'s prisoner dilemma

First Edition: March 3, 2011

SAMHSA survey: 65% of substance abuse treatment facilities accept private health insurance

SSLG files Class Action lawsuit against SSA for failure to disclose queried information

Roundup: States' angst and anger continues about Medicaid, health spending cuts

State news: Ariz. may cut fewer from Medicaid; Pa. adultbasic closes

Individual mandate analysis: Could it be a policy nonstarter?

Barbour, other Republicans attack Medicaid requirements, 'Romneycare'

Majority of U.S. adults age 50 and over fail to take colon cancer screening

Market demands shape health sector growth

Doctors should transit patients to adult medical care for congenital heart disease during early adolescence

ACP praises Obama for 'Empowering States to Innovate Act' on health insurance coverage

New AARP survey shows measurable gap between health and financial security of older Marylanders

Obama says he backs state flexibility for health law's coverage goals

Health law ups the ante in state-federal Medicaid budget battle

Viewpoints: Judge Kessler's decision; Utah is role model; Malpractice system flaws

State News: N.Y. Medicaid's compromise; Va. ups health spending; Medi-Cal ruling

First Edition: February 28, 2011

Event guide: 4th Extra-Hepatic Lipid-Based Nanoparticles Delivery Summit eBook

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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