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Medicaid growth in Utah slows; Arizona sees drop in CHIP beneficiaries

"Utah's Medicaid rolls grew by 405 people in April, the smallest monthly increase since March 2008, the start of an unprecedented growth streak for the low-income health program. Unemployment has also slowed, which economists believe is an early sign of economic recovery" (Stewart, 5/17).

18 May 2010

Five-day World Health Assembly meeting kicks off in Geneva

The annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) convened on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/Monsters and Critics.com reports. According to the news service, influenza vaccines, the fight against tuberculosis, intellectual property and reducing counterfeit drugs will be discussed (4/17).

18 May 2010

Insurance regulators wrestle with definition of 'unreasonable' rate increases

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby writes about the challenge of defining terms like "unreasonable": "When WellPoint proposed up to a 39 percent premium increase for some of its California customers, it touched off a storm of criticism that helped boost passage of the new health care law" (Appleby, 5/17).

18 May 2010

Employer-provided health insurance to remain dominant under health law

News outlets report on employer-provided health insurance and suggest that the overall number of Americans who are insured through their workplace is unlikely to change substantially under the health law.

18 May 2010

Insurance groups seek to limit health law damage with medical-loss ratio definitions

Insurance groups are wrangling with regulators on defining a few key terms that will significantly alter how they do business under the new health reform law.

18 May 2010

Four largest insurers in Mass. post first-quarter losses

The Boston Globe's Business Updates: Massachusetts' "four biggest health insurers today posted first-quarter losses totalling more than $150 million, with three of the carriers blaming the bulk of their deficit on the Patrick administration's decision to cap rate increases for individuals and small businesses." Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Health Plan and Fallon Community Health Plan all reported loses.

18 May 2010

Democrats strategize by touting early benefits but in some areas party is facing tough fight

Democrats enlisted a reliable strategy by "front-loading their legislation with consumer-friendly, insurance industry reforms and other fixes they hope will generate support for the new law in the run-up to the pivotal midterm elections." Democrats are hoping that a skeptical public will come around to their side of the equation, but Republicans say voters will remember all the legislation, not just part of it, when they vote in November.

18 May 2010

USAID's Shah on six-day visit to Africa

"[O]n his first visit to Africa since taking charge as the administrator of USAID in January," Rajiv Shah said in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday that the agency "is working to make Africa a bigger priority within the organization," the Associated Press writes. USAID, which "funds and runs programs to improve health, food security, democracy and entrepreneurship in Africa," has offices in 23 countries on the continent, according to the AP (5/15).

17 May 2010

Cardiocom releases new pulse oximeter

Cardiocom today announced the release of its new pulse oximeter. Cardiocom's internally developed pulse oximeter offers better integration with its telehealth platform. Cardiocom designs and manufactures telehealth communication devices and vital sign peripherals including: blood pressure system, weight scale, and now offers its new pulse oximeter.

17 May 2010

To achieve MDGs, economic policies must help poor, UNDP head says

Economic policies that help the poor will bring the world closer to meeting the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] - "[g]lobal targets to halve poverty and improve basic health by 2015," Helen Clark, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) administrator, said Friday at the end of a four-nation tour of Africa, Agence France-Presse reports.

17 May 2010

Medicare cuts for physicians loom, yet again

A 21 percent reduction in Medicare reimbursements that has loomed over physicians all year will go into effect on June 1, unless Congress acts to further delay the cuts, CNNMoney reports. "If the proposed cuts go through, physicians are worried their practices will be so strapped that they'll have to drop some of the 43 million Americans who are covered under Medicare."

17 May 2010

KHN Column: The health care cost problem we refuse to see

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Austin Frakt writes: "I agree with those who think the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act doesn't do enough soon enough to control the rate of increase in health insurance premiums.

17 May 2010

Health law's affect on ERs, doctors' panel, young adults examined

Officials and stakeholders are examining the new health reform law for changes that the reform will mean for their organizations and industries.

17 May 2010

Today's Opinions and Editorials: Support for Berwick and health reform's next tests

He is well-qualified to make the many crucial decisions surrounding Medicare and Medicaid, and could end up being one of the most significant appointees in the administration (5/17).

17 May 2010

Hospitals to get more bargaining clout for medical devices

The Wall Street Journal: "Hospitals lack leverage when negotiating prices for high-cost implants like defibrillators and replacement hips because individual doctors, rather than hospitals, typically select the products they use in their patients. Since these doctors often aren't hospital employees, they have little incentive to bargain-hunt.

17 May 2010

IRS to announce tax credit rules for small business health premiums

The Associated Press: "Pitching President Barack Obama's health care law to skeptical business owners, the IRS on Monday will announce ground rules for small firms wishing to claim a new federal tax credit for health insurance." The tax credit, which was created by the new health overhaul law, "covers up to 35 percent of the premiums that certain small businesses pay on behalf of their workers.

17 May 2010

Dartmouth to start health care delivery research center

"Dartmouth College is getting $35 million to open a center it hopes will help the nation take the next big steps in health care reform: improving quality while lowering costs," The Associated Press reports.

17 May 2010

Halozyme announces voluntary HYLENEX product recall

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that Halozyme and Baxter have confirmed the presence of small flake-like glass particles in a limited number of vials of HYLENEX® (hyaluronidase human injection) product at the Baxter manufacturing facility. Earlier today, Halozyme notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that it is voluntarily recalling affected lots of 150U HYLENEX product from distribution.

17 May 2010

Freescale Semiconductor receives ZigBee Certification for wireless health and wellness solutions

Freescale Semiconductor today announced it has received ZigBee Certified product status for its ZigBee Health Care wireless health and wellness processing platforms. The ZigBee Certified products status is awarded to products that have been tested and met criteria for interoperability that enable wireless devices to securely and reliably monitor and manage noncritical, low-acuity health care services.

17 May 2010

First Edition: May 17, 2010

Today's headlines highlight stories about efforts to advance the implementation of federal health reforms as well as the sweeping measure's political impact in primary races across the country.

17 May 2010