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Task Force for National Conference on Diabetes issues Call to Action to improve diabetes care

The Task Force for the National Conference on Diabetes issued a Call to Action today entitled Shaping our future: a call to action to tackle the diabetes epidemic and reduce its economic impact. This Call to Action is a result of the National Conference on Diabetes, held earlier this year in Washington, D.C., which was attended by nearly 100 participants representing the Administration, Congress, government officials, public health organizations and industry.

19 Nov 2010

Report examines how health care reform affects personal costs, coverage, quality of service

Although most people's knowledge of the new health care law is limited, their opinion on how it will affect their health care depends on what type of private health insurance plan they currently have and their political affiliation, according to a recent report issued today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.

19 Nov 2010

Study finds average health insurance deductible grows to $1,200 as employer costs grow too

In 2005, deductibles were only $770, but in 2010, the average deductible for PPOs, the most common employer-provider health plan, hit a whopping $1,200, according to a Mercer survey of 2,836 employers with 10 or more employees.

19 Nov 2010

Mass. regulators and nursing homes fight inappropriate medicating; officials deal with Hawaii doctor shortage

State regulators and the Massachusetts nursing home industry are launching a campaign today to reduce the inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications for residents with dementia.

19 Nov 2010

Bipartisan task force recommends Medicare and Medicaid overhaul

Congress must overhaul Medicare and Medicaid and end tax-free health coverage to help bring the federal debt to manageable levels, a bipartisan task force said Wednesday.

19 Nov 2010

Health law revision suggestions pour in from lawmakers, groups

Kaiser Health News reports that vulnerable Democrats are looking for alternatives to the health law's mandate that nearly all Americans carry health insurance. "Under political pressure as a result of the new health law, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has asked the Government Accountability Office to study alternatives to the controversial mandate requiring most Americans to obtain coverage." Because Nelson is from a typically "red" state, Republicans have targeted him as one Democrat willing to play ball on scaling back the law (Vaida, 11/17).

19 Nov 2010

Americans' confidence in health care system lower than other industrialized counties, study finds

"Despite having the most expensive healthcare system in the industrialized world, Americans tend to have the least confidence that their system will provide them the most-effective care compared to residents of 10 other industrialized nations, a Commonwealth Fund survey has found. A survey of nearly 20,000 people in the U.S. and 10 other industrialized nations has found that U.S. consumers reported the highest level of confusing complexity of their health insurance plans, and the highest level of concern that they would not be able to afford their healthcare coverage" (Carlson, 11/18).

19 Nov 2010

Today's Op-Eds: The ObamaCare suit; Fixing physician pay; A federal takeover of Medicaid; Cues from Britain

The voters showed their loathing for the law on November 2, and a large, united legal front of states would increase the chances that the courts find it unconstitutional and preserve our federal system (11/18).

19 Nov 2010

Despite progress in testing Americans for HIV, lack of federal/private insurance impedes expansion

With projections that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates are increasing in some populations, former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop -- who charted the nation's policies on HIV/AIDS following the first deaths from AIDS in 1981 -- today issued a stern warning to the public health community: HIV/AIDS continues to be a major epidemic and requires a national mobilization to identify and provide immediate care for many Americans with HIV who remain undiagnosed -- an estimated 200,000 people.

18 Nov 2010

MFA reports that senior and Medicaid markets drive health enrollment gains

The nation's leading health insurers saw an aggregate increase of 363,000 members for the first six months of 2010. Declining commercial enrollment was offset primarily by gains in products offered to seniors and growth in Medicaid business. Administrative Services Only (ASO) enrollment gained 1.4 million members from December 2009 to June 2010. All of the leading health plans saw year-over-year profitability improvement.

18 Nov 2010

Colo. nurse practitioners struggle for recognition, reimbursement; Mass. struggles with health care access

The Denver Post: "When nurse practitioner Mary Lou Hendrix opened her own high-risk-pregnancy practice in Evergreen and Cherry Creek last spring after more than 25 years of providing such care in physicians' offices, she was well-prepared for the medical challenges she would face. But she was not ready for the still-unresolved nightmare of trying to get recognized and reimbursed by insurance companies.

18 Nov 2010

US has highest out-of-pocket costs and most complex health insurance

A new 11-country survey from The Commonwealth Fund finds that adults in the United States are far more likely than those in 10 other industrialized nations to go without health care because of costs, have trouble paying medical bills, encounter high medical bills even when insured, and have disputes with their insurers or discover insurance wouldn't pay as they expected. According to the report, the findings highlight the need for Affordable Care Act reforms that will ensure access to health care, protect people from medical debt, and simplify health insurance.

18 Nov 2010

First Global Symposium on Health Systems Research kicks off in Switzerland

The First Global Symposium on Health Systems Research bringing together researchers, policymakers and donors kicked off in Montreux, Switzerland, on Tuesday, with some conference attendees calling for African leaders to do more to promote health progress in their countries, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports.

18 Nov 2010

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation launches projects to improve care, reduce cost

Kaiser Health News: "Promising fast action, the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation is launching a series of initiatives aimed at improving medical care while reducing its cost, officials said Tuesday. ... In one initiative, eight states will participate in a Medicare demonstration project to evaluate the effectiveness of doctors and other health professionals working 'in a more integrated fashion and receiving more coordinated payment,' according to CMS, the parent agency of the center and a part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

18 Nov 2010

Insurer news: 2010 could be record profit year; Anthem settles underpayment cases

A California health insurer will pay seven hospitals $1.62 million to settle a dispute over alleged underpayments, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Anthem, a unit of health insurance giant WellPoint Inc. of Indianapolis, admitted no wrongdoing and said in a statement that it settled the matter to avoid litigation. Regulators said the problem stemmed from Anthem's process for handling claims.

18 Nov 2010

States consider options for funding Medicaid

The Billings Gazette: Montana lawmakers questioned the state's top health official "about plans to hire a private company to manage part of Medicaid, asking why the administration hasn't had a more public discussion on the proposal." The Legislative Finance Committee also listened to "health care providers and former officials who experienced the state's 1995 foray into private management of Medicaid for the mentally ill — and how it became a disaster for its low-income patients and their providers."

18 Nov 2010

Lawmakers elbow for influence as they return to Capitol Hill

Lawmakers are elbowing around Capitol Hill to cement their places in the coming fight over health reform, and industry groups are attempting the same.

17 Nov 2010

TexanPlus HMO provides affordable access to cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs

TexanPlus HMO powered by CCRx, a Medicare Advantage plan offered through the Universal American's family of healthcare companies, will provide broad and affordable access to LIPITOR and CRESTOR, two popular cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs.

17 Nov 2010

Maine has most improved health care quality; Kansas needs more dentists

Maine Public Broadcasting Network News: "Nationwide, Maine is most improved when it comes to health care quality, according to 2009 statistics from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In one year, Maine jumped from 12th place to fourth best in categories ranging from cancer to patient safety, from maternal and child health to long-term care.

17 Nov 2010

MedAssets acquires The Broadlane Group

MedAssets, Inc. today announced that it has completed its acquisition of The Broadlane Group. The combination of MedAssets and Broadlane creates the industry's leading, end-to-end financial improvement partner that has saved billions for its healthcare provider customers, including more than $2.8 billion in documented and guaranteed supply chain savings.

17 Nov 2010

Health Insurance News and Research

Task Force for National Conference on Diabetes issues Call to Action to improve diabetes care

Report examines how health care reform affects personal costs, coverage, quality of service

Study finds average health insurance deductible grows to $1,200 as employer costs grow too

Mass. regulators and nursing homes fight inappropriate medicating; officials deal with Hawaii doctor shortage

Bipartisan task force recommends Medicare and Medicaid overhaul

Health law revision suggestions pour in from lawmakers, groups

Americans' confidence in health care system lower than other industrialized counties, study finds

Today's Op-Eds: The ObamaCare suit; Fixing physician pay; A federal takeover of Medicaid; Cues from Britain

Despite progress in testing Americans for HIV, lack of federal/private insurance impedes expansion

MFA reports that senior and Medicaid markets drive health enrollment gains

Colo. nurse practitioners struggle for recognition, reimbursement; Mass. struggles with health care access

US has highest out-of-pocket costs and most complex health insurance

First Global Symposium on Health Systems Research kicks off in Switzerland

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation launches projects to improve care, reduce cost

Insurer news: 2010 could be record profit year; Anthem settles underpayment cases

States consider options for funding Medicaid

Lawmakers elbow for influence as they return to Capitol Hill

TexanPlus HMO provides affordable access to cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs

Maine has most improved health care quality; Kansas needs more dentists

MedAssets acquires The Broadlane Group

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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