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Some Republican states opting out of high risk health insurance pools

News outlets covered state responses to the federal government's deadline on high risk insurance pools.

3 May 2010

Research roundup: Managing nursing home patients, streamlining medical billing, financial disclosures

Saving Billions Of Dollars--And Physicians' Time--By Streamlining Billing Practices - "The U.S. system of billing third parties for health care services is complex, expensive, and inefficient," write the authors, who analyzed Massachusetts General Physicians Organization staffing and cost data in fiscal year 2006.

3 May 2010

Federal deadline on state health insurance 'pools' sparks confrontations

States must tell the federal government whether they will help run new insurance pools for high-risk patients by Friday, which could set up political confrontations, The New York Times reports.

3 May 2010

Children living in kinship care experience a multitude of health issues

It is well-known that children in foster care are at increased risk for physical and mental health problems. But what about kids who live with relatives other than their birth parents?

3 May 2010

Mass. report on insurers' financial health provides mixed portrait

"A long-awaited state report to be released today will probably add fuel to the debate about surging health costs by portraying a mixed financial picture of Massachusetts health insurers. The state's eight health insurers finished 2008 with a total surplus of $2.5 billion, a more than four-fold increase from 1999 when the study period began, according to a 17-page executive summary of the report from the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy that was obtained by the Globe."

3 May 2010

Children's health suffers when families choose between basic necessities and healthcare costs

When the high cost of health care forces families to forgo paying for basic household expenses, such as rent, utilities or food, children's health suffers, according to research to be presented Sunday, May 2 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

3 May 2010

Schwarzenegger expresses support for health law while Reid uses reform as campaign issue

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Thursday announced his support of the health reform law, even as other Republicans around the United States look for ways to roll back the measure's reach.

3 May 2010

HHS Secretary to host web chat to discuss impact of newly passed health insurance reform law

HHS Secretary Sebelius, Jay Angoff, director of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, and Keysha Brooks Coley, the director of Federal Relations with the American Cancer Society, will host a web chat Friday, April 30 to discuss important insurance reforms in the new legislation and recent developments that have led to the ending of controversial practices like rescissions.

30 Apr 2010

Gaps in delivering publicly-funded physiotherapy across Canada

From Prince Edward Island, to Ontario, to British Columbia; it is getting harder for many Canadians to access publicly funded physiotherapy services. Health care reform initiatives have shifted outpatient physiotherapy into the community, decreasing or eliminating public funding.

30 Apr 2010

BCHC questions government's commitment to defend public health care

The BC Health Coalition is calling into question the provincial government's commitment to defend public health care in the courts in the wake of the recent appointment of Kip Woodward as chair of Vancouver Coastal Health - the province's second largest health authority.

30 Apr 2010

Federal, state and local governments will need to invest more than $5 billion in health IT: INPUT

The recently passed health care reform legislation will require significant investment in IT solutions and system upgrades throughout its implementation. A new report, IT Implications of Health Care Reform, released by INPUT, predicts federal, state and local governments will need to invest more than $5 billion in health IT and traditional IT solutions in order to implement requirements of the new law.

30 Apr 2010

First Edition: April 30, 2010

Today's headlines focus on state decisions regarding new health insurance pools; insurers' plans regarding the early adoption of some reform law provisions; and, of course, the politics that continue to surround health reform.

30 Apr 2010

DOJ investigating Partners HealthCare for alleged anticompetitive practices

Partners HealthCare, the largest hospital and physician network in the Northeast, is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged anticompetitive behavior after some have questioned how the firm negotiates contracts with health insurers, The Boston Globe reports.

30 Apr 2010

Health law keeps 200,000 in state insurance plans instead of new high-risk pools

USA Today: About 200,000 people already enrolled in 35 state high-risk insurance pools "will not be allowed to enroll this summer in a new lower cost federal program for people like them because they already buy pricey state-run plans." In order to be eligible, "a person can't have had health coverage for six months.

30 Apr 2010

West Pharmaceutical Services reports 13.3% increase in first-quarter consolidated sales

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. today announced its results for the first quarter of 2010.

30 Apr 2010

Health insurers adopt reform changes early; WellPoint reports rising profits

Following announcements by leading health insurers that their firms would end the practice of rescission, or stripping the sick from their roles, the broader insurance industry followed suit, according to a letter from America's Health Insurance Plans to congressional Democrats, Politico reports. "The decision to end rescission … was made during a Tuesday afternoon conference call of chief executives organized by their trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans, and represents the industry's latest attempt to build political good will after the bruising health care fight."

30 Apr 2010

States crack down on discount health plans

Kaiser Health News: "State regulators are cracking down on a health care product that targets the growing group of uninsured and underinsured Americans: the discount health plan.

30 Apr 2010

CRH Medical reports 115% increase in first-quarter 2010 revenue

CRH Medical Corporation announced today unaudited results for the three months ended March 31, 2010. Total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2010 was $1,951,590 compared to $1,739,470 for the same period in 2009.

30 Apr 2010

Partisan disagreement mounts as health programs are considered by debt commission

This week's focus on the federal deficit -- at a fiscal summit that drew many major policy makers and at the opening of President Barack Obama's bipartisan debt-reduction commission -- has renewed interest in the economic effects of the new health care law, especially given Obama's remarks that everything, even that law, would be under consideration by the commission as it looks to cut the national debt.

30 Apr 2010

Study examines doctors' uncompensated daily work

The New York Times: "A new study detailing the uncompensated work burden on family doctors points to the need to change how they are paid, medical experts say — particularly as the new health care law promises to add millions more patients to the system. … Family doctors make up the embattled front line of the nation's health care system.

30 Apr 2010

Health Insurance News and Research

Some Republican states opting out of high risk health insurance pools

Research roundup: Managing nursing home patients, streamlining medical billing, financial disclosures

Federal deadline on state health insurance 'pools' sparks confrontations

Children living in kinship care experience a multitude of health issues

Mass. report on insurers' financial health provides mixed portrait

Children's health suffers when families choose between basic necessities and healthcare costs

Schwarzenegger expresses support for health law while Reid uses reform as campaign issue

HHS Secretary to host web chat to discuss impact of newly passed health insurance reform law

Gaps in delivering publicly-funded physiotherapy across Canada

BCHC questions government's commitment to defend public health care

Federal, state and local governments will need to invest more than $5 billion in health IT: INPUT

First Edition: April 30, 2010

DOJ investigating Partners HealthCare for alleged anticompetitive practices

Health law keeps 200,000 in state insurance plans instead of new high-risk pools

West Pharmaceutical Services reports 13.3% increase in first-quarter consolidated sales

Health insurers adopt reform changes early; WellPoint reports rising profits

States crack down on discount health plans

CRH Medical reports 115% increase in first-quarter 2010 revenue

Partisan disagreement mounts as health programs are considered by debt commission

Study examines doctors' uncompensated daily work

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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