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The Democrats' 2010 health reform plan evokes 1993 Republican bill

Kaiser Health News Maggie Mertens spoke to former Sen. Dave Durenberger, R-Minn., about his take on past and present health reform politics. In 1993, at the height of President Bill Clinton's health care reform initiative, Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., along with 19 other Republicans and two Democrats, put forth a bill which was considered the major GOP proposal.

24 Feb 2010

House to vote on ending insurer antitrust exemption today, White House backs measure

The Obama administration is supporting a House bill that would end the federal antitrust exemption for health insurers.

24 Feb 2010

Democrats revisit reconciliation as means to pass overhaul

Reconciliation, a parliamentary tactic that could allow Congress to pass health reform with a simple Senate majority, was dismissed weeks ago by centrist Democrats, but some of those lawmakers are now warming to the approach, clearing a possible avenue for passage of the overhaul, Politico reports. "Obviously, if the minority is just frustrating the process, that argues for taking steps to get the public's business done," said Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., one of the senators to reverse course on reconciliation (Budoff Brown, 2/23).

24 Feb 2010

Anthem Blue Cross will go forward with rate hikes, execs tell Calif. lawmakers

Anthem Blue Cross executives told California lawmakers Tuesday that they plan to go ahead with a rate hike of up to 39 percent for individual health insurance policies.

24 Feb 2010

Abortion, public option questions remain

The Wall Street Journal: "Abortion was one of the final matters to be resolved in December when the Senate created its version of the health-care bill, with a carefully crafted compromise that left neither side in the debate happy.

24 Feb 2010

American People's Online Health Summit to be hosted in response to bipartisan health summit

In response to President Barack Obama's bipartisan health summit on February 25, Newt Gingrich's Center for Health Transformation will host the "American People's Online Health Summit," a LIVE blog to engage the American people in health reform negotiations and give them a voice in Washington.

24 Feb 2010

Eaton to supply $8M in electrical products and services to support consolidation of two medical centers

Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation (NYSE:ETN) today announced that it will supply $8 million in electrical products and services to support the consolidation of two medical centers into the new San Antonio Military Medical Center on the Fort Sam Houston Army base in Texas.

24 Feb 2010

Centrist Dems have mixed responses to new Obama health plan

"The sweeping health-care package unveiled this week by the White House appears to face big hurdles in the House, with abortion and unease among moderates potential stumbling blocks to winning passage of the legislation," The Wall Street Journal reports. President Obama's proposal Monday has "drawn mixed reviews from moderate Democrats," who face electoral pressures and in some cases dispute specific policy ideas. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., for instance, "criticized a new White House provision that would give the federal government powers to hold down insurance premiums, saying that should be up to the states" (Adamy and Hitt, 2/24).

24 Feb 2010

Reid wants COBRA subsidy extension, eyes Medicaid funds for states

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to extend unemployment benefits, health insurance subsidies for those recently laid-off and help for state Medicaid budgets that would in total cost $100 billion, The Associated Press reports. The measure is separate from the jobs bill. "Facing a Feb. 28 deadline, Reid hopes to pass two measures, one as soon as possible. The first includes a 30-day extension of several of soon-to-expire provisions such as jobless aid, parts of the Patriot Act and prevention of cuts in Medicare payments to doctors."

24 Feb 2010

A bird's-eye view of health overhaul lobbying

The Center for Public Integrity's new "analysis of Senate lobbying disclosure forms shows that more than 1,750 companies and organizations hired about 4,525 lobbyists — eight for each member of Congress — to influence health reform bills in 2009."

24 Feb 2010

Holy Name Hospital implements Fujitsu PalmSecure authentication technology for patient registration and identification

Fujitsu Frontech North America Inc., a leading supplier of innovative computer products including peripherals and biometric security solutions, today announced that Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, N.J. is the first hospital in New Jersey to implement the Fujitsu PalmSecure™ palm vein authentication technology for patient registration and identification. The Fujitsu PalmSecure biometric solution integrates into Holy Name's new Palm First registration system to bolster security of medical records and enhance the overall patient experience.

24 Feb 2010

State regulators criticize Obama plan to create federal authority over health insurance rates

Kaiser Health News staff writers Phil Galewitz and Julie Appleby spoke with three veteran state insurance commissioners and found that "state insurance regulators said President Barack Obama goes too far with his proposal

24 Feb 2010

Sound Physicians integrates Mount Carmel East Hospital’s hospitalist services

Sound Physicians, a leading hospital medicine organization, recently integrated Mount Carmel East Hospital’s hospitalist services. Mount Carmel East joins a number of hospitals enlisting Sound Physicians to transition their existing private practice affiliated hospitalist groups into a comprehensive hospitalist program, managed by Sound Physicians.

24 Feb 2010

NeHII implements Axolotl’s Elysium Exchange platform at Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital

NeHII, the Nebraska Health Information Initiative, a statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE) designed to share clinical and administrative data among providers in Nebraska, today announced its successful expansion to Central Nebraska. The physicians and medical staff of Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, serving the city of Hastings, are able to communicate electronically and exchange patient information with other hospitals and physicians throughout the state.

24 Feb 2010

WaveMark introduces new RFID smart cabinets for hospitals

WaveMark, Inc., a leading provider of real-time inventory management (RTIM) solutions for high value medical products, today announced several new RFID smart cabinet styles to store and track a wider variety of critical supplies used in specialty departments.

24 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 24, 2010

Today's headlines focus on the run-up to tomorrow's White House health summit as well as the latest from Capitol Hill regarding the outlook for health reform.

24 Feb 2010

Asparity Decision Solutions reports 50,000 federal employees become better health care consumers

Asparity Decision Solutions, a leading provider of decision support and data solutions in health care and employee benefits, reports that 50,000 federal employees used PlanSmartChoice during the 2010 federal open season to become better health care consumers.

24 Feb 2010

Lack of knowledge and awareness impeding efforts to control HBV and HCV

A recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) confirmed that 3.5 to 5.3 million people (1-2 % of the U.S. population) have chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Despite efforts by federal, state and local government agencies to control and prevent these diseases, they remain a serious public health concern. The major factor impeding efforts to control HBV and HCV is lack of knowledge and awareness among health care providers, social service professionals, members of the public, and policy-makers.

24 Feb 2010

FDA's warning over LABA medications for asthma: AANMA offers guidance

Today Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) offered guidance to help patients understand recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warnings about Advair ® (fluticasone and salmeterol), Foradil ® (formoterol), Severent ® (salmeterol) and Symbicort ® (budesonide and formoterol), daily inhaled medications containing a long-acting beta agonist (LABA, a 12-hour bronchodilator).

24 Feb 2010

Pain-free sedation dentistry may help reduce fear of the dentist

Fear of the dentist is a huge problem in the United States. While as many as four out of five Americans admit being afraid of the dentist, it is estimated that one in seven Americans never get any dental treatment at all because of dental phobia. Sedation dentistry is a pain-free option.

24 Feb 2010