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Pelosi relationship with Obama strained, Sen. Kyl and Wyden see hope for bipartisanship

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's relationship with President Barack Obama is becoming strained over roadblocks Democrats are seeing on legislation and the treatment some Democrats view as "cavalier" from the White House, Politico reports. "For months, the California lawmaker has been pushing Obama hard in private while praising him in public. But now she's being more open in her criticism, in part because she feels the White House was wrong — in the wake of the Democrats' loss in Massachusetts — to push the Senate health care bill on the House when she knew there was no way it would pass.

15 Feb 2010

Polls: People like their own insurance but want reform, heart patients' cost worries

Lancaster Online: "Most Americans who have health insurance are pleased with their coverage, a new national Franklin & Marshall College poll shows. But many of those same people are worried about those who can't afford insurance, and overwhelmingly believe the health care system needs to be reformed, according to a survey of 920 adults. ... The survey found that 75 percent of Americans who have insurance rate their coverage as good or very good — the same percentage who believe the health-care system is in need of reform.

15 Feb 2010

Administration rejects Anthem Blue Cross' defense of premium hike

WellPoint Inc., the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross of California, is defending its rate hike for customers with individual health insurance, but critics, including the Obama administration, are dubious.

15 Feb 2010

Both parties see benefit of selling insurance across state lines, but they disagree on how to do it

With efforts to pass a national health care bill at a stalemate in Washington, two newspaper explore some of the options. The New York Times reports: "As Republicans and Democrats claim to be searching for common ground in the health care debate, one idea that lawmakers on both sides seem to agree on is that health insurance should be sold across state lines.

14 Feb 2010

Anthem Blue Cross postpones California rate hike

The Los Angeles Times: - "Under pressure from state regulators, Anthem Blue Cross has agreed to postpone its controversial rate increases of up to 39% for individual health insurance policies set for March 1. In an unusual conference call, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said Anthem executives told him Saturday morning that its March rate hike would not take effect before May 1 for 800,000 individual policyholders in the state" (Lifsher, 2/13).

14 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 12, 2010

Today's headlines highlight the continuing flap over Anthem Blue Cross' planned rate hike as well as GOP and Democratic responses to President Obama's proposed health summit.

12 Feb 2010

MSNJ participates in multi-payer health care common portal project

Health plans today launched a landmark initiative to make delivering and getting health care easier for patients and their physicians by reducing the time, effort, and expense for the "paperwork" required for each patient office visit. The initiative, which will simplify information flow between health plans and doctors' offices, and between health plans and hospitals, is comparable to what ATMs did for banks and consumers.

12 Feb 2010

PAN to provide co-payment assistance for medications to underinsured patients through five new funds

Patient Access Network Foundation will expand its services to provide co-payment assistance for medications to underinsured patients through five new funds -- including grants of up to $10,000 per year for prostate cancer patients.

12 Feb 2010

Harris Interactive poll: Half of U.S. adults want major reform in healthcare system

A new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll finds that reducing unemployment and creating new jobs are clearly considered the top immediate priorities for President Obama and Congress, but healthcare reform is still important. Half of U.S. adults say it will be a “bad thing” if there is no major reform of the healthcare system in the next two years.

12 Feb 2010

HHS Secretary issues statement after receiving letter from WellPoint

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued the following statement after receiving a letter from WellPoint Incorporated. The letter came after Sebelius called on Anthem Blue Cross to publicly justify its decision to raise premiums for its California customers by as much as 39 percent. WellPoint Incorporated is the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross and earned $2.7 billion in the last quarter of 2009.

12 Feb 2010

AHA survey: Heart disease and stroke patients fare poorly under current health care system

A new American Heart Association survey substantiates that the need for health care reform has not gone away. Many heart disease and stroke patients are faring poorly under the current health care system, with nearly two-thirds citing affordability as the top concern of those suffering from cardiovascular disease.

12 Feb 2010

Survivors of medical malpractice oppose additional "tort reforms" in health insurance reform bill

A group of medical malpractice survivors, many with family members who have died or were severely injured as a result of medical negligence, today sent letters to President Obama and the Congressional leadership urging them to keep additional "tort reforms" out of the health insurance reform bill. They said that responding to pressure from the insurance and medical lobbies to limit patients' legal rights would be a "tragic mistake."

12 Feb 2010

Kaiser Permanente approves 500 grants and donations totaling $90M in fourth-quarter of 2009

Kaiser Permanente, one of America's leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans, announced today it approved 500 grants and donations nationwide totaling $90 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. In total, Kaiser Permanente approved $170 million in grants and donations to support efforts to keep people healthy during these tough economic times.

12 Feb 2010

States push for insurers to increase coverage

States tackle several health care policy issues focused on health insurance coverage mandates and requirements.

12 Feb 2010

Mass. Gov. seeks greater authority to attack health costs

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick asked the state legislature to grant his administration broad new authority to "review and reject" excessive rates charged by medical providers in hopes of curbing costs and making health care more affordable, The Boston Globe reports. Under a bill filed Wednesday by Patrick, the rates that "hospitals and other health providers charge insurers would be 'presumptively disapproved as excessive' if they increased faster than the level of medical inflation, and they could be rejected after a public hearing."

12 Feb 2010

Medicaid and other state programs face questions about fraud, other difficulties

The state's Medicaid Fraud Division said two state agencies, the Health Department and Human Services Department that administer the Medicaid program, "'filtered' and 'sanitized' information and documents requested by investigators, hindering numerous investigations." The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wil investigate the allegations (Furlow, 2/10).

12 Feb 2010

Health companies criticized for deceptive marketing while Anthem rate hikes continue to draw attention

"Minnesota's attorney general on Wednesday sued two Texas companies she said falsely represented their discounted health care plans as medical insurance to thousands of customers," The Associated Press/Washington Post report.

11 Feb 2010

Calif. budget cuts will hit adult day care centers, prison health care; Texas and Kansas weigh Medicaid cuts

Under the most recent cost-saving budget proposals, 327 adult day healthcare centers throughout California would be eliminated. Cuts could save the state $135 million in fiscal 2011, state projections show.

11 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 11, 2010

Today's headlines raise interesting questions for health reform, including whether Sen. Judd Gregg can play an important role in finding bipartisanship.

11 Feb 2010

MHQP: Massachusetts primary care physicians achieve measurable improvements in health care quality

Massachusetts primary care physicians continue to achieve measurable improvements in important aspects of health care quality as reported by Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP). Today, the organization released its sixth annual Quality Insights: Clinical Quality in Primary Care report, comparing the performance of more than 150 medical groups across the state.

11 Feb 2010

Health Insurance News and Research

Pelosi relationship with Obama strained, Sen. Kyl and Wyden see hope for bipartisanship

Polls: People like their own insurance but want reform, heart patients' cost worries

Administration rejects Anthem Blue Cross' defense of premium hike

Both parties see benefit of selling insurance across state lines, but they disagree on how to do it

Anthem Blue Cross postpones California rate hike

First Edition: February 12, 2010

MSNJ participates in multi-payer health care common portal project

PAN to provide co-payment assistance for medications to underinsured patients through five new funds

Harris Interactive poll: Half of U.S. adults want major reform in healthcare system

HHS Secretary issues statement after receiving letter from WellPoint

AHA survey: Heart disease and stroke patients fare poorly under current health care system

Survivors of medical malpractice oppose additional "tort reforms" in health insurance reform bill

Kaiser Permanente approves 500 grants and donations totaling $90M in fourth-quarter of 2009

States push for insurers to increase coverage

Mass. Gov. seeks greater authority to attack health costs

Medicaid and other state programs face questions about fraud, other difficulties

Health companies criticized for deceptive marketing while Anthem rate hikes continue to draw attention

Calif. budget cuts will hit adult day care centers, prison health care; Texas and Kansas weigh Medicaid cuts

First Edition: February 11, 2010

MHQP: Massachusetts primary care physicians achieve measurable improvements in health care quality

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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