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Senators to test bipartisan water on co-op plan

Key Senate negotiators - a group of three Republicans and three Democrats on the Finance Committee - will test the traction of a plan to create private health insurance cooperatives instead of a government-run insurance plan during a conference call today, The Los Angeles Times reports.

20 Aug 2009

Lawmakers face constituents' health care flak

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, "lashed out at protester who held a poster depicting President Obama with a Hitler-style mustache during a heated town hall meeting on federal health care reform," The Associated Press reports.

20 Aug 2009

Gary Bauer calls Obama's use of scripture to sell failing health care plans "clumsy attempt to manipulate"

Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer on Thursday called President Obama's invocation of scripture in defense of his failing health care takeover "breathtaking hypocrisy" as well as a "clumsy attempt to manipulate."

20 Aug 2009

As Democrats eye going it alone, some recommit to bipartisan reform

While some Democrats maintain that bipartisan health care reform work still has potential, others seem to be hedging their bets. The Christian Science Monitor reports that "In all likelihood, (White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and press secretary Robert Gibbs) are engaging in creative ambiguity, designed to send signals to multiple audiences - friend and foe - and keep options open as long as possible."

20 Aug 2009

House healthcare reform legislation and administrative rule combined cut $44 billion in Medicare funds for long term care

The Community Cares Coalition (CoCares) - a national coalition of community long term care businesses and organizations providing key services to the skilled nursing community - today said that while long term care businesses support reform measures to increase efficiencies in the healthcare system and promote cost savings, the current reform proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives and a recent administrative rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS') that cut $44 billion Medicare funds to long term care will have the opposite impact on nursing home care and the businesses and organizations that support the nation's long term care sector.

20 Aug 2009

Biden: $1.2 billion from stimulus for computerized medical records

"Vice President Joe Biden today announced $1.2 billion from federal stimulus dollars to allow hospitals to modernize record keeping systems," The Chicago Tribune reports.

20 Aug 2009

Heated town halls fire up Republicans

Town hall protestors are "part of a phenomenon enabling national conservative groups to galvanize grassroots anger about big government and reshape the debate over President Obama's health care plan. Suddenly, it's the conservatives' turn to be fired up," USA Today reports.

20 Aug 2009

House Democrats ask to examine health insurers' finances

House Democrats examine pay and profit for health insurers as health insurance stocks dip lower than market.

20 Aug 2009

Midcareer professionals find new opportunities in health care

"Health care may be a costly drag on the economy, but it's still a great place to find a job," The New York Times reports. "Midcareer managers and other workers have been migrating to health care jobs for years, of course. Now, with the recession, the lure is even stronger. Hospitals, which employ more than four million people, added 135,000 jobs last year and 19,400 more in the first half of 2009, even as millions of American workers wound up unemployed." For many working in the field, health care is a second career. "Many managers with experience in fields like human resources, finance and marketing find a welcome in health care, with a little studying up."

20 Aug 2009

Varian Medical Systems to equip a new proton therapy center in Sweden

Varian Medical Systems today announced it has been selected to equip a new proton therapy center in Sweden. In a ceremony conducted by Swedish authorities yesterday following a public tender, Varian was named to supply an estimated $60 million in products for Skandionkliniken, a new national proton therapy center owned by a consortium of seven of Sweden's counties.

20 Aug 2009

Medical students give a poor grade to the U.S. healthcare system according to Epocrates' survey

Medical students give the U.S. healthcare system a poor grade and consider technology a ‘must have’ for their future practice. These opinions and technology priorities, including mobile reference and electronic medical records (EMRs), are represented in the fourth annual Future Physicians of America survey by Epocrates, Inc., the leading provider of mobile medical technology.

20 Aug 2009

Saskatchewan government makes insulin detemir more accessible to residents

The Canadian Diabetes Association applauds the Government of Saskatchewan for increasing access to insulin detemir for residents of Saskatchewan living with diabetes. Insulin detemir, also known as Levemir, has been added to the Saskatchewan Drug Formulary, under Exception Drug Status (EDS) effective July 1, 2009. As well, the updated formulary now includes NovoRapid-NOO, Apidra-AVT and Humalog-LIL within its Revised Exception Drug Status Criteria.

20 Aug 2009

Squabbling Democrats prepare to move ahead on health bills without GOP

The New York Times: "Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority's cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks. Top Democrats said Tuesday that their go-it-alone view was being shaped by what they saw as Republicans' purposely strident tone against health care legislation during this month's Congressional recess, as well as remarks by leading Republicans that current proposals were flawed beyond repair."

20 Aug 2009

State round-up: New Jersey hospitals, Utah's Medicaid troubles, and more

Wednesday's state news includes a hospital demonstration in New Jersey, Medicaid fraud in Utah, an abortion ruling in Oklahoma, and a White House decision to maintain Wisconsin's unique drug program for seniors.

20 Aug 2009

MedImmune, WPS and AYSO collaboratively launch a national health awareness campaign

MedImmune, Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) and the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) today officially launched "Don't Play with the Flu,"((TM)) a national health awareness campaign that aims to highlight the importance of getting a seasonal influenza vaccination every year.

20 Aug 2009

Public option is necessary for consumers says Congressman Chaka Fattah

"There is no option when it comes to reforming America's ailing healthcare system. We must do it. And there is no option for inclusion of a public plan. We must have it. Real reform requires real choice. A public option provides consumers a critical alternative to private plans.

20 Aug 2009

US physicians talk on short fallings in the current healthcare reform bills

Physicians across the nation are speaking out on Sermo, the world's largest online physician community, about the short fallings in the current healthcare reform bills working their way through Congress.

20 Aug 2009

Wellcare discloses to Florida Elections Commission questionable campaign contributions

WellCare Health Plans, Inc. announced that it voluntarily disclosed to the Florida Elections Commission questionable campaign contributions by certain subsidiaries from 2003 through 2007.

20 Aug 2009

White paper outlines how to maintain quality of care while effectively managing costs

ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, reveals some of the processes that hospital c-suite administrators can implement to better manage the high cost of PPIs in a just-released white paper, Wasting Millions by Making Illogical Purchases Based Solely on Physician Preference: Not in My Hospital You Don't!(C).

20 Aug 2009

Physician shortage limits even insured patients' access to care

CBS News reports that just having insurance coverage "doesn't guarantee access" to health care, because there is s shortage of primary care doctors to provide treatment. "Baystate Medical Center is the second busiest emergency room in Massachusetts. They treat over 100,000 patients a year, but here's the thing: according to Dr. Niels Rathlev, who runs the ER, a quarter of them don't need his services." Rathlev says it would be "more appropriate" for those people to see a primary care doctor. "'The majority of patients who are frequent utilizers of the emergency department actually have insurance,' Rathlev said. 'They have a primary care physician, but they choose to come to the ER because they don't have access.'"

20 Aug 2009