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Health experts available to speak about health care reform

Garson helped originate and draft the "Health Partnership Act" (S. 325 and H.R. 5606), which funds grants to states for innovations to improve coverage for the uninsured, quality and efficiency.

5 Dec 2009

Free health clinic offers preventive primary care for uninsured residents of Kansas City

The large, two-day free health clinic sponsored by the National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC) in Kansas City on Wednesday and Thursday is not just for the sick but also for anyone who is uninsured and has not seen a doctor recently. All participants in the health clinic will receive preventive primary care.

5 Dec 2009

Aetna Medicare Advantage members now have access to MidState Medical Center and Windham Hospital

Aetna (NYSE:ΑET) announced today that beginning January 1, 2010, its Medicare Advantage members will have access to MidState Medical Center and Windham Hospital as part of Aetna’s Medicare network of participating health care facilities in Connecticut.

5 Dec 2009

Senators offer cost-constainment amendment; Senate continues to discuss abortion, public option

The Associated Press: "Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, along with Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., unveiled a package of amendments Friday that would reward Medicare patients for picking efficient doctors, require insurance companies to make public more information about claims denials and speed up programs shifting from paying providers for services to paying them for performance

4 Dec 2009

Health Policy Research Roundup

UCLA Center For Health Policy Research: Health Disparities Among California's Nearly Four Million Low-Income Nonelderly Adult Women - Using data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey, the authors of this policy brief compare low-income women, ages 18-64, to others. The report finds the low-income women are four times more likely to report fair or poor health and are more likely to report a health condition that interferes with basic physical activities, such as walking or climbing stairs.

4 Dec 2009

Democrats debate public option: Publicly with GOP, and privately among themselves

Democrats are engaged in an urgent debate behind closed doors about a government-run health insurance plan, known as the public option, according to The Associated Press. "Our caucus is now in the process of negotiating with ourselves because we need all 60 of us to get this done," said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., a moderate who has not yet embraced the public option concept.

4 Dec 2009

Public Campaign Action Fund names Sen. Richard Burr as its final 'Insurance Puppet'

Public Campaign Action Fund, a national campaign finance watchdog group, named Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) its final "Insurance Puppet" in an online advertising campaign targeting North Carolina and Washington, D.C.

4 Dec 2009

Fact checking lawmakers' claims about health bills

NPR began a series called "Is That So?": "As the debate about the health overhaul bill goes on (and on and on) you might find that sometimes what one Senator says seems to be the exact opposite of the next." In the first installment, NPR's Julie Rovner examined Sen. Christopher Dodd's statement: "On the day this bill is enacted, health insurance becomes a buyer's market, not a seller's market. And that's as American as apple pie," and found that "it may be so eventually, but definitely not on the day the bill is enacted."

4 Dec 2009

Watchdog group names Sen. Chuck Grassley as third 'Insurance Puppet'

Public Campaign Action Fund, a national campaign finance watchdog group, named Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) its third "Insurance Puppet" in an online advertising campaign targeting Iowa and Washington, D.C.

4 Dec 2009

HHS Secretary highlights the benefits of health insurance reform for businesses

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today highlighted the benefits of health insurance reform for businesses and released a new fact sheet regarding a recent analysis from the Congressional Budget Office.

4 Dec 2009

Public Campaign Action Fund names Sen. Joe Lieberman its second 'Insurance Puppet'

Public Campaign Action Fund, a national campaign finance watchdog group, named Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) its second "Insurance Puppet" in an online advertising campaign targeting Connecticut and Washington, D.C.

4 Dec 2009

Family Research Council responds to Senate's approval of Mikulski amendment

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins responded today to the U.S. Senate's approval of an amendment authored by U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) to authorize the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to include abortion as "preventive care" in their guidelines.

4 Dec 2009

First Edition: December 4, 2009

Today's headlines focus on the Senate's first health bill votes and the behind-the-scenes negotiations regarding the public option.

4 Dec 2009

CBO analysis understates key factors contributing to increased premiums

A new actuarial analysis by Oliver Wyman, Inc. finds that average annual medical claims in the new individual market will be 54 percent higher than they are today five years after implementation of healthcare reform under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), excluding the impact of medical inflation.

4 Dec 2009

Senate votes to reject Medicare cuts; Reid discusses next anticipated amendments

The Associated Press reported: "Senators voted 58-42 to reject an amendment by Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona that would have stripped more than $400 billion in Medicare cuts from the health care bill. The measure would have sent the bill back to the Senate Finance Committee for a redo" (Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/3).

4 Dec 2009