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Hispanics more likely to lack health care coverage

Hispanics in smaller, more rural communities have greater barriers in accessing care than do Hispanics in larger communities, according to a report released on Thursday by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, the Bradenton Herald reports.

26 Sep 2006

Workers often turn to managers for information on consumer-driven health insurance plans

The Wall Street Journal on Monday examined how, although consumer-driven health plans have "motivated some workers to research what they are paying for medical care," the "employees' research often consists of going" to their managers for help.

26 Sep 2006

Call for examination of tax breaks for employer-based health insurance

The problem with the U.S. health care system is that it gives "the biggest tax breaks for employer-provided insurance to those in the highest brackets" and makes "everyone over 65 eligible for taxpayer-funded medical care regardless of financial need and, more insidiously, regardless of past opportunity to save," columnist Holman Jenkins writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

26 Sep 2006

Health insurers in Florida rank lower

Health insurers in Florida rank lower on a series of quality measures compared with insurance companies in other parts of the country, according to a report released on Monday by the Florida Health Care Coalition, the Miami Herald reports. FHCC -- a coalition of Florida employers including Macy's, county governments and school boards -- studied the state's six largest insurers.

22 Sep 2006

Hispanics in 'new growth communities' face greater barriers to health care

22 Sep 2006

Senate majority leader Frist hopes to hold vote on revised 'Association Health Plan Bill' this month

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) this month hopes to hold a floor vote on a revised version of a bill (S 1995) that would allow small businesses and trade associations to form association health plans across state lines, according to a Frist spokesperson, CongressDaily reports.

20 Sep 2006

More states allow older children to remain on parents' health plans

A "growing number of states" have extended the time children can remain on their parents' health insurance plans out of concern "that a healthy -- and profitable -- segment of the population is dropping out of the insurance pool," the New York Times reports.

20 Sep 2006

House panel passes bill to require electronic health records for FEHBP members

The House Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization on Wednesday passed a bill (HR 4859) that would authorize the Office of Personnel Management to require health insurers to establish two forms of electronic health records for the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, CongressDaily reports.

18 Sep 2006

Most working adults shopping for individual insurance turned down or found it too costly

Of working-age U.S. residents who sought individual health coverage in the last three years, 89% were rejected for medical reasons or felt that the available plans were unaffordable, according to a study released last week by the Commonwealth Fund, the Los Angeles Times reports.

18 Sep 2006

Michigan Bills introduced that would require girls to receive HPV vaccine before sixth grade

Michigan Sen. Beverly Hammerstrom (R) last Tuesday introduced two bills (SB 1416, SB 1417) that would require girls in the state entering the sixth grade in the 2007-2008 school year and beyond to have received Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil, the Detroit News reports.

18 Sep 2006

Congressional action on Medicare physician reimbursements unlikely before election

William Hoagland, the top budget aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), on Tuesday told health insurance industry officials that Congress likely will address a scheduled 5.1% reduction in Medicare physician reimbursements this year but not until after the midterm election, CQ HealthBeat reports.

14 Sep 2006

Federal Government involvement needed to ease costs for college graduates

"To help young adults transition from their parents' insurance policies to their own, we need to make health coverage more affordable. Government-sponsored reinsurance could make that happen," economist Katherine Swartz, an author and a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, writes in a Boston Globe opinion piece.

14 Sep 2006

Medicare Part B premiums to rise 5.6% next year

The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B in 2007 will increase to $93.50 from $88.50, CMS Administrator Mark McClellan announced on Tuesday, the Washington Post reports.

14 Sep 2006

Life expectancy in the U.S. - differences

U.S residents in eight groups based on geography, income and race have significant differences in life expectancy, according to a study published on Monday in the journal PloS Medicine, USA Today reports (Sternberg, USA Today, 9/12).

13 Sep 2006

Department of Justice joins Whistleblower lawsuit alleging overcharging by drug company Dey

The Department of Justice on Monday joined a whistleblower lawsuit filed against California-based Dey, a generic medication division of Germany-based Merck KGaA, over allegations that the company inflated prices reported to federal health insurance programs, the Boston Globe reports.

13 Sep 2006

Four largest Massachusetts insurers plan double-digit premium increases for 2007

The four largest health insurers in Massachusetts -- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Health Plan and Fallon Community Health Plan -- in 2007 are expected for most of their insurance options to raise premiums by at least 10% for the seventh consecutive year, the Boston Globe reports.

13 Sep 2006

Geographic data on health inequities

Life expectancy in the United States shows some remarkable variations - from place to place, and between races.

12 Sep 2006

Surveys show most pharmacists, doctors believe Medicare Drug Benefit helps patients, though most think it is too complicated

Most pharmacists and physicians believe that the Medicare prescription drug benefit has helped beneficiaries save money on their medications but also believe that the program is overly complex, according to two surveys released on Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

11 Sep 2006

'Plenty of time' to pass final health care IT Bill, Rep. Deal says

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health Chair Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) on Thursday said Congress has "plenty of time" prior to midterm elections to pass legislation that would promote the implementation of health care information technology, CQ HealthBeat reports (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 9/7).

11 Sep 2006

Mexico's health system reforms working

Julio Frenk, Minister of Health of Mexico, outlines the results of the country's 6-year project of health system reform in a Public Health article in this week's issue of The Lancet.

7 Sep 2006

Health Insurance News and Research

Hispanics more likely to lack health care coverage

Workers often turn to managers for information on consumer-driven health insurance plans

Call for examination of tax breaks for employer-based health insurance

Health insurers in Florida rank lower

Hispanics in 'new growth communities' face greater barriers to health care

Senate majority leader Frist hopes to hold vote on revised 'Association Health Plan Bill' this month

More states allow older children to remain on parents' health plans

House panel passes bill to require electronic health records for FEHBP members

Most working adults shopping for individual insurance turned down or found it too costly

Michigan Bills introduced that would require girls to receive HPV vaccine before sixth grade

Congressional action on Medicare physician reimbursements unlikely before election

Federal Government involvement needed to ease costs for college graduates

Medicare Part B premiums to rise 5.6% next year

Life expectancy in the U.S. - differences

Department of Justice joins Whistleblower lawsuit alleging overcharging by drug company Dey

Four largest Massachusetts insurers plan double-digit premium increases for 2007

Geographic data on health inequities

Surveys show most pharmacists, doctors believe Medicare Drug Benefit helps patients, though most think it is too complicated

'Plenty of time' to pass final health care IT Bill, Rep. Deal says

Mexico's health system reforms working

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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