Health Insurance News and Research

RSS

Today's Opinions: Health law repeal and Insurance Hikes on minds of Americans

Until Congress or the courts discard ObamaCare's mandates, price controls, and new entitlement spending, there is literally nothing that can arrest this downward spiral of rising costs and deteriorating quality (Michael Cannon, 9/14).

16 Sep 2010

Democrats look to strike back with health care campaigns touting new law

Democratic leaders are plotting campaigns to rally support for the health law and improve Democratic chances in the November elections. The hope is that "new insurance restrictions due to go into effect Sept. 23 and an accompanying public relations push will help turn the tide and give Democrats campaign-ready ammunition six weeks ahead of the midterm elections."

15 Sep 2010

First Edition: September 15, 2010

Today's headlines include news that a Florida judge has indicated the 20-state legal challenge to the new health law is likely to advance.

15 Sep 2010

HCHN, ADA to unveil new national program to improve consumers' access to nutrition experts

Today, the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition joined with the American Dietetic Association to unveil Moderation Nation, a new national program which kicks off by providing complimentary visits with ADA member registered dietitians to consumers, age 18 or over. Moderation Nation seeks to educate people on how to achieve balance in their lives through moderation, both in nutrition and physical activity.

15 Sep 2010

Health insurance mandate essential for expanding access of health care reform

The most politically charged feature of the health reform law is the mandate that legal residents have health insurance. Within weeks of the law's passage, twenty states had filed lawsuits charging that the mandate is unconstitutional because it gives the federal government more power than it actually has. The state lawsuits are widely expected to reach the Supreme Court next year. Legal scholar Lawrence O. Gostin writes that the health insurance mandate rests on firm legal ground.

15 Sep 2010

FDA-cleared LaserTouchOne device for chronic and acute pain treatment available without prescription

The American Pain Foundation reports that despite the fact that the majority of the U.S. population looks healthy, statistics tell a different story: Approximately 1 in 3 Americans suffer from chronic pain. This chronic pain could be related to an illness like cancer or rheumatoid arthritis, or a condition such as arthritis, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia or back pain from a car accident.

15 Sep 2010

Senate amendments to strike health reform tax reporting provision fail

The Associated Press/Bloomberg Business: "The Senate failed Tuesday to repeal or ease an arcane tax reporting provision of the new health care law. ...Tucked into the health law is a requirement that businesses file tax forms called 1099s with the Internal Revenue Service for every vendor that sells them more than $600 in goods.

15 Sep 2010

Some health insurance changes set to take effect next week

Kaiser Health News: On Sept. 23, a number of health law provisions will go into effect, including a ban on lifetime caps on health benefits, a practice some insurance plans use to restrain costs. For one family with two children with hemophilia whose treatments cost around $250,000 a year, that's a reassuring change that means "more freedom" for the kids.

15 Sep 2010

Florida Judge signals he will likely allow some parts of states' health law challenge to proceed

Bloomberg: "U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola said today he will make a decision by Oct. 14 on whether the states have jurisdiction to sue. He told lawyers he would probably dismiss part of the suit, while allowing other claims to proceed." The states involved in the lawsuit maintain that the federal government's "requirement that people buy health insurance" goes beyond Congress' constitutional powers.

15 Sep 2010

Berwick breaks silence, calling on insurers to join pursuit of 'shared goals'

In his first big speech as President Barack Obama's top Medicare official Donald Berwick Monday called on insurers to join in a "full partnership" with his agency to achieve a health system with lower costs that doesn't withhold care from anyone or risk harming patients, The Associated Press/Washington Post report. The remarks were delivered to a conference hosted by America's Health Insurance Plans. "The choice of the insurance lobby for his speech was unusual since the administration continues to trade verbal potshots with the industry" (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/13).

15 Sep 2010

Number of people enrolled in FEHBP expected to rise

Federal News Radio: "The number of people covered by the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program is expected to jump dramatically next year and the number of people switching from self-only to family coverage will also go up. Those eligible for FEHBP coverage will include dependent children and foster children up to age 26 who are not living with their federal parents.

15 Sep 2010

First Edition: September 14, 2010

Among today's headlines, Berwick talks, health reform politics continue and coverage of the run up to Sept. 23 - the day several health overhaul provisions take effect - is in full swing.

14 Sep 2010

Stars join Bupa 30th Great North Run for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research

Soap stars warm up for Bupa 30th Great North Run for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research

14 Sep 2010

Kaiser Permanente caregivers pledge to vote for SEIU-UHW

The majority of Kaiser Permanente caregivers voting in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election that starts this week have pledged to vote for Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU-UHW), according to member-organizers across California who have collected pledge cards from their co-workers.

14 Sep 2010

Guidance allowing children with life-limiting illness to receive both hospice care and curative treatments praised

The families of dying children who are covered under Medicaid or the Medicaid expansion Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) will no longer face the choice of stopping curative treatments in order for their terminally ill child to receive quality end-of-life care from hospice.

14 Sep 2010

Emergency physicians to present research studies at Research Forum 2010

The risks associated with boarding admitted patients in the emergency department – including patient mortality – as well as proposed solutions will be key themes of Scientific Assembly, the annual meeting of the American College of Emergency Physicians. In addition, emergency physicians will present more than 450 research studies during 2010 Research Forum, the premier, annual scientific research event focused on the latest advances in the practice of emergency medicine.

14 Sep 2010

Pernix completes Macoven acquisition

Pernix Therapeutics Holdings, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company primarily focused on the pediatric market, today announced the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding membership interest in Macoven Pharmaceuticals, L.L.C. for approximately $2.2 million (which includes inventory of approximately $1.2 million), its entry into a $10 million credit facility with Regions Bank and the repurchase of 2,000,000 shares of its common stock from one of its employees in a privately negotiated transaction.

14 Sep 2010

Role of health centers in national health reform

A new issue brief from The Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, co-authored by Commission staff and researchers at the George Washington University's Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative, examines the role of health centers in national health reform and the issues that will affect health center expansion to meet the growing need for primary health care.

14 Sep 2010

Health care expected to help fuel job growth yet new nurses having difficulties finding jobs

Orlando Sentinel: "Thousands more health-care workers, from doctors to nurses to physical therapists, will be needed in the coming decade in Florida and across the country to treat the increasing number of older Americans — particularly the enormous baby boom generation. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, health care is expected to generate 3.2 million new jobs through 2018, more than any other industry and mainly because of the increasing number of elderly.

13 Sep 2010

Hearing scheduled this week for closely watched health law challenge in Florida

Lawmakers and others are closely watching a lawsuit brought in Florida by a pair of conservative Washington, D.C., lawyers that challenges the health reform law as bearing a possibility of what the future will bring for the overhaul. The Wall Street Journal reports that the suit, "filed in Florida by David Rivkin and Lee Casey, is one of a handful of challenges lodged against the law in recent months.

13 Sep 2010