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North Carolina mental health parity law comes into effect

North Carolina health care insurers must provide the same amount of coverage for certain mental conditions as they do for physical ailments under a state law that took effect on Tuesday, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

3 Jul 2008

Costs pose challenge to Massachusetts health insurance law one year after deadline for residents to obtain coverage

One year after the deadline for Massachusetts residents to obtain health coverage under the state's health insurance law, the percentage of uninsured has declined but the law "still faces a huge challenge: costs," USA Today reports.

2 Jul 2008

Bush Administration to temporarily keep Medicare physician payment rates at current levels after congress fails to pass legislation to delay scheduled cut

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Friday said that the agency will maintain the current Medicare payment rate for physicians because Congress was unable to pass legislation to avert a 10.6% cut scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday before lawmakers left for the Fourth of July recess, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, congressional aides said the freeze to payment rates could last 10 days (Kane, Washington Post, 6/28).

2 Jul 2008

Old order Amish, Mennonites reject health insurance, face high costs for care at not-for-profit hospitals

Old Order Amish and Mennonites in Lancaster County, Pa., "suffer from endemic proportions of certain deadly genetic diseases" because they do not marry outside their communities, and, as they "seek lifesaving treatments, the uninsured in these Pennsylvania communities are struggling with escalating costs of care" at not-for-profit hospitals, the Wall Street Journal reports.

2 Jul 2008

House votes 355-59 to approve legislation that would delay Medicare physician fee cut

The House on Tuesday voted 355-59 to approve legislation (HR 6331) that would delay for 18 months a 10.6% reduction to Medicare physician fees scheduled to take effect on July 1, among other provisions, the Washington Post reports (Kane, Washington Post, 6/25).

26 Jun 2008

Mailing error left 16,000 Commonwealth Care beneficiaries unaware of coverage cancellation, how to appeal decisions

Massachusetts state officials on Monday said a mailing glitch last month left 16,000 residents without proper notice that they could lose their health coverage under Commonwealth Care and information about how to appeal the decision, the Boston Globe reports.

26 Jun 2008

Study examines impact of poor, uninsured patients' race in terms of reporting racism in their health care

A new study in Health Services Research tried to disentangle the impact of a patient's racial and ethnic background, being poor and having no health insurance on the likelihood they would report having experienced racial or ethnic bias in the healthcare they received.

26 Jun 2008

Few employers addressing employees' obesity despite increasing costs

Obesity rates in the U.S. are driving up costs for employers that provide health insurance to workers, but few companies have introduced programs intended to curb the trend, the New York Times reports.

25 Jun 2008

Future of Medicare at stake in Presidential election, opinion piece states

"At stake in the presidential election is whether we will all need to consult lobbyists to have our medical issues heard by a remote, bureaucratic Medicare program," Scott Gottlieb, a former CMS official and an American Enterprise Institute fellow, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

24 Jun 2008

Reps. Barton, Dingell to introduce legislation that aims to spur nationwide adoption of electronic health records

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) and ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas) on Tuesday plan to introduce a bill that would promote the adoption of a nationwide electronic health record system, CongressDaily reports.

24 Jun 2008

Lack of health insurance for many U.S. residents 'merely a symptom' of larger problem with costs, according to opinion piece

The major presidential candidates have "talked frequently" about proposals to expand health insurance to more U.S. residents but have failed to "recognize that lack of coverage is merely a symptom of a larger problem: the high cost of medical care," Dwight Bartlett, a former Social Security Administration chief actuary and a former Maryland insurance commissioner, writes in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece.

24 Jun 2008

Montana measure to expand SCHIP, Medicaid eligibility to be included on November ballot

Montana State Auditor John Morrison on Tuesday said an initiative to expand SCHIP and Medicaid coverage to as many as 30,000 additional uninsured children will be placed on the state's November ballot, the Missoulian reports.

24 Jun 2008

San Francisco Chronicle examines health insurance claim denials

The San Francisco Chronicle on Monday examined how "[e]ach year, thousands of Californians find themselves at odds with their health insurers over whether they, as patients, should get the treatment their doctors prescribed."

24 Jun 2008

Kaiser Daily Health Policy report feature highlights recent blog posts

While mainstream news coverage is still a primary source of information for the latest in policy debates and the health care marketplace, online blogs have become a significant part of the media landscape, often presenting new perspectives on policy issues and drawing attention to under-reported topics.

17 Jun 2008

Insurers often improperly reimburse physicians, adding $200 billion annually to U.S. health care costs, AMA report finds

Insurers' failure to properly process and reimburse physicians costs the U.S. $200 billion annually, according to a report released on Monday by the American Medical Association, the Los Angeles Times reports.

17 Jun 2008

Connecticut Governor vetoes health care bill that would have expanded State employee health insurance plan

Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell (R) on Friday vetoed legislation that would have allowed municipalities and small businesses to join the state's health insurance plan, the Hartford Courant reports.

17 Jun 2008

Lower incomes and lower education levels tied to higher death rates after heart attack

Researchers have long suspected that socioeconomic factors like education level and income also might affect survival rates following heart attack.

17 Jun 2008

Massachusetts health insurance law of 2006 working, but challenges lie ahead, NYT editorial states

The "real test" of the 2006 Massachusetts health insurance law will come this year when higher penalties are levied on those who remain uninsured and the state determines "whether coverage can really be made mandatory without sparking political resistance," the New York Times writes in an editorial.

17 Jun 2008

Newspapers highlight health care, economic proposals of Presidential candidates Obama, McCain

In broader pieces on the economy and taxes, two newspapers recently addressed parts of the health care proposals of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

17 Jun 2008

Gingrich outlines proposal to address health care costs

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) on Wednesday in Omaha, Neb., outlined a proposal to help reduce health care costs that includes a health insurance mandate for U.S. residents with annual incomes more than $75,000, the AP/Lincoln Journal Star reports.

17 Jun 2008

Health Insurance News and Research

North Carolina mental health parity law comes into effect

Costs pose challenge to Massachusetts health insurance law one year after deadline for residents to obtain coverage

Bush Administration to temporarily keep Medicare physician payment rates at current levels after congress fails to pass legislation to delay scheduled cut

Old order Amish, Mennonites reject health insurance, face high costs for care at not-for-profit hospitals

House votes 355-59 to approve legislation that would delay Medicare physician fee cut

Mailing error left 16,000 Commonwealth Care beneficiaries unaware of coverage cancellation, how to appeal decisions

Study examines impact of poor, uninsured patients' race in terms of reporting racism in their health care

Few employers addressing employees' obesity despite increasing costs

Future of Medicare at stake in Presidential election, opinion piece states

Reps. Barton, Dingell to introduce legislation that aims to spur nationwide adoption of electronic health records

Lack of health insurance for many U.S. residents 'merely a symptom' of larger problem with costs, according to opinion piece

Montana measure to expand SCHIP, Medicaid eligibility to be included on November ballot

San Francisco Chronicle examines health insurance claim denials

Kaiser Daily Health Policy report feature highlights recent blog posts

Insurers often improperly reimburse physicians, adding $200 billion annually to U.S. health care costs, AMA report finds

Connecticut Governor vetoes health care bill that would have expanded State employee health insurance plan

Lower incomes and lower education levels tied to higher death rates after heart attack

Massachusetts health insurance law of 2006 working, but challenges lie ahead, NYT editorial states

Newspapers highlight health care, economic proposals of Presidential candidates Obama, McCain

Gingrich outlines proposal to address health care costs

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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