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Report: Nonprofit insurers collected billions in surplus while hiking premiums

An analysis by Consumers Union has found that non-profit Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans collected billions of dollars in surplus over the past decade while raising premiums for customers.

23 Jul 2010

Unapproved cyanide antidote kits seized from Keystone Pharmaceuticals

At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Marshals today seized $39,000 worth of products labeled as cyanide antidote kits from Keystone Pharmaceuticals in Laguna Hills, California. The seizure warrant was issued by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

23 Jul 2010

New rules guarantee patients' right to appeal insurance claim denials

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz and Michelle Andrews, working in collaboration with The Washington Post, report on new rules being issued today by the Obama administration.

23 Jul 2010

BDSRA designates Nationwide Children's Hospital as Batten Disease Center of Excellence

Nationwide Children's Hospital has been selected as a Center of Excellence by the Batten Disease Support and Research Association (BDSRA), the largest research and support organization in North America for families that have children with Batten disease. BDSRA chose Nationwide Children's because of its clinical and research history with the disease and its ability to provide comprehensive care for these unique children.

23 Jul 2010

Many House Democrats trying to revive 'public option' with new bill

More than 120 Democrats in the House are pushing a new bill to reintroduce a discarded idea from the health overhaul debate last year: the "public option," Los Angeles Times/Tribune reports. "The idea of creating a major government health insurance program was roundly rejected last year, but the 128 House Democrats pushing to reconsider the idea are now advancing the argument that it would help hold down federal spending.

23 Jul 2010

No COBRA subsidy in Senate-passed unemployment benefits bill

"U.S. workers who lost their jobs as of June 1 won't be eligible for a 65 percent federal subsidy to help pay for health insurance under an unemployment bill the Senate approved yesterday," Bloomberg reports. That provision and other assistance programs were stripped from the jobless bill because of concerns about how to pay for them.

23 Jul 2010

More homeowners modify houses to "age in place"

The Seattle Times/The Orlando Sentinel: "The new catch phrase among homeowners is 'aging in place.' Instead of selling their homes and moving into retirement villages or assisted-living quarters, a growing number of older Americans are modifying their homes to make them more user-friendly as they age. The concept has caught on so successfully, it even has its own National Aging in Place Week, which falls on Oct. 11-16 this year."

23 Jul 2010

Michigan challenge to health law begins

The Detroit News: On Wednesday, "[a] federal judge heard arguments [in the] lawsuit that is being watched nationwide for its challenge of congressional authority to reform health care in a way that would penalize citizens who fail to obtain their own health insurance." The attorney for one plaintiff, The Thomas More Law Center, a group espousing religious principles, said, "There is no precedent for this power grab" (Guthrie, 7/22).

23 Jul 2010

New findings on "successful aging"

What, exactly, does "successful aging" mean? For more than a half century, researchers and gerontologists have argued whether successful aging is better defined subjectively or objectively (physical disease-related disability or mental decline). Answering this question is more than an academic exercise. As the first members of the famed "baby boom generation" reach age 65, understanding what it means to remain healthy and independent in later life could have an enormous impact on health care delivery and medical policy.

23 Jul 2010

Funding for new medical ventures improving

The Dallas Morning News reports on the funding climate for health care technology startups.

23 Jul 2010

2010 Life Beyond Cancer Retreat invites applications

The Life Beyond Cancer Foundation is calling for applications from cancer survivors, oncology nurses, social workers, oncologists, and primary care physicians who help diagnose cancer to attend the 2010 Life Beyond Cancer Retreat. The 11th annual retreat, held Nov. 18 – 21 at Lakeway Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas, helps women rekindle their spirits, relax their minds and bodies, and rejuvenate their souls.

23 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010 studies, releases: Criminalization, discrimination of high-risk groups; Test-and-treat; UNAIDS launches HIV prevention commission

The criminalization of men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people in Asia is holding back efforts to contain HIV/AIDS in the region, according to a report presented Wednesday by the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) and Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health at the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010, VOA News reports. The report "linked the criminalization of homosexual behavior to an increase in the infection rate of HIV and AIDS in Asia," the news service writes (Dewan, 7/21).

23 Jul 2010

Early bird registration for 2nd International Symposium on MR-guided Focused Ultrasound ends on July 31, 2010

The Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation today issued a reminder that early bird registration discounts will end on Saturday, July 31 for the upcoming 2nd International Symposium on MR-guided Focused Ultrasound.

23 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010: Halving HIV/TB co-infection deaths; Financial transaction tax discussed, and more

UNAIDS and the Stop TB Partnership joined together on Thursday at the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010 in Vienna, Austria, with the goal of preventing 200,000 deaths annually from HIV and tuberculosis co-infection, Agence France-Presse reports. TB is the number one killer of people living with HIV/AIDS (Ingham, 7/22).

23 Jul 2010

KHN column -- Massachusetts shows federal reform headed for trouble

In this Kaiser Health News column, Grace-Marie Turner writes that Massachusetts' health reform has increased demand without increasing the supply of health care providers, it continues to keep people in the dark about the true cost of health care and health insurance, and has not changed incentives for people to seek more affordable options or for a truly competitive marketplace.

23 Jul 2010

Zsa Zsa Gabor's fall prompts orthopaedic surgeons' advisory to seniors and caregivers

Approximately 66 million Americans care for their aging parents and each year, one in three older Americans fall in their own home. Just this week, 93-year-old actress Zsa Zsa Gabor fell out of bed and broke her hip, ultimately she required hip replacement surgery. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) knows that a fall in the home can be both life threatening and debilitating. Older Americans and their caregivers can take a proactive approach using the following AAOS guidelines to help keep seniors fall and injury-free.

23 Jul 2010

KHN column – Dispatch from Massachusetts: The individual mandate is working

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Austin Frakt writes: "In Massachusetts, the individual mandate requiring state residents to buy health insurance is working. Yet, a similar requirement remains among the more controversial elements of the new national health reform law. Opponents of the mandate resent being required to purchase a product they may not want.

23 Jul 2010

Today's OpEds: The challenge of medicare spending; Two views of Massachussets; Regulating premiums

Health reform can be assessed from the perspective of four groups that collectively include most Americans. For those who are now in Medicaid or who are uninsured, reform will be a major gain. For those who obtain health insurance in the individual and small-group markets, reform should bring improvements. For those who have health insurance from midsize- and large-group insurers, reform will bring little change. Finally, for Medicare beneficiaries, reform promises to bring positive change.

23 Jul 2010

Call for greater support in mental health services for children

As support for funds for mental ailments mounts, a coalition of mental health experts are lobbying for greater support for mental health services for children. The coalition comprises The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists; the Australian Psychological Society; NIFTeY (National Investment for the Early Years); the Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association; the Australian Association of Infant Mental Health, and the Australian Child and Adolescent Trauma, Loss and Grief Network.

22 Jul 2010

MedeAnalytics, Health Net enter agreement to provide healthcare performance management solutions

MedeAnalytics, a leading provider of healthcare performance management solutions, announced that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with Health Net, Inc. to provide performance management solutions for Health Net's health plan operations and Medicare products. The solutions will enhance Health Net's current data analytics capabilities and include Medical Management Analytics, Provider Network Management Analytics and Operations Performance Management.

22 Jul 2010