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Nursing shortage eases with recession's help

"The nation's deep recession is helping to alleviate the decade-long nursing shortage, as workers who had left the field in better times are returning in droves," the Wall Street Journal reports.

13 Jun 2009

Medicare reimbursement issues enter health reform debate

New legislation introduced yesterday would attempt to shift Medicare reimbursement policy to reward patient health outcomes, rather than the volume of services provided, MinnPost, a nonprofit online news organization, reports. "We need to be sure to keep score," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who introduced the bill, according to MinnPost. "That means measuring outcomes and rewarding providers that deliver quality results."

13 Jun 2009

Lawmakers want Federal rules to cover home health care workers and end-of-life care

Lawmakers want federal rules to cover home health care workers while Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., plans to introduce legislation in Congress today to better educate the public on end-of-life care.

13 Jun 2009

Dodd's wife serving on health care company boards

The wife of Sen. Chris Dodd, a leading player in this year's attempt at health care reform, serves on the board of three health care companies, The Associated Press reports.

13 Jun 2009

A group of health CEOs want to end Medicare fee-for-service payments

A group of more than a half dozen CEOs from some of America's largest health care providers on Friday called for an end to fee-for-service payments under Medicare, and for incentives to create administrative efficiencies to lower costs to help pay for America's health care reform.

13 Jun 2009

Penn conducts largest national study on hospital patient satisfaction as it relates to nurse work environments

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing conclude patients report higher satisfaction in hospitals that offer better work environments for nurses or fewer patients-to-nurse ratios, according to a new study published in today's issue of Health Affairs.

13 Jun 2009

Putting a price tag on health reform spreads unease

Taxes, fees for business and spending cuts could help lawmakers pay the $1-trillion-plus cost of health reform, but those possibilities have spurred a behind-the-scenes lobbying fight on Capitol Hill, and caused a fair share of anxiety among many interest groups, the Los Angeles Times reports.

11 Jun 2009

CBO Director may help determine fate of health care

Several newspapers had articles on major players in health care reform. Douglas W. Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, has "toiled for much of his career in the anonymous bowels of the nation's economic superstructure," the Washington Post reports.

11 Jun 2009

Administration to pitch health reform in "model" community

President Obama and top advisers will travel to Green Bay Thursday - "one of the highest-value health communities in the nation" - to promote health reform in a town-hall meeting, the Washington Post reports.

11 Jun 2009

Obama "flexible" on all but one issue: passing a reform bill

"President Obama urged lawmakers Wednesday to work through partisan differences that are threatening health care legislation" at a White House meeting, the Associated Press reports.

11 Jun 2009

Infighting among Democrats on health care reform

Infighting among Democrats over inclusion of a public plan in health care reform is turning disagreement between moderates and liberals into a "Democratic civil war" with outside groups taking part in the attacks, Politico reports.

11 Jun 2009

AMA opposes public insurance plan, as Obama prepares reform pitch

America's largest, most influential physician group said "it will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan, which President Obama and many other Democrats see as an essential element of legislation to remake the health care system," the New York Times reports.

11 Jun 2009

Co-operative public plan offers hope for bipartisan bill

A plan to pool the ownership of health insurance into cooperatives owned by groups of residents and small businesses is attracting renewed hopes that a bipartisan public plan bill will pass Congress with wide support, The Associated Press reports.

11 Jun 2009

Democrat bill, FTC examine ways to drive down health care costs

A bill introduced Wednesday in the House would create an artificial joints database to root out bad practices and unnecessary surgeries, The New York Times reports.

11 Jun 2009

Medicare payment rates cause concern

Legislation in Congress would boost Medicare payment rates for some doctors who claim they are are routinely underpaid for services in California. Meanwhile hearings in South Dakota focus on Medicare reimbursement issues in rural areas.

11 Jun 2009

Use Medicare to hold industry to cost and quality promises

On June 1, leaders of the health care industry reaffirmed their pledge to reform a health care system that is rife with inefficiencies, costs too much, and fails to deliver the quality of care Americans expect.

11 Jun 2009

Obama says the time to fix health care is now

President Obama told a crowd today at a high school in Green Bay, Wis., that health reform will cost "a good deal of money at a time where we don't have extra to spend," according to The Associated Press.

11 Jun 2009

Obama says doing nothing will cost more in long run

President Obama said at a health care town hall meeting at a school in Green Bay, Wis., Thursday that doing nothing on health reform will lead to increased costs and a higher deficit as he challenged critics of Congress' attempt at reform, The Associated Press reports.

11 Jun 2009

Senate approves legislation to give the FDA power to regulate tobacco

The Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation today that gives the Food and Drug Administration regulatory power to limit nicotine in cigarettes, "drastically curtail" advertising and "ban candied tobacco products" aimed at the young, The Associated Press reports.

11 Jun 2009

Democrats target a dozen GOP senators in quest for health reform deal

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and other Democratic leaders are targeting more than a dozen moderate and conservative Republicans as they pursue a bipartisan deal to extend health care coverage to nearly 46 million uninsured Americans.

11 Jun 2009