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Lawmakers discuss plans for SCHIP reauthorization

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) on Monday at a forum co-sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said that Congress likely will have the ability to authorize the $50 billion over five years needed to enroll all children eligible for SCHIP but "hedged on whether it would do so this year or over the next several years," CQ HealthBeat reports.

28 Feb 2007

Automakers' health care costs to exceed savings from concessions

Health care expenses for General Motors and Ford Motor likely will increase at a rate that exceeds savings from health care concessions made by the United Auto Workers in agreements reached in 2005, according to a report issued on Monday by credit rating company Fitch Ratings, the Wall Street Journal reports.

28 Feb 2007

President Bush in weekly radio address promotes proposal to implement standard tax deductions for health insurance coverage

President Bush during his weekly radio address on Saturday promoted his proposal to offer a standard tax deduction for health insurance, Bloomberg/Bergen Record reports.

27 Feb 2007

Enrollment in Medicaid, other public programs increases after enactment of 1996 welfare reform law

The number of U.S. residents who receive cash payments from welfare has decreased since the enactment of a reform law in 1996, but enrollment in other public programs for low-income residents, such as Medicaid, has increased over the same period, according to a recent analysis by the Associated Press, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.

27 Feb 2007

Defense Secretary Gates announces creation of independent panel to study military health care conditions

Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday announced the creation of an independent panel to examine outpatient conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals, the Los Angeles Times reports (Barnes, Los Angeles Times, 2/24).

27 Feb 2007

Governors criticize provisions on SCHIP in fiscal year 2008 budget request from President Bush

A bipartisan group of governors at the National Governors Association winter meeting on Sunday asked Congress to provide $765 million in supplemental funds for SCHIP, the Bergen Record reports (Jackson, Bergen Record, 2/26).

27 Feb 2007

State proposals for universal health insurance unlikely to succeed

Democratic presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) recently released a universal health care proposal that incorporates "the bad idea of raising taxes on employers and forcing individuals to purchase insurance," but before "others get carried away with this model, they should take a look at its most recent manifestation in Massachusetts," Sally Pipes, president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

27 Feb 2007

Publication of the National Mesothelioma Framework

People with a chest cancer related to exposure to asbestos will receive a boost today, as a new framework for improving their care is launched by Britain's Health Minister Rosie Winterton.

From Asthma + Lung UK 26 Feb 2007

Is Medicaid sustainable?

As Congress prepares to debate the President's budget and looks ahead to address the growing federal deficit and the future sustainability of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, a new study of future funding requirements for Medicaid by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) projects a less dire situation than suggested by conventional wisdom.

25 Feb 2007

Employer health care costs to increase by 8% in 2007

Employer health care costs last year increased by 8%, and companies expect the same rate of growth this year and in 2008, according to a survey released on Wednesday by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, the AP/Detroit News reports.

25 Feb 2007

Medicare MA plan payments might increase by less than 3% in 2008

The estimated reimbursement rate increase for private Medicare Advantage plans in 2008 likely would not equal the increase in medical costs, according to Wall Street analysts, Dow Jones reports.

25 Feb 2007

Federation of American Hospitals announces near universal health insurance proposal

As expected, the Federation of American Hospitals on Thursday announced a proposal that would require all U.S. residents to obtain health insurance, Reuters/Los Angeles Times reports (Reuters/Los Angeles Times, 2/23).

25 Feb 2007

Health care IT adviser resigns over lack of progress on privacy

Paul Feldman, chair of the privacy and security workgroup of the American Health Information Community, on Wednesday announced his resignation because the workgroup "has not made substantial progress towards the development of comprehensive privacy and security policies that must be at the core of a nationwide health information network," CQ HealthBeat reports.

25 Feb 2007

Alaska Medicare beneficiaries have trouble finding primary care physicians

Alaska Medicare beneficiaries experience greater difficulty than beneficiaries in other states in finding primary care physicians, and "evidence indicates" the problem is "worsening" amid a growing physician shortage and low federal reimbursements rates, the Anchorage Daily News reports.

25 Feb 2007

Tennessee's CoverRX program stops enrollment due to high demand

Enrollment has been suspended for CoverRX, Tennessee's new prescription drug program for low-income adults, as a result of high demand, the Tennessean reports.

25 Feb 2007

Bush Administration has no overall strategy to protect patient privacy in electronic health records

The Bush administration has no overall strategy to ensure patient privacy as it promotes expanded use of electronic health records among insurers, doctors, hospitals and other health care providers, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report, the New York Times reports.

21 Feb 2007

Maryland universal coverage plan estimated to cost $2.5 billion

The Maryland Health Care Commission on Thursday said its proposal to provide health coverage to nearly all of the state's uninsured residents would cost $2.5 billion annually, the Baltimore Sun reports.

21 Feb 2007

White House orders investigation of military hospitals

The White House on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the treatment provided at U.S. military hospitals to veterans who return from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Reuters/Los Angeles Times reports.

21 Feb 2007

Health Corps response to hurricanes inadequate

The more than 2,100 officers in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who were deployed to the Gulf Coast to respond to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in August and September 2005 lacked adequate training, and the federal response to the hurricanes did not include an adequate number of nurses, dentists and mental health professionals, according to a report recently compiled by the HHS Office of Inspector General, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

21 Feb 2007

BMA warns medical regulation proposals will muzzle doctors

A raft of proposals which together add up to the loss of professionally-led medical regulation have the potential to muzzle doctors in their role of speaking out for their patients, warns the British Medical Association (BMA) today.

21 Feb 2007