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House members consider where others stand in health reform debate

As the House Democratic leadership continues to work toward moving a health overhaul measure to the floor, members continue to stake out positions - sometimes because of their personal histories or where they are from. In a few cases, the positions they have taken lead to increased attention.

19 Oct 2009

Leading Blue Dog suggests extending Medicare to uninsured

Leading Blue Dogs wrestle over options to increase coverage for the uninsured and extend Medicare. The Hill reports that Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., "who had emerged as a leader among centrist Blue Dog Democrats opposing the public health insurance option, has suggested something his colleagues consider even more drastic - opening Medicare to those under 65 without insurance. He made the suggestion in meetings with House Democratic leaders and brought the idea to the closed-door House Democratic Caucus meeting Thursday."

19 Oct 2009

Insurer's "triple-barreled assault" triggers counter attacks

A "triple-barreled" insurance industry attack on the Senate Finance Committee's health legislation - including separate reports sponsored by America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, as well as television advertisements in six states - is "a reminder that the insurance industry has enormous financial stakes in a health care overhaul and will not sit by while its interests are threatened," the New York Times reports (Seelye, 10/14).

19 Oct 2009

Also in global health news: Street pharmacies; China health care; Hospital safety; African cardinals; Cells phones for health

Agence France-Presse examines Adjegounle, the "drugs" district in Benin. Although some are able to support their families by selling drugs at "street pharmacies," a minimum of "250 deaths and 340 cases of chronic illnesses linked to such drugs were recorded between April 2007 and June 2008," according to a medical thesis, the news service writes.

19 Oct 2009

Obama: Health insurers' anti-reform efforts are 'deceptive and dishonest'

Just days before the full Senate is expected to vote on health care reform legislation, President Barack Obama ramped up his attacks on insurers.

19 Oct 2009

AHIP and AMA launch health care TV ads

America's Health Insurance Plans and the American Medical Association launch new television ads on health care.

19 Oct 2009

LTC Hotline simplifies the process of long term care insurance

LTC Hotline -- a one-stop shopping center -- promises to simplify the process of finding the right long term care policy from the right carrier at the right price. "Traditionally," says Jonas Roeser, "consumers had to meet with an agent in person, or try to compare confusing quotes from multiple carriers.

15 Oct 2009

National Women's Law Center reports how insurance industry discriminates against women

The National Women's Law Center's (NWLC) groundbreaking report "Nowhere to Turn: How the Individual Health Insurance Market Fails Women," first released in September 2008, brought to light how the insurance industry discriminates against women.

15 Oct 2009

Health reform bill approved by finance panel, Snowe sides with Democrats

Kaiser Health News staff writers Eric Pianin and Mary Agnes Carey report on yesterday's Senate Finance Committee action.

15 Oct 2009

Pervasive Integration provides cost-effective data integration solution to healthcare companies

Pervasive Software Inc., a global value leader in embeddable data management and agile data integration software, is providing the flexible, cost-effective data integration required for challenging, increasingly regulated healthcare IT environments.

15 Oct 2009

Illness for uninsured adults in the United States nearing retirement age spells financial disaster: Study

For the more than four million uninsured adults in the United States nearing retirement age, a serious illness often spells financial disaster, according to a recent study.

15 Oct 2009

Unions run newspaper ad to critizice Finance Committee bill

Unions largely oppose the bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday.

15 Oct 2009

Federal money for COBRA has helped many but may soon end

Keeping health care after being laid off from a job is a serious concern for many people. COBRA is a health insurance program that allows people to temporarily continue their coverage, although the worker must pick up the cost of the plan. "That price, however, is one that all but a fraction of laid-off workers find much too high.

15 Oct 2009

Insurers' report backlash: Unified Dems, angry White House, dissenting experts

The insurance industry's study on the effects of health reform has incensed Democrats, given reformers a rallying point and inspired a wave of zippy one-liners in news reports.

15 Oct 2009

Medicaid enrollments jump but states are trying to cut costs

Several states are noting significant increases in Medicaid enrollment, even as they look to find ways to create savings in the programs.

15 Oct 2009

Reid: Repeal "damaging" antitrust exemptions for insurers

Leading Senate Democrats moved today to repeal a law protecting insurers from antitrust taboos in the wake of an industry-sponsored report that condemned a key reform proposal, the New York Times reports. Testifying before the Judiciary Committee as a witness, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said, "Providing an exemption for insurance companies to antitrust laws has been anticompetitive and damaging to the American economy."

15 Oct 2009

Interest groups campaign against proposed health taxes

"Insurance companies, unions, medical device makers and others in the health care industry are furiously lobbying lawmakers to shift burdens onto someone else — anyone else — before they find themselves saddled with billions of dollars in taxes under new health care legislation," The Associated Press reports.

15 Oct 2009