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Today's state news: Medicaid challenges, high denial rates and a new plan to tax Calif. insurers

Today's state news includes Wyoming's worries about a Medicaid crunch, a surprising last minute solution to California's children health worries, the state's high insurance claims denial rates, and a windfall of stimulus grants to medical researchers in Massachusetts.

5 Sep 2009

Callidus Software's Insurance Suite and BPM Suite to be implemented at Medical Mutual of Ohio

Callidus Software Inc. (NASDAQ: CALD), the leader in Sales Performance Management (SPM), today announced that Medical Mutual of Ohio has selected Callidus Software's Insurance Suite and Business Process Management Suite (BPM) to manage its sales performance, incentive compensation programs and broker onboarding processes.

4 Sep 2009

Morning Edition: September 4, 2009

Today's headlines illustrate the following point: Everyone should enjoy the long weekend ahead, because next week Congress comes back to Washington and President Obama delivers his big health care speech -- in other words, the health policy world will be very busy.

4 Sep 2009

New report released to highlight health insurance reform for senior women

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will travel to Maine today and formally release a new report on the importance of health insurance reform for older women (ages 55-64) and senior women (ages 65 and older).

4 Sep 2009

Online news conferrence to announce findings from the Census Bureau's annual report

The U.S. Census Bureau will hold an online news conference to announce the findings from its annual report: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008. This report contains the official national findings from the Current Population Survey (CPS).

4 Sep 2009

White House 'rallies the faithful' for health overhaul push

The White House is going beyond the Wednesday speech to take control of the health reform debate, including a road trip to urge passage of legislation.

4 Sep 2009

Medicare advantage rates could go up, while Part D 'exceeding expectations'

"Despite near-zero inflation and recessionary conditions, health insurers in 2010 face another year of double-digit increases in the charges they pay for hospital services, physicians, drugs, and other healthcare costs," U.S. News and World Report writes in a news column.

4 Sep 2009

Positive impact on medication adherence through Aetna's care management program

Aetna announced today results of an analysis from the first half of 2009, demonstrating an average medication adherence of over 95 percent for its members taking Specialty medications. Disease states evaluated in Aetna’s analysis include: multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV, Crohn's disease, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), psoriasis, Hepatitis C and asthma.

4 Sep 2009

Uninsured populations to receive health care coverage through grants from HHS

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced $70.9 million in grants to 13 states to support the expansion of health care coverage for their uninsured populations.

4 Sep 2009

Lab Express to offer Blood Typing for $8

Local medical laboratory Lab Express is offering to help the public know their blood type. Forty percent of the general public doesn’t know their own blood type or that by knowing their blood type can help to save their life and the lives of others. During the month of September Lab Express is offering Blood Typing for $8, which includes a laminated medical card stating the patient's blood type to be carried with them in case of emergencies.

4 Sep 2009

Groups unite for health care reform

Lobbying on health care increases and, despite differences, drug makers and consumer groups unite to push for their version of health care reform.

4 Sep 2009

CDC recommends routine health examintion for all school-age children

Although school has just begun, it is already exam time for students throughout Wisconsin. That's because in addition to notebook paper and pens, back-to-school preparations should also include routine health exams to make sure students are healthy and ready to learn. These include: a doctor's exam to confirm that all immunizations are up-to-date, a dental exam and a vision exam.

3 Sep 2009

Aetna issues toll-free emergency care numbers for members affected by Southern California wildfire

Aetna (NYSE: AET) is making it easier for members impacted by the wildfires burning in Southern California to refill prescriptions and access employee assistance and behavioral health programs. The company is monitoring the situation carefully, and will re-evaluate its medical and dental policies for members as necessary to help them access care in the fire-impacted county of Los Angeles, where many people face evacuations from their homes.

3 Sep 2009

U.S. Department of Labor register apprenticeship programs organized by BlueCross BlueShield

The U.S. Department of Labor has registered information technology apprenticeship programs organized by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina with Apprenticeship Carolina(TM), a division of the S.C. Technical College System.

3 Sep 2009

Alliance for Health Reform to brief reporters on the hurdles to a meaningful health reform bill

This briefing, for reporters only, will look at some of the important issues that must be settled if President Obama is to sign a meaningful health reform bill this year.

3 Sep 2009

First edition: September 3, 2009

In today's headlines, President Obama announces that he will address a joint session of Congress next week in an effort to regain control of the health care reform debate.

3 Sep 2009

Maldonado Medical collaborates with ANMM for facilitating claims reimbursement

Maldonado Medical LLC, a Durable Medical Equipment (DME) provider servicing the southwestern United States, has formed a strategic alliance with American National Medical Management (ANMM), a patients' claims management group that specializes in getting claims compensated in a timely manner with a proprietary process that enforces the legal terms of a patients health insurance policy.

3 Sep 2009

Health insurers ask employees to lobby Congress to weaken health reform

Consumer Watchdog today asked California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown to investigate major health insurers that have asked their workers to lobby Congress -- during business hours -- to weaken health reform. United Healthcare and Wellpoint have launched national campaigns to individually "assist" employees in writing and calling members of Congress.

3 Sep 2009

TAHU recommends revision of proposed healthcare plan

The Texas Association of Health Underwriters (TAHU) released a statement on behalf of more than 1700 insurance agents from across the state of Texas outlining their recommendation for a revision to the proposed healthcare plan.

3 Sep 2009

Will Obama disavow the pledge-breaking tax hikes that violate his campaign promise?

If Obama is serious about keeping his central campaign promise, will he disavow the four pledge-breaking provisions in the House Democrat healthcare bill?

3 Sep 2009