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Senate Finance votes down Rockefeller amendment, 15-8

The Senate Finance Committee has rejected 15-8 an amendment by Sen. John D. Rockefeller to include a government-run public option in the committee's draft proposal.

30 Sep 2009

Administrative expenses of Medicare plans rose in 2008

Per member administrative costs grew by 8.3% in 2008, compared with 3.3% in 2007. Adjusting for changes in product mix, administrative expense growth increased to 10.2% in 2008 from 1.9% in 2007.

30 Sep 2009

Automated SafetySurveillor system to detect healthcare-associated infections

The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center of Midlothian, Va., selected Premier’s SafetySurveillor® Web-based infection tracking and antimicrobial utilization tool. More than 270 hospitals use SafetySurveillor to help prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and optimize antibiotic use, thereby protecting patients more effectively while safely reducing hospital costs.

30 Sep 2009

Democrats ready to battle amongst themselves over public plan

Democrats are set to spar — among themselves — on inclusion of a government-run public option for health insurance coverage during Finance Committee action today.

30 Sep 2009

Two new short term health insurance plans to meet people’s needs

UnitedHealthcare’s Golden Rule Insurance Company is introducing two new short term health insurance plans in North Carolina and West Virginia designed to meet people’s needs for more flexible and cost-effective approaches to coverage.

30 Sep 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

It is the Republicans' right to choose this course of hard-line opposition. But, just as surely, Democrats are the majority party in Congress. And we have a responsibility to lead (Sen. Tom Harkin, 9/29).

30 Sep 2009

Finance Senators picking sides as panel continues health bill markup

Politico: "Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus faces multiple challenges as he gavels in another week of work on health care Tuesday. High on the list: controlling the drama in the hearing room."

30 Sep 2009

Survey reveals that majority of Americans are happy with their life

Now that the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh is over and the UN completed its one-day global warming summit, many are saying that measuring economic vitality should have more to do with people's overall happiness. Based on that, BIGresearch asked 6,976 Americans in their September American Pulse™ Survey to rate how happy they are with their life, their job and their health.

30 Sep 2009

Medicare commission proposal and MedPAC data shape reform

A proposal for a Medicare Commission passes through the Senate Finance markup while MedPAC data may help rework Medicare spending.

29 Sep 2009

Democrats look to Medicare to help finance reform

The Associated Press: "Medicare is looking like a big fat piggy bank for health care overhaul. President Barack Obama and the Democrats want to pay for much of their plan to cover the uninsured by cutting hundreds of billions from the Medicare budget over the next 10 years. From its inception, the health plan for seniors has been kept afloat by taxes out of workers' paychecks. Now, Medicare savings would count toward helping uninsured working-age children and grandchildren afford their own coverage."

29 Sep 2009

90-day supply program to improve overall healthcare

Walgreens (NYSE:WAG) today launched a broad initiative for 90-day prescriptions that promotes delivery of maintenance and chronic care medication through its national network of more than 7,000 community pharmacies and employer worksite centers.

29 Sep 2009

SUNY Stony Brook implements PatientKeeper ePrescription and Pay for Performance

PatientKeeper®, Inc., the leading provider of Physician Information Technology, announced today that the physicians at State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook will be using PatientKeeper ePrescription™ and PatientKeeper Pay for Performance (P4P)™, expanding their deployment of the PatientKeeper’s physician-focused applications.

29 Sep 2009

Oculus launches Microcyn Skin & Wound HydroGel OTC

Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets a family of products based upon the Microcyn Technology platform, which is intended to treat chronic and acute wounds, today launched Microcyn Skin & Wound HydroGel for both the U.S. professional and over-the-counter markets. The Microcyn HydroGel received FDA 510(k) marketing clearance in May of this year.

29 Sep 2009

Campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience to end insurance abuse

Citizens and health care providers who are fed up with the state of our health care system will risk arrest at a New York Aetna health insurance office on Tuesday morning. The sit-in is the first action in part of a larger mobilization to end insurance abuse and build support for real reform – Medicare for All, a single payer plan.

29 Sep 2009

Changes to Louisiana's healthcare system can promote standardized care for patients

Before Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana's healthcare system was strained, with a quarter of the population living below the poverty line and an estimated 20 percent uninsured. Healthcare for this population was provided through the state-run Charity Hospital and financed through Medicaid DSH (Disproportionate Share Hospital) dollars.

29 Sep 2009

Republicans switch tact on Medicare for current health debate

Republicans, have switched sides, and now accuse Democrats of trying to cut Medicare. Meanwhile, Dems are vexed by the affordability issue.

29 Sep 2009

GAO finds that a Federal program is missing problem nursing homes

Federal investigators report that a government-run program designed to bring "extra scrutiny to poorly performing nursing homes" is missing "hundreds of troubled facilities" that could qualify the closer look.

29 Sep 2009

Dialysis patients often not told about transplant options, Newspaper finds

"Thousands of kidney patients in the United States start dialysis without first being told of kidney transplants that would be cheaper and lead to longer lives, according to a four-month newspaper investigation published Sunday," The Associated Press reports.

28 Sep 2009

Payment of healthcare through technology will ease the stress on overburdened healthcare workers

With all the noise being made about healthcare reform the past few months, focusing on everything from public option vs. insurance agencies and what will and will not be covered, what's slowly coming into focus is that it is not that healthcare is necessarily in need of an overhaul, but the way in which Americans pay for it.

28 Sep 2009

First edition: September 28, 2009

A look at today's headlines reveals that specific issues regarding the health overhaul effort continue to get significant attention and trigger debate.

28 Sep 2009