Health Insurance News and Research

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First Edition: January 20, 2010

The G.O.P. claims the Massachusetts Senate seat and sends Dems scrambling to salvage their health overhaul effort.

20 Jan 2010

OAC calls for health insurance coverage of USPTF recommended childhood obesity treatments

In light of the recent recommendation of the United States Preventative Task Force (USPTF), the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) is calling for all employers and insurers to add health insurance coverage of the recommended childhood obesity treatments.

20 Jan 2010

St. Jude Medical completes second interoperability testing process for Merlin.net Patient Care Network

St. Jude Medical, Inc. today announced it has successfully completed its second interoperability testing process for the company’s Merlin.net™ Patient Care Network, an Internet-based repository of patient and implantable device data.

20 Jan 2010

Recipients of comprehensive primary care twice as likely to rate healthcare as high-quality

Chronically ill older adults who are closely supported by a nurse-physician primary care team are twice as likely to rate their health care as high-quality than those who receive usual care, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

20 Jan 2010

News reports question health reform provisions, forecast legal issues

News reports explore remaining issues in Congress' health overhaul negotiations.

20 Jan 2010

Medicare, consumers face challenges when trying to make choices based on value

News outlets report on concerns about Medicare costs, problems with fraud in health care around the world, and the difficulties consumers face when trying to find value in their health services.

20 Jan 2010

First Edition: January 19, 2010

All eyes appear to be watching today's special election in Massachusetts to fill the seat of the late Senator Edward Kennedy. The outcome there could have a significant impact on what happens next in Washington regarding the Democrats' health overhaul.

19 Jan 2010

Anthem Blue Cross and California Regional Hospital Associations join in patient safety collaborative

Anthem Blue Cross, along with California's three regional Hospital Associations, and the National Health Foundation, announced today that they are joining together in a three-year, 6 million dollar effort to improve the quality and consistency of care Californians receive. The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center hosted the launch of Patient Safety First... a California Partnership for Health, a unique relationship that will save lives, improve the quality of medical care and reduce health care costs to make health care more affordable for the people of California.

19 Jan 2010

New data shows significant rise in healthcare premiums

Management consultant Hay Group expects that annual premium increases for health coverage will average approximately 9 percent during 2010. This estimate represents the increase in premiums before any changes in plan design, medical management or plan administration.

19 Jan 2010

Wellness programs help retain employees

Forty-five percent of Americans working at small to medium-sized companies said that they would stay at their jobs longer because of employer-sponsored wellness programs, according to the latest Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM.

18 Jan 2010

Patients have few barriers to affordable health care, efficient care in post-Katrina primary care clinics

A new Commonwealth Fund survey of safety-net clinic patients in New Orleans finds that, despite being disproportionately low-income and uninsured, these patients had fewer problems affording care and fewer instances of medical debt and inefficient care than most U.S. adults.

18 Jan 2010

Missouri best in using federal aid to combat Medicaid fraud, other states fight over federal rules

The Kansas City Star reports that Missouri led the country in 2008 in efficiency in using federal dollars to combat Medicaid fraud. "The state recovered almost $29.8 million in 2008, the most recent year for which comparative data are available, while receiving about $1.6 million in federal Medicaid fraud grants. That equates to $18.81 recovered for every dollar received — 43 cents better than the next-best state" (Noble, 1/12).

18 Jan 2010

KHN column: Individual mandate would impose taxes on low-wage workers

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Michael Cannon writes: "In their attempt to expand health insurance coverage, House and Senate Democrats are poised to make the American dream less accessible to low-income Americans by hitting them with higher implicit tax rates than even multi-millionaires face"

18 Jan 2010

Health Policy Research Roundup: New Orleans clinic experiences, health reform and lagging biomedical research funds

Journal of the American Medical Association: Funding of US Biomedical Research, 2003-2008 - After doubling in a decade, the rate of increase in biomedical research in the U.S. has slowed since 2005, and the level of funding from the National Institutes of Health and industry appears to have decreased by 2 percent in 2008, after adjusting for inflation, the authors of this study report.

18 Jan 2010

Minnesota County says state plan to cover costs of health care for the needy is unfair

In Minnesota, Hennepin County officials are saying a plan to charge counties extra to "cover health care for their neediest residents would have an unfair impact on the state's largest county and biggest public hospital."

18 Jan 2010

Federal survey shows more than 6.7 million children in the United States have no health insurance

A recent federal survey of children's health shows more than 6.7 million children in the United States don't have health insurance, and nearly 1 in 4 insured children lack adequate insurance coverage.

18 Jan 2010

'Cadillac' tax deal in the works

"Unions tentatively struck a deal Tuesday to exempt collectively bargained healthcare plans from a tax on high-cost plans expected to be used to help raise revenue for the healthcare overhaul," CongressDaily reports.

18 Jan 2010

Republicans decry Dems' deal with labor

Democrats' breakthrough deal with labor groups on the health overhaul yesterday is now attracting criticism as a handout to special interests, FOX News reports.

18 Jan 2010

Aflac becomes the most preferred carrier for voluntary insurance among brokers

A survey of 358 brokers by business intelligence consulting firm Personified, finds Aflac is the number one preferred carrier for voluntary insurance among brokers.

18 Jan 2010

Major insurers funded Chamber of Commerce ads attacking health bills

"Just as dealings with the Obama administration and congressional Democrats soured last summer, six of the nation's biggest health insurers began quietly pumping big money into third-party television ads aimed at killing or significantly modifying the major health reform bills moving through Congress," The National Journal reports.

18 Jan 2010

Health Insurance News and Research

First Edition: January 20, 2010

OAC calls for health insurance coverage of USPTF recommended childhood obesity treatments

St. Jude Medical completes second interoperability testing process for Merlin.net Patient Care Network

Recipients of comprehensive primary care twice as likely to rate healthcare as high-quality

News reports question health reform provisions, forecast legal issues

Medicare, consumers face challenges when trying to make choices based on value

First Edition: January 19, 2010

Anthem Blue Cross and California Regional Hospital Associations join in patient safety collaborative

New data shows significant rise in healthcare premiums

Wellness programs help retain employees

Patients have few barriers to affordable health care, efficient care in post-Katrina primary care clinics

Missouri best in using federal aid to combat Medicaid fraud, other states fight over federal rules

KHN column: Individual mandate would impose taxes on low-wage workers

Health Policy Research Roundup: New Orleans clinic experiences, health reform and lagging biomedical research funds

Minnesota County says state plan to cover costs of health care for the needy is unfair

Federal survey shows more than 6.7 million children in the United States have no health insurance

'Cadillac' tax deal in the works

Republicans decry Dems' deal with labor

Aflac becomes the most preferred carrier for voluntary insurance among brokers

Major insurers funded Chamber of Commerce ads attacking health bills

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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