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U.S. Supreme Court denies request for emergency injunction to block healthy San Francisco employer contribution mandates

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Golden Gate Restaurant Association's request for a temporary order barring San Francisco from requiring restaurant owners to contribute toward workers' health care costs, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/31).

31 Mar 2009

Pennsylvania health system decreasing complications, costs with 'warranty' system emphasizing best practices

The Washington Post on Tuesday examined how Pennsylvania's Geisinger Health System has successfully improved outcomes for elective heart surgery patients through its 90-day warranty program, which charges a flat fee covering the cost of the procedure and any needed follow-up care. Geisinger operates its own insurance plan and has 41 clinics, three hospitals and 650 staff physicians.

31 Mar 2009

CMS announces new rules for Medicare Advantage plans that aim to protect sick beneficiaries from high out-of-pocket costs

CMS on Monday announced that insurers looking to offer Medicare Advantage plans this year must cap out-of-pocket charges and that the agency will eliminate MA plans that have 10 or fewer beneficiaries, the Wall Street Journal reports.

31 Mar 2009

Couples retiring this year need $240,000 to cover medical expenses

65-year-old retired couple this year would need $240,000 on average to cover medical expenses, according to a recent study by Fidelity Investments, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

31 Mar 2009

HHS report says health reform vital to U.S. economy as costs rise, quality of care worsens

Comprehensive health care reform is necessary this year because of rising costs and the declining quality of care, according to an HHS report released on Monday, Reuters/Boston Globe reports.

31 Mar 2009

President Obama meets with house Democrats, links passage of budget with ability to move on health reform

President Obama on Monday met with House Democrats in closed-door sessions to discuss his fiscal year 2010 budget proposal, during which he linked the passage of his budget to the ability to act on major issues including health care reform, Politico reports.

31 Mar 2009

Low-income families with sick children often enrolled in high-deductible health care plans

High-deductible health plans are increasingly used by healthy people who are unlikely to incur high medical expenses.

30 Mar 2009

Retention is part of the answer to the nursing shortage

A new research study, published in the March/April issue of the journal Nursing Economics, has determined what factors can help keep new nurses from leaving their jobs and - in doing so - save health systems money.

30 Mar 2009

Minority participation critical to health care development, opinion piece says

"There is an urgent need to develop new therapeutic approaches for diseases that disproportionately impact" blacks, Hispanics and other groups, Nancy Bennett, professor of medicine and director of the University of Rochester Medical Center for Community Health, and Ann Dozier, associate professor in the department of community and preventive medicine, write in a Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opinion piece.

30 Mar 2009

New York Times examines challenges faced by a Minneapolis hospital that treats many Somali, Hispanic patients

The New York Times on Sunday profiled the Hennepin County Medical Center, a Minneapolis-based hospital that "offers an extraordinary vantage point on the ways immigrants are testing the American medical establishment."

30 Mar 2009

CQ's Armstrong discusses budget reconciliation, coverage proposal from private insurers, Sebelius confirmation

Drew Armstrong, a Congressional Quarterly staff reporter, discusses efforts to use budget reconciliation to fast-track health reform, a compromise offered by private health insurers and the scheduled confirmation hearing for Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), President Obama's nominee for HHS secretary, in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

30 Mar 2009

South Carolina audit finds inadequacies in Medicaid transportation service program

The South Carolina Legislative Audit Council, the investigative arm of the General Assembly, on Wednesday released an audit report finding that the state might have improperly managed the Medicaid transportation program, the Columbia State reports.

30 Mar 2009

Federal lawsuit questions Medicaid's ability to deny care deemed necessary by doctor

Health officials from Florida, Georgia and Alabama this week argued in a federal appeals court in Atlanta that state Medicaid programs can cut treatments for children that a doctor has ordered as medically necessary, Florida Health News reports.

30 Mar 2009

UnitedHealth Group, Ingenix to testify at senate hearing about out-of-network rates

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chair Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday will hold a hearing that follows lawsuits and an investigation by New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) alleging that UnitedHealth Group and subsidiary Ingenix manipulated out-of-network rate data resulting in patients paying more for those services, the AP/USA Today reports.

30 Mar 2009

New York Times examines Massachusetts health insurance law as model for U.S. health reform

"By tackling cost at the same time as access," the Obama administration and congressional lawmakers "have made their political challenge more difficult," the New York Times reports.

30 Mar 2009

Health Reform Dialogue Coalition releases recommendations for U.S. health care system overhaul

A coalition representing health care firms, patients and medical providers on Friday presented a five-page report to Congress recommending changes to the health care system, CQ HealthBeat reports (Adams, CQ HealthBeat, 3/27).

30 Mar 2009

$78 billion spent for heart disease care in 2006

Opening blocked arteries, trying to keep heart attack victims alive, fixing defective heart valves, and treating other heart ailments cost $78 billion in 2006 - roughly 8 percent of the more than $1 trillion spent on all medical care for the community population, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

30 Mar 2009

Florida senators introduce bill to prevent Medicaid fraud

Florida Senate Health Regulation Committee Chair Don Gaetz (R) and state Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee Chair Durell Peaden (R) at a news conference on Wednesday "expressed confidence" that lawmakers will pass legislation (SB 1986) aiming to prevent and detect Medicaid fraud, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

30 Mar 2009

Obama discusses health reform during internet town hall meeting

President Obama on Thursday fielded questions from U.S. residents on a range of topics, including health care, at a town hall meeting that was broadcast on the Internet and cable news channels, Politico reports (Gerstein, Politico, 3/26).

30 Mar 2009

Senate panel hears from witnesses detailing insurer practices that limit transparency of payment rates

Witnesses at a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on Thursday discussed the need for increased consumer protections that would limit the practice of insurers underpaying for out-of-network medical services, CQ HealthBeat reports.

30 Mar 2009

Healthcare News

U.S. Supreme Court denies request for emergency injunction to block healthy San Francisco employer contribution mandates

Pennsylvania health system decreasing complications, costs with 'warranty' system emphasizing best practices

CMS announces new rules for Medicare Advantage plans that aim to protect sick beneficiaries from high out-of-pocket costs

Couples retiring this year need $240,000 to cover medical expenses

HHS report says health reform vital to U.S. economy as costs rise, quality of care worsens

President Obama meets with house Democrats, links passage of budget with ability to move on health reform

Low-income families with sick children often enrolled in high-deductible health care plans

Retention is part of the answer to the nursing shortage

Minority participation critical to health care development, opinion piece says

New York Times examines challenges faced by a Minneapolis hospital that treats many Somali, Hispanic patients

CQ's Armstrong discusses budget reconciliation, coverage proposal from private insurers, Sebelius confirmation

South Carolina audit finds inadequacies in Medicaid transportation service program

Federal lawsuit questions Medicaid's ability to deny care deemed necessary by doctor

UnitedHealth Group, Ingenix to testify at senate hearing about out-of-network rates

New York Times examines Massachusetts health insurance law as model for U.S. health reform

Health Reform Dialogue Coalition releases recommendations for U.S. health care system overhaul

$78 billion spent for heart disease care in 2006

Florida senators introduce bill to prevent Medicaid fraud

Obama discusses health reform during internet town hall meeting

Senate panel hears from witnesses detailing insurer practices that limit transparency of payment rates

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

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