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Health Reform news: Grandfather clause could mean some lose benefits

Kaiser Health News: Millions of people could end up losing some benefits of the new health law because of the interpretation of "grandfathered."

11 May 2010

Lawmakers continue to feel the pinch of health reform politics while SEIU has a new president

Politico: New Mexico Democrat Rep. Harry Teague dropped his employer-based health coverage for his employees at Cavaloz Energy as the debate over health care reform surged in Congress.

11 May 2010

Nurse fatigue and patient safety

A disturbing report highlighting the extent to which nurses across the country are experiencing fatigue on the job points to the need for changes in the workplace to ensure patient safety isn't compromised.

11 May 2010

Overhaul will bring changes, improve quality for Medicare Advantage plans

The Wall Street Journal: "Over the next 10 years, the new health-care law will divert some $132 billion from Medicare Advantage, according to a recent report by George Washington University's Department of Health Policy. This has sparked concern that these plans may reduce benefits, raise premiums, or both. But the impact is likely to vary from plan to plan.

11 May 2010

Massachusetts fighting to control health costs

"Bake sales saved the nonprofit Athol Memorial Hospital the first time around, Steve Penka says with a smile. Eleven years later, it took a big Tennessee-based, for-profit hospital chain to keep it in business," the (Worcester, Mass.) Telegram & Gazette reports. In light of a recent report by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's office, many are surprised Athol is around at all.

11 May 2010

Consumers, officials work to sort out new health law

For at least one state, implementing health reform is starting to appear easier said than done. The Daily Record, a Baltimore legal newspaper, reports, "Maryland's new Health Care Reform Coordinating Council held its first meeting last week, resolving to find the best way to implement provisions of the landmark federal health care overhaul.

11 May 2010

Rhetoric heats up between insurers and lawmakers

Politico: "Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) is scolding the nations' health insurance companies for 'gaming' the new health care law and is pushing the administration and states to impose stringent controls under the law on industry expenditures for non-medical purposes. Saying the industry had turned its focus from opposing the law to influencing its implementation, Rockefeller said he was 'extremely concerned that the health insurance industry is mounting an all-out effort to weaken' the law.

11 May 2010

Free health clinics still drawing large crowds in cities across U.S.

Parade: A series of no-cost health care clinics are making their way across America. In Atlanta 1,050 volunteers gave their time to serve uninsured Americans who needed medical care. "The Atlanta mega-clinic was the sixth in a series that began in September. (The first was held in Houston in partnership with TV talk-show host and cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz.)

11 May 2010

Behavioral economics tested in new health law

The new health law contains "many opportunities to nudge people toward better health choices. … 'In healthcare, for years and years and years there's been an interest in changing provider and consumer behavior,'" says Stanford professor Alan Garber. "What's new is that money is flowing into research on behavioral economics, and the government is getting involved, Garber and others said.

10 May 2010

Hospital operator HCA plans to offer $4.6 billion IPO

HCA Inc., the nation's biggest hospital operator by number of facilities, filed plans last week for a $4.6 billion initial public offering as it "looks to return to the public markets," The Wall Street Journal reports.

10 May 2010

Today's Opinions: The need for federal review of rate increases; Dems and GOP share blame for health costs; A phoney deal on Medicaid

This hodgepodge of controls over premiums needs to be backstopped by a national law that would allow the federal government to block unjustified rate increases where state officials lack the authority to do so. Attempts to include such powers in the newly enacted health care reform law failed (5/9).

10 May 2010

Companies get help to insure early retirees

Reporting for Kaiser Health News and USA Today, KHN staff writer Christopher Weaver reports: "The White House unveiled details last week of a $5 billion program to provide financial relief to companies that offer health coverage to early retirees.

10 May 2010

Eisai enters Canadian pharmaceutical market

Eisai Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Eisai Co., Ltd. today announces the establishment of Eisai Limited in Canada, the world's ninth largest pharmaceutical market. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eisai Inc., Eisai Limited will be based in Mississauga, Ontario, one of the largest biopharmaceutical clusters and medical communities in North America.

10 May 2010

ACM receives Health Utilization Management Accreditation from URAC

Akeso Care Management®, Inc. (ACM®) announced today that it has been awarded Health Utilization Management Accreditation by URAC, a leading health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry. ACM provides medical management services to domestic and international insurance carriers, self-insured employers and third party administrators.

10 May 2010

CFMG to adopt eClinicalWorks EMR system

eClinicalWorks®, a market leader in ambulatory clinical systems, today announced that California Forensic Medical Group (CFMG), which provides health care to correctional facilities in 25 counties in the state, has selected eClinicalWorks electronic medical records (EMR) system. Using eClinicalWorks will allow the group to streamline operations and improve the quality of care provided through reporting capabilities and the ability to share data across the counties. This will help in the continuity of care for inmates.

10 May 2010

First Edition: May 10, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include the feature coverage of aspects of health reform implementation, including how "gradfathering" will be defined in regulations and the latest details on the early retiree reinsurance program.

10 May 2010

Parents, young adult children eagerly await health insurance expansion

The provision of the new health law that allows young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plan is in the news.

10 May 2010

$Free online fracture-risk calculator$

Free online fracture-risk calculator

FRAX- is a free online fracture-risk calculator (http://www.shef.ac.uk/FRAX/) that has been developed by the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases at the University of Sheffield, UK. More and more physicians around the world are using the tool as an aid in making informed treatment decisions in the course of a clinical assessment of their patients.

10 May 2010

Costs and quality of cancer care in the U.S.

A new analysis finds that the costs of treating cancer have nearly doubled over the past two decades and that the shares of these costs that are paid for by private health insurance and Medicaid have increased.

10 May 2010

President says health reform already delivering 'real benefits'

The Associated Press: "The new health care law already is helping millions of people through tax breaks for small businesses and assistance for families with young adults, President Barack Obama said Saturday" (Babington, 5/8).

10 May 2010