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Republicans react to Obama insistence on public plan inclusion

President Obama's insistence on having a government-run public insurance option for the middle class risks bipartisan support for reform, Senate Republicans said in a letter to the White House released Monday, The Associated Press reports.

9 Jun 2009

Lawmakers pick up pace on health legislation

House and Senate Democrats are gearing up for what could be a crucial, month-long drive to craft health care legislation before the July 4 recess.

9 Jun 2009

Industry leaders offer solutions for health care reform

The Chicago Tribune published a series of articles on industry's solutions for health care reform. The paper "turned to Chicago-area leaders in three key segments of the industry: insurers, medical providers and pharmacy," and presented their "thoughts on how best to expand medical-care coverage to all Americans."

5 Jun 2009

GOP balking at public plan in health care reform

Inclusion of a government-run public insurance plan to compete with private insurers could endanger bipartisan support of a health care reform bill as Republicans stand firm against it, The Associated Press reports.

5 Jun 2009

Senate Finance ‘Dems’ back public plan, ‘Blue Dogs’ back away

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Finance Committee expects the Senate's health care overhaul proposal to include a public health insurance plan, Dow Jones Newswire reports, adding that Baucus was "following the lead of President Obama and drawing a line in the sand on the controversial issue." The President strongly supported the public option in a letter to senators Wednesday.

5 Jun 2009

Medical bills underlie 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies

"Medical bills are involved in more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, an increase of 50 percent in just six years, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday," according to Reuters.

4 Jun 2009

Economic downturn pushes cost of medicines up, pharmacists lobby for reform role

"Even with the Medicare drug benefit, even with the prevalence of low-cost generics, even with loss-leader discounting by big chains, many Americans still find themselves unable to afford the prescription medications that manage their life-threatening conditions," The New York Times reports.

4 Jun 2009

Dodd: HELP Committee to release reform bill within days

An initial version of health reform legislation could be available "in the next several days," Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told Dow Jones Newswires.

4 Jun 2009

New taxes could help pay for reform, but would cost political capital

The first, a possible new tax on at least some employer-sponsored health benefits, has support from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. But during last year's presidential campaign, President Obama spoke out strongly against just such a plan when his opponent, Sen. John McCain suggested it, Roll Call reports.

4 Jun 2009

Obama open to using MedPAC to set Medicare payment rates

As the administration searches for ways to pay for health care reform and restrain medical costs, President Obama suggested Wednesday that he would consider transferring the power to set Medicare reimbursement rates from Congress to the independent advisory agency known as MedPAC, MedPage Today reports.

4 Jun 2009

Government-run insurance program gets Presidential push

President Barack Obama yesterday detailed his support for "government-run insurance program that would compete with private insurers," CQ Politics reports.

4 Jun 2009

President Obama "open" to coverage mandate for all Americans

President Obama on Wednesday signaled in a letter to top Senate Democrats that he may be open to requiring all Americans to have health insurance coverage as part of health care reform.

4 Jun 2009

Health reform debate players weigh in on their roles

ABC News says Dr. Ezekiel "Zeke" Emanuel, special health adviser to the president's budget director, "has emerged as a key behind-the-scenes player for what could be the biggest overhaul of the nation's health care system in the past two decades." The brother of President Obama's chief of staff and is nervous that something could go wrong in the process.

4 Jun 2009

GOP: public plan option big obstacle to health reform

Democrats and Republicans moved further apart this afternoon over the possibility of including a public plan in any health care reform legislation.

4 Jun 2009

Baucus: Obama open to taxing health benefits to pay for health reform

On the same day President Obama expressed the urgent need for health care reform, he also met with two dozen Senate Democrats and suggested that he is open to considering taxing employer-provided health benefits to pay for health care reform, The Washington Post reports.

3 Jun 2009

Rising health spending spurs reform debate

A new study shows that - in the words of Jon Gabel, its lead author - "American families with employer-based [health] coverage were worse off in 2007 than they were in 2004," the Wall Street Journal reports.

3 Jun 2009

Sen. Baucus tells single-payer advocates he regrets there wasn't more discussion of single-payer plan

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., told single-payer advocates Wednesday that he regrets not allowing more discussion of the single-payer plan in his efforts to draft a health system overhaul proposal, according to participants at the meeting.

3 Jun 2009

Obama open to individual insurance requirement

In a letter released today by the White House today to Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, President Obama "suggests he may be open to a requirement that every American have health insurance, even though he opposed the so-called individual mandate in the presidential campaign," the Washington Post reports.

3 Jun 2009

Soap-sniffing sensors that monitor health-care workers' hand hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes

Call it a breathalyzer for the hands. Using sensors capable of detecting drugs in breath, new technology developed at University of Florida monitors health-care workers' hand hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes given off from their hands.

3 Jun 2009

Thinking lean in healthcare

Lean thinking helps healthcare professionals eliminate waste in any activity performed within a facility. It is the efficient use of staff, resources and technology to provide the highest level of service possible to the healthcare customer: the patient, according to a feature article in the June issue of the Journal of AHIMA.

3 Jun 2009