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eHealth record system a step closer

The introduction of a national eHealth record systems appears to be progressing with delegates at the Australian Health Ministers' Conference agreeing to establishing a secure national system.

15 Jul 2009

KHN's Eric Pianin discusses the House health overhaul bill

House Democrats released their health care reform bill called "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009." Kaiser Health News Correspondent Eric Pianin discussed the bill with Jackie Judd.

15 Jul 2009

House Democrats unveil 1,000 page health bill, complete with surtaxes on wealthy

"House Democrats unveiled ambitious legislation Tuesday to remake the nation's health care system and called on medical providers, businesses and the wealthiest Americans to pick up the tab for President Barack Obama's top domestic priority," the Associated Press reports.

15 Jul 2009

Details emerge as House Democrats plan to release health bill

"House Democrats are preparing on Tuesday afternoon to unveil a full draft of their sweeping health care legislation, including an income surtax on the country's highest wage-earners to help pay the 10-year, roughly $1 trillion cost of the measure," the New York Times reports.

15 Jul 2009

House Democrats to unveil health care bill details

"After a series of false starts, House Democrats are finally expected to unveil the details of a sweeping reform measure on Tuesday that would drastically revamp the country's health care system," Politico reports.

15 Jul 2009

Support for health overhaul slipping

A USA Today/Gallup Poll found that "most Americans say it's important to overhaul health care this year," but "they are less enthusiastic about some of the proposals to pay for it," USA Today reports.

15 Jul 2009

Debate surrounds Federal system that rates nursing homes

A new federal rating system to track quality gives nursing homes mixed reviews. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Nursing Home Compare Web site, which compares the nation's 15,600 homes. There were complaints that the old site was unmanageable.

15 Jul 2009

Divisions emerge among Democrat lawmakers, business groups

As the health care debate intensifies, divisions among lawmakers, competing lobbies and interest groups are increasingly tense.

15 Jul 2009

Republicans test public plan supporters' will

Congressional Republicans are pushing an idea unlikely to garner much traction that would force members of Congress who vote for a government-run public plan for health insurance coverage to enroll in it, Politico reports.

15 Jul 2009

Senate panel looks to health insurers for health savings

"U.S. health insurers were in talks with the Senate Finance Committee Monday to discuss how to save the Medicare program $100 billion over a decade, a source familiar with the talks said," Reuters reports.

14 Jul 2009

Investigation finds problem nurses stay on job amid nursing shortage

A new market emerges for special end-of-life care that is inpatient and offers quiet rooms, home-like settings and high-tech alternatives.

14 Jul 2009

Philadelphia area increases inpatient hospice care

A new market emerges for special end-of-life care that is inpatient and offers quiet rooms, home-like settings and high-tech alternatives.

14 Jul 2009

Lobbying groups prepare for reconciliation process, step up fight on bill features

Lobbyists are beginning to consider how their clients would fare if health reform moves to a reconciliation process to pass legislation, Roll Call reports.

14 Jul 2009

Federal program cracks down on Medicare fraud in Houston

A federal program targets Medicare fraud in the Houston area as news of three cases representing at least $35 million in false claims emerged within the past week.

14 Jul 2009

Health reform stalled in Congress by busy schedule, divided lawmakers

"Lawmakers from both parties are telling the White House they will go on vacation next month and leave behind - and incomplete - President Barack Obama's health care overhaul," the Associated Press reports. The White House had long pushed lawmakers to complete their proposal by the recess, a target that now appears unlikely.

14 Jul 2009

For doctors in Congress, little harmony on health care

"In the struggle to overhaul the nation's health care system, 16 physicians have ended up in ringside seats - as members of the House and Senate. But they have taken different lessons from their experiences in medicine, and they do not agree on what a bill should look like," The New York Times reports.

14 Jul 2009

Australian national health system on the waiting list

Any hope of a truly national health system as promised by Kevin Rudd in the run up to the last election now appears to have stalled, at least for the time being.

13 Jul 2009

Senate weighs new taxes to fund reform

"Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) presented his members Thursday with more than a dozen ways to pay for health care legislation, ranging from new fees on industry to an income-tax hike on couples making more than $1 million a year," Politico reports.

12 Jul 2009

New Medicare data compare hospitals based on readmissions

New data regarding hospital readmission rates have emerged "amid a national debate over how to reduce" these numbers, "which cost the federal government billions of dollars a year in Medicare reimbursements," the New York Times reports.

12 Jul 2009

Twenty people arrested in California Medicaid fraud case

Twenty people in California were arrested on Thursday "in a $4.6-million Medi-Cal fraud scheme that law enforcement officials allege used unlicensed individuals to provide in-home nursing care for disabled patients," The Los Angeles Times reports.

12 Jul 2009