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Congressional townhall panel to discuss the economic and moral implications of health care reform

This Friday, September 18th at 9:50 am, FRC Action will host a Congressional townhall panel that will discuss the economic and moral implications of health care reform. The panel will be a part of the fourth annual Values Voter Summit and will feature Congressman Tom Price (R-GA), Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ). The panel will also take questions from the audience.

17 Sep 2009

State News Round-up: States trim budgets, experiment with reform ideas

News outlets report on a variety of state health stories including the Connector in Massachusetts, mental health care in Texas, hospital payments in Vermont, increased health insurance coverage in California and Republican efforts with employer insurance in Florida.

17 Sep 2009

NCSBN's new book examines instances of nursing practice breakdown

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) announces the release of "Nursing Pathways for Patient Safety," a new book which advocates an innovative approach to examining instances of nursing practice breakdown.

17 Sep 2009

Speaker Pelosi remarks on benefits for children in health insurance reform

Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks at an event for the Children's Health Fund this afternoon on the West Front Lawn of the Capitol to raise awareness for the more than 21 million children who will benefit from health insurance reform.

17 Sep 2009

Unemployed and uninsured to have easy access to free medicines from GSK

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) today announced that it is making free medicines easier to obtain for patients who are unemployed, uninsured or struggling to make ends meet.

17 Sep 2009

Health plans will continue working with members of Congress to enact bipartisan legislation: AHIP

"Senator Max Baucus has led an unprecedented and rigorous bipartisan process to enact health care reform this year and challenged all stakeholders to contribute to this process. The introduction of legislation in the Finance Committee is a very important step in the health care reform process.

17 Sep 2009

Survey: Average cost of employer health plan up 5%

The average cost of an employer-provided family plan is now $13,375, up 5 percent from 2008, according to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust.

17 Sep 2009

Fully-insured members of Capital BlueCross to receive coverage for administration fee for H1N1 Flu vaccine

Capital BlueCross announced today that it will cover an administration fee for the H1N1 Flu vaccine for fully-insured members and those with individual coverage during the upcoming 2009-2010 flu season. Self-funded groups may opt to have their coverage customized to include this benefit.

17 Sep 2009

Lawmakers may wage jurisdiction fight over medical malpractice reform

Roll Call reports that the Senate Finance Committee could clash with the Senate Judiciary Committee if they try to amend their health reform bill to scale back medical malpractice lawsuits.

17 Sep 2009

News outlets examine West Africa floods

The torrential rains that began in June in West Africa and subsequent floods have forced an estimated 150,000 people from their homes and claimed the lives of 160, VOA News reports. The worst affected countries include Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger and Sierra Leone (Schlein, 9/13).

17 Sep 2009

Young adults have more to gain, and pay, in health reform

Young adults - a key constituency in President Obama's election - are likely to be major beneficiaries of health reform, as well as major contributors to funding it, the Washington Post reports.

17 Sep 2009

AF Stat Call to Action for Atrial Fibrillation document released

A diverse collaboration of healthcare leaders today released the AF Stat Call to Action for Atrial Fibrillation to serve as a roadmap for reducing the burden of atrial fibrillation (AFib) in the United States. The document outlines critical issues surrounding the management of AFib, and recommends priority actions in the areas of policy, management, education and quality.

17 Sep 2009

Insurers say seniors in Medicare Advantage spend less time in hospital

Insurers say seniors in Medicare Advantage spend less time in the hospital. CQ HealthBeat reports: "A new study issued Tuesday by the health insurance industry touts the benefits offered by Medicare Advantage, just as Congress contemplates slashing bonus payments to the managed-care program to help pay for the health care overhaul."

17 Sep 2009

HMS to provide third-party liability services to Medicaid agencies

HMS today announced that it had been awarded a contract by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to provide additional third-party liability services. With the addition of Minnesota, HMS now provides third party liability services to 39 state Medicaid agencies.

17 Sep 2009

AFSCME issues statement on health care reform bill

"The Senate Finance Committee health care bill is deeply flawed. It does not come close to meeting the needs of America's working families. Nor does it meet the standards President Obama laid out in his address last week to Congress.

17 Sep 2009

Americans for Tax Reform assesses the Baucus healthcare plan

Employer Mandate Tax. $400 per employee if health coverage is not offered. Note: this is a huge incentive to drop coverage, as $400 is much less than the average plan cost of $11,000 for families or $5000 for singles (Source: AHIP)

17 Sep 2009

Affinion Security Center announces availability of new features in its IdentitySecure service

Affinion Security Center, a leading provider of identity theft protection services, today announced the availability of new features in its IdentitySecure service to help members detect and resolve one of the most damaging types of identity theft: medical identity theft.

17 Sep 2009

Funding, health professional shortage could prevent South Africa from reaching 2011 ARV target, Health Minister says

South Africa's shortage of health professionals combined with a budget shortfall of over $130 million for the government's HIV programs could keep the country from reaching its goal of providing 80 percent of the people living with HIV/AIDS in need of treatment with antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) by 2011.

17 Sep 2009

Poll finds concerns about health care reform's effect on the economy

A new poll finds President Barack Obama's job-approval rating and favorability remain high - 56 and 61 percent, respectively - despite deep divides over his health care proposal and handling of the economy, Bloomberg reports.

17 Sep 2009

Leading doctors call for climate change action to prevent 'global health catastrophe'

On Wednesday, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the Lancet simultaneously published an editorial (available here and here) and an accompanying letter (here and here) from 18 doctor association leaders to highlight the need for action at a December U.N. conference on climate change in Copenhagen, Reuters reports (Doyle, 9/16).

17 Sep 2009