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DOD struggles with health care costs, VA faces challenges in providing care

Defense Secretary Robert Gate spoke about the need to control soaring defense costs, especially health care expenses, while Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki responded to several health care challenges facing veterans' health care.

12 May 2010

Transparency debate: Leftover of health overhaul

Some lawmakers, from both parties, have proposed more aggressive legislation to unveil the prices of health care services, arguing that the recently passed health overhaul doesn't go far enough on this topic, Politico reports. "Rep. Steve Kagen (D-Wis.), a physician, has introduced a bill that would require all health care providers — from hospitals to insurance companies — to disclose publicly all prices on a continual basis."

12 May 2010

Sebelius heralds early successes of health law

"In a letter to leaders of Congress, the secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius, reported on Monday that the Obama administration is moving quickly to carry out the expansive new health care law, particularly provisions that she referred to as 'early insurance market reforms,'" The New York Times reports.

12 May 2010

Parents of autistic children say health reform should help them

The Dallas Morning News: Parents and families of autistic children and adults are hoping that the federal health law will help them. "The new federal regulations will prohibit spending caps, prevent insurers from excluding pre-existing conditions and behavioral health care, and extend dependent care to age 26.

12 May 2010

Obama administration issues rules for young adults on parents' insurance plans

The Obama administration Monday issued rules to allow children as old as age 26 to remain on their parents' health insurance plans, but such changes will likely increase the cost of insurance for families next year.

12 May 2010

COBRA subsidy slowed growth of uninsured, report says

USA Today reports that a new Treasury Department study says the federal COBRA subsidy to allow people to keep their employer's health insurance after being laid off "may have slowed the growth in the number of uninsured Americans during the recession.

12 May 2010

CMS will keep a close eye on 'innovation' funding

Funds for new Medicare experiments -- appropriated as part of the health law -- may require special scrutiny to ensure they are spent correctly, a Medicare official said, CongressDaily/NextGov reports.

12 May 2010

Health reform questions likely to arise in Supreme Court nominee's confirmation hearings

GOP lawmakers may grill President Barack Obama's latest Supreme Court nominee, Elana Kagan, over her views on the recent health overhaul law, Modern Healthcare reports.

12 May 2010

Nurses lobby for more protections; Med school enrollment misses target

News outlets are covering medical professionals: a rally to combat the nursing shortage, medical school enrollment shortfalls and internationally-trained doctors.

12 May 2010

FDA approves software upgrade to Boston Scientific's LATITUDE Patient Management system

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for LATITUDE 6.0, a software upgrade to the Company's LATITUDE® Patient Management system. The LATITUDE system enables physicians to remotely monitor patients with implantable cardiac devices. The upgrade provides enhanced functionality, including the ability to view an expanded history of a patient's remote follow-up data.

12 May 2010

Health on the hill: Health insurance coverage for young adults moves forward

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey talks with the Kaiser Family Foundation's Jackie Judd about newly released proposed regulation "to implement a provision in the health care law that would allow adult children to stay on their parents' health insurance policy until age 26" (5/10).

12 May 2010

Health overhaul provisions raise moral, religious debates

The new health law has renewed concerns about some moral and religious issues, such as the government's role in providing sex education and health care workers' ability to opt out of providing end-of-life care and abortions.

12 May 2010

States take legal action against health law

The New York Times reports on the lawsuit challenging the new health law brought by 20 states. "Some legal scholars, including some who normally lean to the left, believe the states have identified the law's weak spot and devised a credible theory for eviscerating it. … The power of their argument lies in questioning whether Congress can regulate inactivity — in this case by levying a tax penalty on those who do not obtain health insurance.

12 May 2010

Cities struggle to pay for health benefits for active, retired workers

The Sacramento Bee reports that 12 of 13 school districts in Sacramento County don't have enough money to pay for their retirees' health benefits "and are not setting aside money to pay for them, according to a grand jury report released Monday."

12 May 2010

Debate over benefits and privacy concerns in the proposed Australian e-health scheme

There has been a move towards complete computerization of health and related information in the Australian Government’s e-health scheme that will be set up in the next two years. This scheme is purported to cost $467 million of taxpayers’ money. The plan has been criticized because of the fear that all test results; prescriptions etc. will then be available on a national database and accessible over the internet.

11 May 2010

Overtime workers at 60% higher risk of heart-related problems

Working overtime is bad for the heart according to results from a long-running study following more than 10,000 civil servants in London (UK): the Whitehall II study.

11 May 2010

First Edition: May 11, 2010

Today's coverage includes more details regarding how the new health law moves forward with efforts to provide health insurance coverage to young adults.

11 May 2010

Health Evolution Partners releases 2010 Health Industry Landscape Report

David J. Brailer, MD, PhD, Chairman of Health Evolution Partners, announced the firm's release of the 2010 Health Industry Landscape Report.

11 May 2010

FDA, CDC confirm connection between romaine lettuce and E.coli 0145 foodborne illness outbreak

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its state health partners have confirmed that the strain of E. coli O145 detected by the New York State Public Health Laboratory, Wadsworth Center, in Albany, in an unopened bag of shredded romaine lettuce distributed by Freshway Foods, matches the outbreak strain of E. coli O145.

11 May 2010

Minn. negotiators seek compromise to expand Medicaid while a nursing home tax and cuts to a screening program grab headlines in other states

The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune: Members of a legislative conference committee in Minnesota "agreed Sunday that expanding Medicaid should be part of the eventual compromise they will take to the House and Senate as early as Monday in a package of health and human service measures to cut the state's budget deficit. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has strongly opposed expanding Medicaid to cover health care for childless adults earning less than 75 percent of the poverty guideline.

11 May 2010