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APHA urges U.S. House of Representatives to support health reform legislation

The American Public Health Association today urged members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support the health reform legislation and related reconciliation improvements that will come to the House floor for a vote in the coming days.

20 Mar 2010

Hospital costs for treating septicemia increased from $4.1 billion in 1997 to $12.3 billion in 2007

The hospital costs for treating septicemia increased by an average of nearly 12 percent each year from 1997 to 2007, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Treating this potentially deadly blood infection increased from $4.1 billion in 1997 to $12.3 billion in 2007.

20 Mar 2010

House Democrats prepare for Sunday vote on health reconciliation bill

The Associated Press: "In seeking enough votes to overhaul the nation's health care system, President Barack Obama is telling nervous Democratic lawmakers that their political fates are linked to the bill's passage, discouraging the notion that they can save themselves by opposing it, House members say." White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs "who said the president has spoken with more than three dozen Democratic lawmakers since Monday, repeatedly sidestepped questions of whether Obama has told them his presidency's fate depends on the legislation's passage" (Babington, 3/19).

20 Mar 2010

Myths and explainers about health reform bill and Congressional procedures

The Washington Post reports on a few of the misconceptions that are creating "the mythology about how we got here." The "myths" examined include "this could have been a bipartisan bill," "Democrats gave up on the public option too soon," "Scott Brown changed everything," "the public is undecided about health-care reform," and "how lawmakers vote on health-care reform will be the top issue in the 2010 midterm elections" (Cillizza, 3/21).

20 Mar 2010

Arthritis Foundation supports Congress’ efforts for meaningful health care reform

The Arthritis Foundation supports the efforts of Congress to enact meaningful health care reform to address the health care needs of the 46 million men, women and children with arthritis.

20 Mar 2010

Hospital News: Insurer negotiations, exemptions at risk, and Florida money trouble

Hospitals are pushing for higher reimbursement rates - in some cases, raises of more than 20 percent - and insurers are increasingly fighting back, The Wall Street Journal reports. "Hospitals argue that low Medicare rates and cuts to Medicaid mean that hospitals have to get money from elsewhere, and increasingly that is private insurers.

20 Mar 2010

Obama emphasizes historic nature of health care vote during final rally

The Washington Post: "Thousands of people rallied loudly for passage of health-care legislation in Northern Virginia Friday as President Obama tried one final time to demonstrate public support for the health-care bill that is moving toward a Sunday afternoon vote in Congress.

20 Mar 2010

For undecided lawmakers, health care bill is personal

Politico: The decision on how to vote on the health care overhaul affects members differently than nearly any other issue. "[N]o other single issue — civil rights, Medicare, even war in this age of professional armies — quite matches the personal side of health care's stubborn details. … Everybody gets sick; everybody dies.

20 Mar 2010

NMA supports health system reform

"The National Medical Association believes the passage of health care legislation this weekend will be one of the most important steps Congress can take in securing America's future," remarked Dr. Willarda V. Edwards, president of the National Medical Association. "The NMA is hopeful that Sunday's vote will bring relief to millions of Americans who wonder what will happen to them if they get sick," she continued.

20 Mar 2010

Obama, Dem leaders confident about health reform legislation

The Wall Street Journal / Dow Jones: "House Democratic leaders expressed confidence Friday that they would have enough votes to pass health-care legislation, picking up one new 'yes' vote and promising that they would resolve lingering concerns raised by undecided Democrats." A House vote is planned for Sunday.

20 Mar 2010

KHN columns explore how abortion funding issues are factoring into health reform

In one Kaiser Health News column, Jessica Arons writes: "In an attempt to keep health reform from being torpedoed by the ever-contentious topic of abortion, advocates and opponents of abortion rights were expected to agree that legislation would preserve the "status quo" on abortion law and not be used to advance or restrict abortion rights.

20 Mar 2010

Report highlights gains in malaria fight, documents need for more funding

Global funding for efforts to fight malaria, which stood at $2 billion at the end of 2009, have "helped to contain the disease," but is "far short of the estimated $6 billion required annually to expand" efforts to fight it, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership said on Thursday, Reuters reports. The statements came as the partnership released a report (.pdf) that examined a decade's worth of global funding for malaria and its impact on fighting the disease (Hardach, 3/18).

20 Mar 2010

Details of Democratic tweaks to health bill

News reports scour the latest health overhaul bill for specific provisions and adjustments.

20 Mar 2010

BCBSAZ recognized with Brand Excellence Award in Enrollment Growth category

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona announced today that it has received a Brand Excellence Award from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The annual awards honor Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that excel in developing and enhancing the overall Blue Cross and Blue Shield brand image.

20 Mar 2010

CCAGW calls upon Congress to vote against healthcare bill

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste today called upon Congress to reject any attempts to alter the nation’s healthcare system using parliamentary gimmicks and urged members to vote against the bill.

20 Mar 2010

Canadian Prime Minister says he's open to including contraception in G8 plan for improving maternal, child health

"Facing a squall of condemnation from aid groups and opposition politicians," following statements by Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon that Canada's G8 maternal and child health initiative would not include family planning, Prime Minister Stephen Harper "disavowed his foreign minister Thursday, promising that the federal government would include contraception programs in its maternal-health foreign-aid initiative," the Globe and Mail reports.

20 Mar 2010

NYBC joins "Honor Roll of Life" of US blood centers to support Haiti relief effort

New York Blood Center, serving New York City, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, and New Jersey, has provided a contribution of $76,250, and has joined the "Honor Roll of Life" of US blood centers providing units of blood directly to the Haiti relief effort.

20 Mar 2010

CBO numbers buoy Democrats eyeing Sunday health reform vote

Democrats unveiled a health overhaul reconciliation bill the Congressional Budget Office says will cost $940 billion but also cut the deficit by $138 billion over the next 10 years.

20 Mar 2010

'Cadillac' insurance plans explained

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jenny Gold, in collaboration with NPR, provides an update to explain the latest on how these high-cost insurance plans are treated in the latest health reform package.

20 Mar 2010

AARP urges Congressmen to support health care bill and help deliver relief to Idahoans

Hundreds of thousands of Idahoans unable to afford health care or struggling to pay soaring health care costs are watching Congress and hoping for relief. With a final showdown looming on health insurance reform legislation in Washington, D.C., AARP announced this morning it will back the bill containing key reform provisions, improving health care for older Americans and their families.

20 Mar 2010