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Officials look to 2 states for advice on setting up exchanges; other health overhaul news

Two states Massachusetts and Utah are forerunners in establishing health insurance exchanges, a key part of the health overhaul, and are likely to serve as models for other states, Politico reports.

17 Nov 2010

Republicans confront realities of health overhaul, position themselves in Congress

The Christian Science Monitor reports that the health overhaul is resting in the GOP's crosshairs. The ultimate defense to the repeal effort is the presidential veto pen. Even with a new majority in the House come January, Republicans concede that winning a repeal vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate is unlikely and the two-thirds needed to override a presidential veto, well out of reach.

16 Nov 2010

States seek ways to balance Medicaid budget, contemplate dropping out of program

Kaiser Health News: "As budget-weary state officials contemplate dropping out of the state-federal Medicaid program, a potentially game-changing question has arisen in Washington: Would poor people who lose Medicaid be eligible for subsidies to buy private coverage in an insurance exchange beginning in 2014? Cindy Mann, director of the federal Center for Medicaid and State Operations, last week said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was considering the question.

16 Nov 2010

Insuring your health: Many individual health policies do not cover pregnancy

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "Individual health insurance policies generally don't cover maternity care, as a recent investigation by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce reported.

16 Nov 2010

Employees will see changes in 2011 health benefits

"Workers who have received their annual enrollment packets for insurance benefits" should expect slight changes to their plans this year due to the health care overhaul. Most employees can expect to pay more next year, due in part to the 1 to 2 percent increase in insurance costs brought about by the law.

16 Nov 2010

Report shows spells of poverty may have lifelong health implications for children

Spells of poverty, even if temporary, may have lifelong health implications for children, according to the largest report so far reviewing the recent recession's effects on child well-being.

16 Nov 2010

Republicans increase challenges to health law, repeal rhetoric

With their eyes on the 2012 election, Republicans are preparing to maximize conflict with Democrats over healthcare in the new Congress and minimize potential compromises, according to GOP strategists, lawmakers and lobbyists. That strategy is setting the stage for a bitter stalemate on Capitol Hill over the next two years ... Republican leaders and strategists think a renewed battle over healthcare will help the party expand its electoral gains and drive President Obama from the White House.

16 Nov 2010

HHS seeking to publish new health insurance data

The Department of Health and Human Services is working on regulations that would allow it to publish additional in-depth health insurance data, including the number of people enrolled in each insurance plan.

16 Nov 2010

State roundup: Colorado high-risk insurance pool; Ariz. and Mich. medical marijuana issues; high-deductible insurance

Nearly 500 people in Colorado have applied for the new high-risk health-insurance pool since the program started in the state 10 weeks ago. About 430 people who already have health problems that make it difficult to get private insurance have been enrolled; 43 applications are pending.

15 Nov 2010

National health disparities conference wraps up with creative approaches, expectations for new healthcare reform

Focusing on the disparities in the quality of health care across demographic groups, the Fourth Annual National Conference on Health Disparities brought together White House officials and national and local healthcare executives to address a series of key questions about non-medical determinants of health quality and to recommend strategies to bring more equitable healthcare access to the underserved. The determinants discussed at the four-day-long conference, which began November 10, 2010 and concluded Saturday, November 13, 2010, included education levels, health literacy, poverty, public safety, community design, access to care, environmental quality and personal, government and corporate responsibility.

15 Nov 2010

National Health third quarter revenues increase 12.3%

National Health Partners, Inc., a leading provider of unique discount healthcare membership programs, is pleased to announce today that the Company has achieved positive earnings for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 compared to a loss of $522,542 for the same period last year. Revenues for the 3rd quarter grew 12.3% over the same period last year.

15 Nov 2010

Members of Congress and economists to submit arguments in states' suit against health law

Bloomberg: "Eight U.S. senators, along with Representative John Boehner and 35 economists, won the right to submit their arguments in a lawsuit by 20 states seeking to undo the Obama administration's health-care overhaul. U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola yesterday granted requests by the eight Republican members of Congress and the economists to offer their views on the administration's bid to have the suit thrown out.

15 Nov 2010

Healthcare costs rise for people insured through an employer

Reuters: "Healthcare costs for people insured through an employer rose 6.3 percent for the year ended June 30, according to a new Thomson Reuters index released on Thursday. It found spending for hospital care rose especially fast -- 8.2 percent, compared to a 5.5 percent rise for physician services and a 3.4 percent increase in drug costs.

15 Nov 2010

State roundup: Calif. speeds ahead on health reform; Nebraska abortion provider expanding clinics; Ky. hospital merger

California has moved quickly to implement key provisions of the federal health care overhaul law, including a health benefits exchange, but the exchange and California's plans could be vulnerable as House Republicans threaten to starve the federal health program of funding.

15 Nov 2010

States and providers threaten to drop Medicaid; shortage of providers threatens Medicaid managed-care networks

After Republicans in the Texas legislature floated a radical cost-saving proposal to opt out of Medicaid last week, experts are trying to determine how serious they are, and whether other states are likely to follow suit, Kaiser Health News reports.

15 Nov 2010

Long-term care: MetLife dropping policies, NFL union rejects management offer

MetLife Inc. said it will halt sales of long-term-care insurance, a type of coverage that repeatedly has flummoxed insurers and forced some to pay significantly more in claims than they expected.

15 Nov 2010

Governors line up against the health overhaul

In Wisconsin, Republican Governor-elect Scott Walker asked [Democratic] Gov. Jim Doyle Thursday to freeze his administration's push on high-profile issues ranging from the implementation of the federal health care law to a costly upgrade of a state power plant until Walker takes office on Jan. 3.

15 Nov 2010

Republicans take hard line, look for Democrat health law repeal allies

Republicans aren't softening their tough criticism of the health law even as they seek Democratic allies to join them in their bid to repeal the overhaul.

15 Nov 2010

Research roundup: Doctors' industry ties; Patient safety and residents' hours; Designing a medical home

Archives of Internal Medicine: Physician Professionalism And Changes in Physician-Industry Relationships From 2004 to 2009 -"During the last 6 years a number of efforts have aimed to reduce, and in some cases eliminate, certain types of physician-industry relationships (PIRs)," including policies "that forbid physicians from accepting samples and receiving food and beverages in offices, limiting company representatives' access to physicians' offices and clinical areas, and banning faculty participation in speaker bureaus and other forms of promotional activity," write the authors.

12 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 12, 2010

Today's headlines include examinations of Medicaid and state budget issues as well as the next round of the congressional health overhaul fight.

12 Nov 2010

Health Insurance News and Research

Officials look to 2 states for advice on setting up exchanges; other health overhaul news

Republicans confront realities of health overhaul, position themselves in Congress

States seek ways to balance Medicaid budget, contemplate dropping out of program

Insuring your health: Many individual health policies do not cover pregnancy

Employees will see changes in 2011 health benefits

Report shows spells of poverty may have lifelong health implications for children

Republicans increase challenges to health law, repeal rhetoric

HHS seeking to publish new health insurance data

State roundup: Colorado high-risk insurance pool; Ariz. and Mich. medical marijuana issues; high-deductible insurance

National health disparities conference wraps up with creative approaches, expectations for new healthcare reform

National Health third quarter revenues increase 12.3%

Members of Congress and economists to submit arguments in states' suit against health law

Healthcare costs rise for people insured through an employer

State roundup: Calif. speeds ahead on health reform; Nebraska abortion provider expanding clinics; Ky. hospital merger

States and providers threaten to drop Medicaid; shortage of providers threatens Medicaid managed-care networks

Long-term care: MetLife dropping policies, NFL union rejects management offer

Governors line up against the health overhaul

Republicans take hard line, look for Democrat health law repeal allies

Research roundup: Doctors' industry ties; Patient safety and residents' hours; Designing a medical home

First Edition: November 12, 2010

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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