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Alaska Group to offer health coverage to employees of not-for-profit

The Foraker Group, an organization that supports not-for-profit organizations in Alaska, on Thursday announced that it will offer health insurance to employees of private, not-for-profit organizations in the state, the Anchorage Daily News reports.

23 Jul 2008

New study finds working age adults with major chronic conditions grew 25 percent over 10 years

As the number of working-age adults who have major chronic conditions grew between 1997 and 2006, those without health coverage in this group experienced substantial erosion in access to health care, according to a new study by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers published today as a Health Affairs Web Exclusive.

22 Jul 2008

NYT examines record of cooperation on health care, other issues by McCain

The New York Times on Monday examined how presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) since his failed 2000 presidential campaign has "mastered the art of political triangulation -- variously teaming up with ... the new Republican leaders, with Democrats against Republicans and with the president against the Democrats" on health care and other issues -- to "become perhaps the chamber's most influential member."

22 Jul 2008

Rural doctors say people in the bush can expect to die younger

The Australian Rural Doctors' Association (RDAA) says because of the shortage of doctors in rural and remote Australia people in the bush die sooner.

21 Jul 2008

Health partnership expands cancer screening services

The Health Partnership of Monroe County, which evolved from the Women's Health Partnership, has expanded its free cancer screenings for women and men and now offers coverage for the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine.

15 Jul 2008

Colorectal cancer screening rates still too low

Although colorectal cancer screening tests are proven to reduce colorectal cancer mortality, only about half of U.S. men and women 50 and older receive the recommended tests, according to a report in the July 2008 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

14 Jul 2008

Talking about sex to teenagers

Sex is one of the most difficult topics a parent can bring up with an adolescent, but a new study finds that parents who are taught specific communication skills can more readily tackle these conversations and sustain them over time.

10 Jul 2008

Massachusetts cigarette tax increases by $1 per pack to fund state health insurance law

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on Tuesday signed into law a bill that increases the state cigarette tax by $1 per pack, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The increase, which brings the tax to $2.51, took effect immediately.

4 Jul 2008

Edward Kennedy working toward bipartisan support for major health care initiative in 2009

The office of Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has begun to hold a series of meetings with a number of health care experts to "begin laying the groundwork for a new attempt to provide universal health care," the Boston Globe reports.

3 Jul 2008

North Carolina mental health parity law comes into effect

North Carolina health care insurers must provide the same amount of coverage for certain mental conditions as they do for physical ailments under a state law that took effect on Tuesday, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

3 Jul 2008

Costs pose challenge to Massachusetts health insurance law one year after deadline for residents to obtain coverage

One year after the deadline for Massachusetts residents to obtain health coverage under the state's health insurance law, the percentage of uninsured has declined but the law "still faces a huge challenge: costs," USA Today reports.

2 Jul 2008

Bush Administration to temporarily keep Medicare physician payment rates at current levels after congress fails to pass legislation to delay scheduled cut

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Friday said that the agency will maintain the current Medicare payment rate for physicians because Congress was unable to pass legislation to avert a 10.6% cut scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday before lawmakers left for the Fourth of July recess, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, congressional aides said the freeze to payment rates could last 10 days (Kane, Washington Post, 6/28).

2 Jul 2008

Old order Amish, Mennonites reject health insurance, face high costs for care at not-for-profit hospitals

Old Order Amish and Mennonites in Lancaster County, Pa., "suffer from endemic proportions of certain deadly genetic diseases" because they do not marry outside their communities, and, as they "seek lifesaving treatments, the uninsured in these Pennsylvania communities are struggling with escalating costs of care" at not-for-profit hospitals, the Wall Street Journal reports.

2 Jul 2008

House votes 355-59 to approve legislation that would delay Medicare physician fee cut

The House on Tuesday voted 355-59 to approve legislation (HR 6331) that would delay for 18 months a 10.6% reduction to Medicare physician fees scheduled to take effect on July 1, among other provisions, the Washington Post reports (Kane, Washington Post, 6/25).

26 Jun 2008

Mailing error left 16,000 Commonwealth Care beneficiaries unaware of coverage cancellation, how to appeal decisions

Massachusetts state officials on Monday said a mailing glitch last month left 16,000 residents without proper notice that they could lose their health coverage under Commonwealth Care and information about how to appeal the decision, the Boston Globe reports.

26 Jun 2008

Study examines impact of poor, uninsured patients' race in terms of reporting racism in their health care

A new study in Health Services Research tried to disentangle the impact of a patient's racial and ethnic background, being poor and having no health insurance on the likelihood they would report having experienced racial or ethnic bias in the healthcare they received.

26 Jun 2008

Few employers addressing employees' obesity despite increasing costs

Obesity rates in the U.S. are driving up costs for employers that provide health insurance to workers, but few companies have introduced programs intended to curb the trend, the New York Times reports.

25 Jun 2008

Future of Medicare at stake in Presidential election, opinion piece states

"At stake in the presidential election is whether we will all need to consult lobbyists to have our medical issues heard by a remote, bureaucratic Medicare program," Scott Gottlieb, a former CMS official and an American Enterprise Institute fellow, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

24 Jun 2008

Reps. Barton, Dingell to introduce legislation that aims to spur nationwide adoption of electronic health records

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) and ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas) on Tuesday plan to introduce a bill that would promote the adoption of a nationwide electronic health record system, CongressDaily reports.

24 Jun 2008

Lack of health insurance for many U.S. residents 'merely a symptom' of larger problem with costs, according to opinion piece

The major presidential candidates have "talked frequently" about proposals to expand health insurance to more U.S. residents but have failed to "recognize that lack of coverage is merely a symptom of a larger problem: the high cost of medical care," Dwight Bartlett, a former Social Security Administration chief actuary and a former Maryland insurance commissioner, writes in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece.

24 Jun 2008

Health Insurance News and Research

Alaska Group to offer health coverage to employees of not-for-profit

New study finds working age adults with major chronic conditions grew 25 percent over 10 years

NYT examines record of cooperation on health care, other issues by McCain

Rural doctors say people in the bush can expect to die younger

Health partnership expands cancer screening services

Colorectal cancer screening rates still too low

Talking about sex to teenagers

Massachusetts cigarette tax increases by $1 per pack to fund state health insurance law

Edward Kennedy working toward bipartisan support for major health care initiative in 2009

North Carolina mental health parity law comes into effect

Costs pose challenge to Massachusetts health insurance law one year after deadline for residents to obtain coverage

Bush Administration to temporarily keep Medicare physician payment rates at current levels after congress fails to pass legislation to delay scheduled cut

Old order Amish, Mennonites reject health insurance, face high costs for care at not-for-profit hospitals

House votes 355-59 to approve legislation that would delay Medicare physician fee cut

Mailing error left 16,000 Commonwealth Care beneficiaries unaware of coverage cancellation, how to appeal decisions

Study examines impact of poor, uninsured patients' race in terms of reporting racism in their health care

Few employers addressing employees' obesity despite increasing costs

Future of Medicare at stake in Presidential election, opinion piece states

Reps. Barton, Dingell to introduce legislation that aims to spur nationwide adoption of electronic health records

Lack of health insurance for many U.S. residents 'merely a symptom' of larger problem with costs, according to opinion piece

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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