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New survey highlights health insurance gaps faced by poor

According to the Commonwealth Fund, low-income adults who were surveyed were less likely to have insurance and to receive medical care including preventive screenings.

8 Feb 2012

Opponents argue the health law 'went too far'

Briefs filed by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business argue that Congress overstepped its constitutional authority when it mandated that individuals buy health insurance or pay a penalty.

8 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: Komen's retreat; Romney's selected support of Medicare cuts; Heritage refuses blame for individual mandate

A group like Komen only has the quality service it provides and goodwill garnered over the years to encourage donations and support. Its trademark pink is not as bold as before. For the moment, it seems drab and faded.

6 Feb 2012

HCA fourth quarter revenues increase 8.5% to $7.769 billion

HCA Holdings, Inc. today announced financial and operating results for the year and fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011. HCA also today announced that its Board of Directors approved a special cash dividend of $2.00 per share to be paid to shareholders of record as of February 16, 2012 with a payment date of February 29, 2012.

6 Feb 2012

USCCB responds to Feb. 2 post on the White House blog

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued the following response to the February 2 post on the White House blog.

6 Feb 2012

State developments: Florida hospitals dodge budget bullet

Spending cuts to health programs will be less than half as much as forecast in the Senate budget, that chamber's health-spending chief announced today. Now, the Senate Subcommittee on Health and Human Services Appropriations will have to cut only $390 million from current spending levels, rather than the more-draconian $850 million that had originally been assigned, said Sen. Joe Negron, chair of the panel.

6 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: Komen takes a lashing; Is the safety net really intact?; Romney assails HHS' rule on contraception

With its roster of corporate sponsors and the pink ribbons that lend a halo to almost any kind of product you can think of, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation has a longstanding reputation as a staunch protector of women's health. That reputation suffered a grievous, perhaps mortal, wound this week from the news that Komen, the world's largest breast cancer organization, decided to betray that mission.

5 Feb 2012

House votes to repeal CLASS Act — A part of the 2010 health law

The GOP-led push to repeal this long-term care insurance program, which the Obama administration already made clear it would not implement, drew some Democratic votes. During floor speeches, Republican lawmakers cast it as a barrier to achieving a real reform.

3 Feb 2012

Uproar follows Komen-Planned Parenthood rift

Anti-abortion activists applaud the move, but many other women's health advocates are angered the well-known breast cancer advocacy group has opted against helping another prominent women's health organization.

3 Feb 2012

Hinchingbrooke Hospital privatization – a first in UK healthcare

Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire becomes the first NHS hospital to be run entirely by a private company called Circle. This new company is co-owned by its employees. The new administration has taken on the previous debt and it intends to make the hospital into one of the top ten in the country.

2 Feb 2012

Patients' financial health put at risk by costs of some medical treatments

A New Jersey newspaper explores how medical costs put patients at financial risk. Also, the NewsHour explores the future of health care, offering alternative scenarios about how policy decisions, political outcomes and technology might play into an individual's health.

2 Feb 2012

Religious protests continue in response to Obama administration birth control rule

The White House continues to defend its new insurance coverage rule, which requires religiously affiliated nonprofit groups to provide free birth control coverage to women. Also in the news, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is considered to be on the GOP short list for vice president, introduced legislation Tuesday that would vastly expand the opt-out ability of religious or faith-based employers.

2 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: Debt estimates and Medicare plans; Sen. McConnell on fate of health law

Debt projections released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office illustrate three fiscal paths: dangerous, dumb and smart. ... President Obama has called for a balanced solution but has neither proposed serious tax reform nor adequately outlined the ways in which he would get entitlement spending, particularly Medicare, under control. The position of most Republicans, on the presidential campaign trail and in Congress, is wildly less responsible.

2 Feb 2012

House to vote today to wipe CLASS Act off the books

Though the Obama administration has made clear that it is not proceeding with efforts to implement this long-term care insurance program, the White House and most Democrats are still opposed to its repeal.

2 Feb 2012

Medicaid: Wis. program facing $141 million shortfall

Supporters of a proposed Connecticut health plan for poor adults say it should be implemented soon to help support state efforts to expand coverage under the federal health law in 2014. Also, a report in Wisconsin finds that the Medicaid program will run short of funds over the next year and a half.

2 Feb 2012

GOP presidential hopefuls make final pitches to Florida primary voters

Among the campaign issues are the parallels between the federal health overhaul and the Massachusetts law former Gov. Mitt Romney signed and Newt Gingrich's support of the individual mandate.

1 Feb 2012

State roundup: Iowa reconsiders lawmakers' benefits

Two bills introduced in the Iowa House last week would curtail benefits for lawmakers. ... House File 2118 also removes per diem and daily allowances from inclusion in lawmakers' pension calculations, but also requires members and employees of the General Assembly to pay a portion of their health-insurance premiums. That premium payment would have to be at least $100 a month.

1 Feb 2012

The health care sector and jobs creation

News reports reflect significant activity within the health industry – some highlighting job creation, some reflecting employment reductions.

1 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: Contraceptive controversy; Revising mental health definitions

It was good news that the Obama administration withstood pressure from Roman Catholic bishops and social conservatives to deny contraceptive coverage for millions of American women who work for religiously affiliated employers. Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services secretary, rejected broad exemptions from a new rule requiring all health plans to cover birth control, without a deductible or co-payment.

31 Jan 2012

Obama administration lawyers file brief in support of health law

The Obama administration told the Supreme Court on Friday that nearly all of President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul can survive if the court declares unconstitutional the law's centerpiece provision requiring health coverage. Administration attorneys argued in a written brief that all but two provisions can be separated from the requirement that Americans buy health insurance or pay a penalty by 2014, the law's cornerstone known as the individual mandate.

31 Jan 2012