Healthcare News

RSS

Health providers make cuts, changes and gambles in face-off with economy

News reports this weekend highlight several developments as medical providers respond to changing economic forces, and in some cases, clashes of personality.

19 Oct 2009

White House hedging bets on public option in health bills

The Associated Press "The White House is waiting for Congress to settle on a final health care bill, even though President Barack Obama has a clear preference in favor of at least one specific — the much-debated public option, advisers said. Obama, however, will not demand that legislation include a government-run insurance plan intended to drive down costs through competition with private insurers, they said."

19 Oct 2009

Analysts urge Democrats to tailor health reform pitch to women

Politico reports that provisions addressing women's concerns about health care may help Democrats build public support for their overhaul plans and grease the passage of a bill.

19 Oct 2009

Workers to pay more for health care next year, consultants say

Co-pays and deductibles are likely to increase in 2010 for employees, Hewitt Associates, a consulting group, says.

19 Oct 2009

SEIU opts out of ad campaign opposing tax on 'Cadillac' plans

The healthcare negotiator for one of nation's most powerful unions made clear that it opposes a tax on high-cost-insurance plans, despite abstaining from an multi-union campaign objecting to the plan," The Hill reports. "The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was not among the 27 unions to sign on to an ad criticizing a proposed tax on 'Cadillac' insurance plans that was included in the Senate Finance Committee healthcare bill."

19 Oct 2009

Young adults struggle finding health care coverage

Young adults represent the largest group of uninsured people while they also increasingly report mental health issues in college.

19 Oct 2009

Medicaid expansion could hit struggling state budgets

"The government programs that provide health care to the poor would expand to cover nearly one in five Americans under health insurance legislation pending in Congress, putting pressure on federal and state budgets," USA Today reports.

19 Oct 2009

Is 'model health system' Geisinger replicable elsewhere?

Geisinger Health System, in central Pennsylvania, has been widely hailed as a model for health reform by leading Democrats including President Obama, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. But, its success may hinge on "a rare combination of factors" including "a relative lack of competition, its stable patient base, and the fact that its 800 doctors are on salary," as well as an in-house pharmacy and insurance plan that covers one-third of its patients.

19 Oct 2009

Health reform bills may not protect consumers from treatment denials

"Despite growing frustration with the way health insurers deny medical treatments, major healthcare bills pending in Congress would give patients little new power to challenge those sometimes life-and-death decisions," The Los Angeles Times reports.

19 Oct 2009

Insurers, other health businesses examine effect of reform bills

Health care industry CEOs are analyzing their wins and losses in the bills being considered in Congress.

19 Oct 2009

eHealth launches new website to help consumers learn about Medicare health plan options

Today, eHealth, Inc., parent company of eHealthInsurance, the leading online source of health insurance for individuals, families, and small businesses, announced the launch of a new online service to help consumers learn about, and get access to, quality Medicare health plan options.

19 Oct 2009

CSC's HealthSpace Advisor selected by GHHS to optimize revenue generation

CSC today announced that the Georgia Hospital Health Services (GHHS), a subsidiary of the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA), has selected CSC's HealthSpace Advisor, a Web-based benchmarking tool introduced earlier this year, to help member hospitals analyze how effectively they use space in key revenue generating areas.

19 Oct 2009

SequelMed Patient Portal launched by Sequel Systems

Sequel Systems, Inc., a dynamic, service-oriented healthcare technology company, today announced the launch and general availability of SequelMed Patient Portal™, a new, Web-based tool that improves and speeds up communication between physicians and patients, giving patients instant access to their personal health information, and allowing physicians and other healthcare providers more time to focus on delivering the best possible care. SequelMed Patient Portal is the latest addition to Sequel Systems’ suite of healthcare solutions, which includes an electronic health record (EHR), practice and document management software, and e-prescribing technology. More than 12,000 physicians in all 50 states and representing all major specialties currently use the company’s solutions.

19 Oct 2009

Premier Plastic Surgery redesigns its website to provide more information of cosmetic surgery

Premier Plastic Surgery of Kansas City, serving residents of Kansas City and beyond for 22 years, has redesigned its extensive website to include a separate section on Cosmetic Surgery for Males, a new Skin Care Centre, and a Plastic Surgery Blog that features breaking news on emerging research, techniques and products.

19 Oct 2009

First Edition: October 19, 2009

Five Rivers Medical Center in Pocahontas, Ark., needs help to get a highly coveted "critical access" hospital designation - and the extra Medicare funding that comes with it. Sen. Mark Pryor, an Arkansas Democrat, intends to provide it.

19 Oct 2009

$Online education programs for medical professionals at a fraction of the cost of travel-based programs$

Online education programs for medical professionals at a fraction of the cost of travel-based programs

With business travel budgets expected to remain tight through 2010, online clinical best practice programs may offer the healthcare industry its best educational value, according to Sara McMannus, Program Manager of GE Healthcare’s Global Clinical Best Practice Education. “Vendor-neutral, online programs provide education on-demand at a fraction of the cost of travel-based programs,” she said.

19 Oct 2009

Mcconnell: GOP will seek amendments to offset cost of Medicare physician pay fix

"U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters Thursday that Senate Republicans will offer amendments to offset the cost of a 10-year, $247 billion Medicare physician payment bill set for debate next week," according to The Wall Street Journal. The GOP amendments, he said, would "either pay for a one-year fix for Medicare physician payment rates - set to drop 21% in January - or a 10-year fix, possibly paid for with unused funds from the $787 billion fiscal stimulus measure passed earlier this year."

19 Oct 2009