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Kaiser survey examines views of people who buy health coverage in individual market

People who buy their own insurance report that their insurers most recently requested premium increases averaging 20 percent, according to a new Kaiser survey examining the experiences and views of people who buy health coverage in the non-group or individual market.

22 Jun 2010

Lack of tracking of medical devices' performance raises questions about safety and efficacy

"Amid the booming use of artificial joints in the United States, the breakup between Dr. Berger and Zimmer highlights what experts say is a troubling situation for patients and doctors: when disputes arise about orthopedic implant safety, there are no independent referees or sources of information because no one tracks the performance of the devices.

22 Jun 2010

Extenders bill in limbo, placing COBRA subsidy and Medicaid enhanced funding in even deeper jeopardy

Efforts to renew the COBRA subsidy extension to help workers who have been recently laid off afford to keep their former employer's health insurance remains in limbo as lawmakers work at a measured pace to extend unemployment benefits and a tax package.

22 Jun 2010

Tentative deal raises cigarette taxes in NY; Many Iowa hospitals close inpatient psychiatric units

Harvard Medical School, which has suffered financially due in part to a sharp decline in Harvard University's legendary endowment, has successfully negotiated a deal in which Boston's major teaching hospitals will contribute $36 million to the school over three years. The hospital money is a small portion of the medical school's $580 million annual budget, but it may represent a larger turning point in the unusual relationship between the country's top medical school and its prestigious hospital partners.

22 Jun 2010

Louisiana becomes first state with a Democrat legislature to oppose requirement to purchase health insurance

Last Friday, June 18, 2010, Louisiana became the first state with a Democrat-controlled legislature to oppose a requirement to purchase health insurance—the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's health reform agenda. Louisiana House Bill 1474, which passed the Louisiana Senate with strong bipartisan support, will soon head to Gov. Bobby Jindal's desk. The measure is modeled after the American Legislative Exchange Council's Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act now introduced or announced in 42 states.

22 Jun 2010

Number of uninsured grew by 3 million in 2009; Health safety net continues to fray

Help from the new health law may not come soon enough for many Americans, according to a report.

22 Jun 2010

People who purchase insurance on their own faced premium hike rates around 20 percent, survey finds

People who purchase health insurance on their own were faced with premium increases averaging 20 percent when they last sought to renew their coverage, according to a survey released Monday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

22 Jun 2010

Today's OpEds: Medicare reimbursements threaten health care; Battling health care fraud; A national standard on nurse-patient ratios

The Senate on Friday passed the annual "doc fix" -- but this short-term stay on the reimbursement rates for physicians who treat Medicare patients does not resolve the underlying problem: Those reimbursements are woefully below market. And if Congress does not address this, the much-heralded health-care reform is at risk (Dr. Michael Newman, 6/19).

21 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 21, 2010

Today's news includes an exploration of the impact of Medicare payment rates on physicians, an analysis of the fate of the COBRA subsidy and how an innovation may offer a medical malpractice fix.

21 Jun 2010

Advocacy groups oppose lawsuits that could undermine new legislation's protections against insurances abuses

The National Organization for Rare Disorders and other leading disease and disabilities advocacy groups have filed an amicus brief urging the courts to protect Americans from lawsuits that would undermine protections provided by the nation's new health care reform legislation.

19 Jun 2010

Group Net donates $1000 to Horizon Relief to help individuals affected by oil spill

Group Net LLC, a health care service company specializing in prescription medication and pharmacy technology solutions, donated $1000 to Horizon Relief, an organization that provides financial relief to those affected by the oil spill.

19 Jun 2010

Research roundup: Medical homes working in poor areas, designing insurance exchanges, health law's effects

Moving Forward On Health Reform - This edition explores the issues relating to the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, including the impact of the law on health insurance as well as state and federal governments, large employers and public opinion and opportunities for small physician practices to pool resources in order support medical homes, among others (June 2010).

19 Jun 2010

SAHM strongly recommends HPV vaccines for males

On May 28, 2010, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices published its guidance for use of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine in males. While noting that the vaccine was approved by the FDA for use in males ages 9 through 26 to reduce their likelihood of acquiring genital warts and that it therefore could be given for this purpose, the statement released by ACIP did not recommend routine HPV vaccination of males.

19 Jun 2010

Patients' relationship with primary care physician improves health care quality: Study

Patients who report having a regular doctor either at a community health center or at the physician's office report receiving better quality health care, and have a better health care experience, than patients who have a regular place of care, but lack an established physician relationship. The findings are part of a study published in the May Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, and authored by Anne Beal, MD, MPH, head of the Aetna Foundation, and Susan Hernandez, MPA, formerly of The Commonwealth Fund.

19 Jun 2010

N.Y. tries to get more patients in clinical drug trials; Atlanta hospitals create partnerships

In New York, state medical centers and drug makers have begun an effort to address a problem associated with clinical drug trials: "getting patients to sign up. More than 3,000 clinical trials are actively recruiting in New York state, and an additional 8,000 trials involving New York are already running or were recently completed, according to the government clinical trials registry. Patient recruitment is one of the top reasons that clinical trials are delayed or fail, according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

19 Jun 2010

Friday Opinions: Uwe Reinhardt, Reps. Ron Paul and John Sarbanes, Minnesota nurses' strike

Alas, the penalties baked into the bill for disregarding the mandate, though not trivial, are low enough that many younger and healthier individuals are likely to find paying the penalty cheaper than owning up to the mandate. If that happens in significant numbers, as well it might, the premiums that private insurers will have to charge for the mandated coverage in the small-group market will be driven correspondingly higher (Uwe Reinhardt, 6/18).

19 Jun 2010

State round up: Colo. to delay Medicaid pay to doctors; La. Legislature passes law requiring ultrasounds before an abortion

"Colorado has declared a fiscal emergency and delayed payments to doctors and clinics taking care of the state's neediest patients. Under state law, the Medicaid department can delay reimbursements to doctors, hospitals and clinics during a fiscal emergency. Physicians treating patients with the health-insurance plan for the poor will not receive normally scheduled payments on June 25 or July 2, a hardship for safety-net clinics in particular that rely on public funds. State officials said they would begin catching up on payments July 9 after a new fiscal year begins" (Brown, 6/17).

18 Jun 2010

Justice Department asks court to throw out states' lawsuit challenging health overhaul

The Associated Press reports that the Justice Department filed a motion in Florida late Wednesday asking a "federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by 20 states challenging President Barack Obama's health care overhaul." The states are arguing that the federal government cannot require individuals to buy health insurance, a key provision of the new health law.

18 Jun 2010

Women with college degrees more likely to have health insurance

Attention college grads: Your degree may be the key to both a career and better health coverage. According to a new study of women's health insurance from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, women without a high school diploma were nearly four times more likely to be uninsured as women with a college degree.

18 Jun 2010

Feds to states: Set up health insurance pools for high-risk patients by July 1

The program, one of the highest profile provisions of the law, is designed to provide health insurance to people who have been denied coverage due to a pre-existing medical condition and have been without coverage for at least six months. It will start enrollment on July 1 and begin coverage on Aug. 1, according to guidance that Jay Angoff, director of the Department of Health and Human Service's Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, sent to state officials last week.

18 Jun 2010

Health Insurance News and Research

Kaiser survey examines views of people who buy health coverage in individual market

Lack of tracking of medical devices' performance raises questions about safety and efficacy

Extenders bill in limbo, placing COBRA subsidy and Medicaid enhanced funding in even deeper jeopardy

Tentative deal raises cigarette taxes in NY; Many Iowa hospitals close inpatient psychiatric units

Louisiana becomes first state with a Democrat legislature to oppose requirement to purchase health insurance

Number of uninsured grew by 3 million in 2009; Health safety net continues to fray

People who purchase insurance on their own faced premium hike rates around 20 percent, survey finds

Today's OpEds: Medicare reimbursements threaten health care; Battling health care fraud; A national standard on nurse-patient ratios

First Edition: June 21, 2010

Advocacy groups oppose lawsuits that could undermine new legislation's protections against insurances abuses

Group Net donates $1000 to Horizon Relief to help individuals affected by oil spill

Research roundup: Medical homes working in poor areas, designing insurance exchanges, health law's effects

SAHM strongly recommends HPV vaccines for males

Patients' relationship with primary care physician improves health care quality: Study

N.Y. tries to get more patients in clinical drug trials; Atlanta hospitals create partnerships

Friday Opinions: Uwe Reinhardt, Reps. Ron Paul and John Sarbanes, Minnesota nurses' strike

State round up: Colo. to delay Medicaid pay to doctors; La. Legislature passes law requiring ultrasounds before an abortion

Justice Department asks court to throw out states' lawsuit challenging health overhaul

Women with college degrees more likely to have health insurance

Feds to states: Set up health insurance pools for high-risk patients by July 1

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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