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Benefit Advocates launches its redesigned website

Benefit Advocates Inc. recently launched its redesigned website at www.benefitadvocates.net. The new design offers visitors ease of use and comprehensive information on Benefit Advocates' company profile, employer and broker services, and healthcare industry perspectives.

26 May 2010

Health law bodes well for young people's coverage, isn't helping Democrats

The New York Times reports that young people — representing nearly one-third of the 46 million uninsured in America — stand to "reap substantial benefits" from expanded coverage for them in the new health law.

26 May 2010

State Roundup: Oklahoma, S.C. and Ill. facing tough choices on health costs

States around the country are debating how to deal with health costs and tight budgets.

26 May 2010

Today's OpEds: States must take on public health challenges; Placing blame for high health costs

Britain's 'reform' will do little to improve access to life-extending drugs (5/25).

25 May 2010

Federal lawyers ask judge to dismiss Virginia overhaul lawsuit

Obama administration officials asked a judge to dismiss Virginia's lawsuit challenging the new health reform law because the state does not have standing to sue over the requirement that individuals will be required to buy health insurance, The Washington Post reports. "Federal attorneys argued that individuals, not the state, are affected by the requirement. … Further, they wrote that the mandate causes no injury to the state and will not take effect until 2014, making the legal challenge not yet timely."

25 May 2010

Federal law to expand coverage to kids is off to slow start

USA Today: "A federal law that President Obama signed early last year to expand health insurance to 4 million more low-income children has gotten off to a slow start because of budget problems in the states. The law makes more than $10 billion in federal aid available each year through 2013 but requires state funds as well."

25 May 2010

KHN Consumer column: Insuring your health – College student health plans often get low marks

In this Kaiser Health News column, produced in collaboration with The Washington Post, Michelle Andrews writes: "Aaron Smith is learning the hard way that student health insurance has limits.

25 May 2010

Experts question 'doc fix' as Reid threatens weekend work on bill with COBRA, Medicare provisions

Politico: Experts are questioning the virtues of the three-year Medicare "doc fix" that would stave off cuts to Medicare doctors' pay but set up a larger fight down the road. ... In health policy circles, the 'doc fix' has become emblematic of Washington's worst habits: a potentially solvable policy problem run amok for about a decade now, bogged down in pure politics and accounting gimmicks. The 'doc fix,' a last-minute infusion of funds to head off a looming doctor pay cut under Medicare, hits the floor this week via the tax extenders bill ..."

25 May 2010

DOJ warns hospitals, insurers: Mergers will be scrutinized

The Obama administration warned the health care industry Monday that it "won't hesitate to block mergers that threaten to stifle competition," The Associated Press reports.

25 May 2010

First Edition: May 25, 2010

Today's headlines reflect health policy action at the federal level as the Obama administration issues a warning to the insurance industry about mergers and urges the courts to dismiss Virginia's lawsuit against the health reform law.

25 May 2010

States struggle with poor dental care

Reports show that California and Wisconsin have poor dental care, while various communities try to improve lagging dental care indicators.

25 May 2010

Round-up: Mississippi struggles with mental health services funding cuts; A drug discount bill advances in Mass.

"Lawmakers earlier this year vigorously fought Gov. Haley Barbour's proposal to close four state mental health hospitals and six crisis centers as a budget-saving measure. Now, nonprofit-run centers that offer front-line services for the mentally ill in some of the poorest communities across Mississippi could face closure."

25 May 2010

One-third of Minnesotans understate their weight problems

When it comes to self-perceptions about their own healthy weight, many Minnesotans appear to be adapting Garrison Keillor's famous quip: "I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it."

25 May 2010

AMA's code of conduct helps ensure greater transparency and accountability from health insurers

The American Medical Association (AMA) today released its Health Insurer Code of Conduct Principles and called on all U.S. health insurance companies to adopt consistent corporate practices that will bring transparency and accountability to the multibillion-dollar health insurance industry

25 May 2010

Hospitals facing new payment squeezes

News outlets report on payment issues for hospitals, including those stemming from the new health law.

24 May 2010

Today's OpEds: Taxing health plans, a health care 'loophole,' NY Times on medical loss ratio

Few Americans know what a "medical loss ratio" is, but a fierce struggle over how to calculate it under the new health care reform law will determine how much insurers must spend on patient care and how much they can retain for administration and profits. This is but one of many battles that will emerge as federal and state regulators develop regulations to implement reform (5/23).

24 May 2010

Study: Health law could mean penalties for one in three employers

News outlets covered analyses of health law provisions affecting businesses. "About one-third of employers subject to major requirements of the new health care law may face tax penalties because they offer health insurance that could be considered unaffordable to some employees, a new study says," The New York Times reports.

24 May 2010

First Edition: May 24, 2010

Irene Wielawski writes for Kaiser Health News that electronic medical records may be as important as stethoscopes. "Dr. David Blumenthal was not happy to find a new computer installed on his desk when he showed up for work one morning eight years ago at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He knew the hospital had been hard at work on developing an electronic medical record system, but Blumenthal wasn't keen on changing practices that had served him and his patients just fine over the years.

24 May 2010

State roundup: Genetic testing on campus, Texas docs in Mass., and more

"A plan by the University of California, Berkeley to voluntarily test the DNA of incoming freshman has come under fire from critics who said the school was pushing an unproven technology on impressionable students. The university has said it will send test kits to 5,500 new students to analyze genes that help control the body's responses to alcohol, dairy products and folic acid" (Wohlsen, 5/21).

24 May 2010

Research roundup: Lessons from Medicare Part D; Evaluating medical homes; Insuring young adults

Lessons Learned: Who Didn't Enroll In Medicare Drug Coverage In 2006, And Why? - With data from the 2005 and 2006 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, this study examines enrollment of those who were previously without either public or private sources of prescription drug coverage. The authors report "63 percent of all eligible seniors and 69 percent of low-income beneficiaries were enrolled in Part D in 2006.

24 May 2010