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WSJ: Insurers' profits on the rise

Health insurers' fourth-quarter reports will provide an early glimpse into how much wind the health overhaul could take out of plans' profits—and, so far, Wall Street estimates don't look all that bad for the industry (Johnson, 1/20).

21 Jan 2011

The Ensign Group to purchase CHRISTUS St. Joseph Villa located in Utah

The Ensign Group, the parent company of the Ensign group of skilled nursing, rehabilitative care services, hospice care and assisted living companies, announced today that it has agreed to purchase CHRISTUS St. Joseph Villa, a continuing care retirement community located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the CHRISTUS Marian Center, a behavioral health center operated within St. Joseph Villa.

21 Jan 2011

Northeast Ohio healthcare sector companies attracted $132 million in investments in 2010

In 2010, 62 Northeast Ohio companies collectively raised $221 million from venture capitalists and angel investors, an increase of 121 percent over the amount raised by companies in 2009. The growth rate of dollars invested in regional companies is higher than recently released data from Thomson Reuters showing a 19 percent increase in dollars invested nationally.

21 Jan 2011

Study highlights relationship between language and health care quality

Wayne State University researchers have found that when patients and providers speak the same language, patients report less confusion and better health care quality.

21 Jan 2011

BOKA Powell releases new images of Methodist Hospital for Surgery in Texas

BOKA Powell released new images today of the completed Methodist Hospital for Surgery in Addison, Texas, a dedicated surgical hospital which opened last month.

21 Jan 2011

Minnesota earns 'F' grade for tobacco prevention and control spending

Minnesota again earned an "F" for tobacco prevention and control spending in the annual State of Tobacco Control report issued today by the American Lung Association.

21 Jan 2011

U.S., China announce public-private health care partnership

In conjunction with the state visit to the U.S. by Chinese President Hu Jintao, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and several other federal agencies on Wednesday announced a new public-private health care partnership between the U.S. and China, Modern Healthcare reports (Blesch, 1/19).

21 Jan 2011

House GOP passes health law repeal

In what is considered to be a symbolic vote, House Republicans joined with three Democrats to fulfill a campaign pledge to pass a bill that would undo the sweeping health overhaul.The vote represented the Republican House majority's first official rebuke of the Obama agenda. Senate action, however, is unlikely.

21 Jan 2011

Adopting pharmacy carve-in approach can help 13 states realize over $11 billion savings in Medicaid

A study sponsored by Medicaid Health Plans of America (MHPA) released today by The Lewin Group finds large-scale savings can be achieved if 13 states abandoned their current pharmacy carve-out model in favor of a carve-in approach -- including prescription drugs in health plans' capitation payments.

21 Jan 2011

AHRQ finds 30% increase in Medicaid-covered patient hospital admissions

Hospital admissions of patients covered by Medicaid jumped by 30 percent between 1997 and 2008, compared to a 5 percent growth in those of patients with private health insurance, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

21 Jan 2011

Religious hospitals' restrictions sparking conflicts, scrutiny, The Washington Post reports

Such disputes between hospitals and church authorities appear to be arising because of a confluence of factors: Economic pressures are spurring greater consolidation in the hospital industry, prompting religiously affiliated institutions to take over or merge with secular ones, imposing church directives on them.

21 Jan 2011

Opinions: GAVI; Haitian women; Clinton's foreign policy

"Vaccines are among the greatest scientific contributions to human welfare. They are also some of the largest humanitarian contributions of developed nations to the rest of the world. So it is unfortunate that a decade of vaccine controversy has overshadowed a decade of vaccine miracles," Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson writes in an opinion piece reflecting on the contributions of the GAVI Alliance over the past decade.

21 Jan 2011

Many couples misjudge partners' risk behaviors

While monogamy is often touted as a way to protect against disease, young couples who say they have discussed monogamy can't seem to agree on what they decided. And a significant percentage of those couples who at least agreed that they would be monogamous weren't.

21 Jan 2011

Exploring the new tone of repeal rhetoric

News outlets detail the tone of this week's debate in the House of Representatives. They also parse some of the specific dynamics of the arguments in play.

21 Jan 2011

Scottsdale Healthcare inaugurates new Military Medical Training Center

Local, state and national leaders gave the new Scottsdale Healthcare Military Training Center a "thumbs up" during grand opening dedication ceremonies held Jan. 19.

21 Jan 2011

Supreme Court considers drug-pricing lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court questioned in oral arguments whether local governments and their hospitals can sue pharmaceutical companies over drug-pricing agreements with HHS.

21 Jan 2011

NGOs, IAOMT urge to ban mercury-containing products, including dental amalgam

Mercury, the main ingredient in "silver" or amalgam fillings, will be the subject of a United Nations conference to be held in Chiba, Japan on January 24-28. Members of various non-governmental organizations, as well as dentists and scientists from groups such as the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, will be attending and urging a ban on products containing mercury, including dental amalgam.

21 Jan 2011

Viewpoints: Endorsing - and repudiating - health law repeal; Gov. Brewer on Ariz. Medicaid; Medical devices 'red tape'

The reason the GOP never got around to proposing a serious plan to expand coverage and control costs is because doing that is excruciatingly hard and politically dangerous. Look how long Democrats struggled to craft a measure and what happened to them after they passed it.

21 Jan 2011

After vote, GOP's real work begins

Although the House repeal vote was a big-ticket item that gained a lot of media attention, the real work in the Republican effort to undo the health law will involve hearings, testimony, funding cuts and targeted legislative attempts to change specific provisions. The GOP will also work on crafting an alternative health plan. So far, specifics have been scarce.

21 Jan 2011

Health law: Filling in some policy details

News outlets flesh out specific provisions of the health law, including how some aspects of the measure impact small businesses, state implementation efforts and the individual mandate.

21 Jan 2011