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Patients may not benefit from e-samples of prescription drugs, says UW

Search the Internet to learn about your asthma, high cholesterol or other common disorder, and odds are you'll be directed to a pharmaceutical company-sponsored Web homepage. There you'll often find an offer for a free sample or a one-time discount on a top-selling prescription medication.

25 Nov 2009

Cinergy Health concerned about unemployed Americans' health insurance

Daniel Touizer, CEO of Cinergy Health, a nationwide provider of guaranteed issue health insurance benefit programs, is concerned that the labor department's recently released U-6 number means nearly one in five Americans are without a full-time job and unlikely to have health insurance.

25 Nov 2009

Senators away for holiday continue health debate at home

Senators away for the Thanksgiving holiday are continuing the health care reform debate with constituents and are facing far less vitriol than during the August recess.

25 Nov 2009

Massachusetts lawsuit on part-timers and health care, Utahns satisfied with insurance

News outlets report on a health care lawsuit in Massachusetts, a tobacco tax in Colorado and health plan ratings in Utah.

25 Nov 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

You would be hard pressed to find any health policy expert who isn't disappointed that cost containment has fallen off the health care "reform" express (Robert Laszewski, 11/25).

25 Nov 2009

Health reform financing ideas watered down, questions remain on premiums, taxes

The New York Times reports that while the Senate health bill "includes nearly every big idea that health economists and medical researchers have for slowing cost growth — as well as for improving the patchwork quality of American health care, ... many of the ideas, like the rule on Medicare reimbursement, have been at least partly neutered. A provision to punish hospitals for infecting their patients, for example, would cut payments for the related treatments by a mere 1 percent.

25 Nov 2009

7 tips on cutting medical bills

Research into medical billing has revealed that it is possible to drastically and immediately cut medical expenses not covered by medical insurance plans. www.BestHealthcareRates.com, a knowledgeable leader in the online medical insurance field, has collected the 7 best tips to help individuals pay off medical bills quicker by first reducing them to more manageable levels.

25 Nov 2009

Medical fees surprise patients, bankruptcy plagues others

High medical fees often catch patients off-guard while many plagued by medical debt file for bankruptcy.

25 Nov 2009

AARP calls for Idaho's members of Congress to support real health care reform

As the debate over health care reform is expected to pick up in the Senate after Thanksgiving, notices of health care premium increases are hitting mailboxes across Idaho -- leaving many families wondering how they'll be able to afford the hikes. While high health care costs have left nearly 15% of Idaho without insurance, as benefits run out for the state's 67,300 jobless residents that number will jump in the coming months.

25 Nov 2009

Great Lakes Health Plan rated among Top 20 Medicaid health plans

Great Lakes Health Plan (GLHP), part of AmeriChoice, is rated among the nation’s Top 20 Medicaid health plans according to the 2009-10 U.S. News & World Report/National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) survey of “America’s Best Health Insurance Plans.”

25 Nov 2009

Congress brings oral health into conversation to improve nation's overall health

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation commends Congress for its recognition of the urgent need to comprehensively and substantially strengthen oral health care for our most vulnerable children.

25 Nov 2009

Bloomberg examines Sec. of State Clinton's focus on women

Bloomberg examines Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's "fervor for making women's advancement a core part of her national-security efforts." According to the news service, Clinton "has been pushing the cause from remote Congolese villages to the United Nations General Assembly.

24 Nov 2009

Hospital officials report job cuts, concern about possible effects of reform

Several news outlets find that hospital executives are worried about their facilities' finances, and for a Chicago hospital the prospect of health care reform brings even more concerns.

24 Nov 2009

Public ponders fairness of 'Cadillac' tax, affordability issues

BusinessWeek: "In chasing revenue to help pay for health-care reform, Democrats have managed to rally two groups that tend to oppose each other—unions and Big Business. The focus of their ire: a proposed 40% excise tax on high-premium or so-called Cadillac health plans."

24 Nov 2009

Senate personalities shape, debate health reform bill

The New York Times Prescriptions Blog reports on a ripple in "the Senate's predominant history as an old-boys' club." It notes that "to move the bill forward for full debate, the Democrats' last two crucial votes came from women: Senators Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.

24 Nov 2009

Groups on both sides of abortion issue revived in Senate reform fight

The Wall Street Journal reports that abortion-rights groups are mobilizing to keep a provision that would toughen abortion restrictions out of a Senate health care reform bill. "Activists hope to flood Washington to rally and lobby on Dec. 2, during the week that Senate floor debate begins." Ads are running to criticize the restrictions and a new coalition — the Coalition to Pass Health Care Reform and Stop Stupak — is being formed, The Journal reports.

24 Nov 2009

National certification for interpreters initiated to ensure accurate communication and prevention of medical errors

Patients in the United States with limited English proficiency (LEP) continue to face language barriers that threaten their health and undermine their well-being. But they are one step closer to equitable healthcare with the launch of the first National Certification for Medical Interpreters in October 2009. A culmination of an over 23-year effort, this first-of-its-kind national interpreting standard certifies that those interpreting are tested and competent as "Certified Medical Interpreters" (CMIs).

24 Nov 2009

Americans with hepatitis C are at increased risk of developing liver cancer, says NVHR

New peer-reviewed data finding that fewer than one-fifth of the nearly 4 million Americans infected with chronic hepatitis C virus have received anti-viral therapy in recent years should be a wake-up call that Congress needs to move urgently on bipartisan legislation to support new state-based detection, research, and surveillance efforts, the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) said today.

24 Nov 2009

Health reform bill: 10 key positive and negative consumer protection provisions

Consumer Watchdog released a list today of the 10 key positive and negative consumer protection provisions of the U.S. Senate health reform bill, HR 3590, which passed an important procedural vote this weekend.

24 Nov 2009

Reports highlighting the benefits of health insurance reform released

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the release of Health Insurance Reform: The Case for Change, a series of state-by-state reports highlighting the benefits of health insurance reform.

24 Nov 2009