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Next Massachusetts Governor will be responsible for implementing law requiring health insurance coverage

While Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has earned "widespread praise" for the state's "first-of-its-kind" law requiring all state residents to have health insurance by July 2007, the next governor will "shoulder much of the responsibility for whether the law succeeds," the Boston Globe reports.

1 Sep 2006

UNC Health Care announces new efforts to inform low-income patients about financial assistance

The UNC Health Care system in North Carolina on Tuesday announced plans to begin new efforts to inform low-income patients about financial assistance through a revised telephone message, signs and a financial aid hotline, the Raleigh News & Observer reports (Stancill, Raleigh News & Observer, 8/30).

1 Sep 2006

Md. Senatorial Candidate Mfume touts single-payer health care system

Former Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), a candidate for Maryland's Democratic Senate nomination, on Wednesday touted universal health insurance during an event at the University of Maryland Medical Center, at which he gained endorsements from Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Albert Wynn (D-Md.), the Baltimore Sun reports.

1 Sep 2006

Researchers analyze increases in medical expenses versus improvements in health

Despite dramatic increases in health expenses since 1960, the return on medical spending is high, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard University and the University of Michigan.

30 Aug 2006

Report questions CMS Cancer Care Research Program

HHS inspector general Daniel Levinson in a report released on Wednesday questioned the legitimacy of a one-year research program conducted by CMS in which the federal government and Medicare beneficiaries paid oncologists a total of about $275 million to report information on chemotherapy side effects that might lead to improved care for cancer patients, the AP/South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

30 Aug 2006

Primary care physicians should receive pay by the hour

"We must make primary care a more manageable business by changing the way we pay for it," with primary care physicians paid by the hour, Robin Cook, a physician and author of the novel "Crisis," writes in a New York Times opinion piece.

30 Aug 2006

Some large employers contract directly with medical groups to reduce health care costs

Investor's Business Daily on Monday examined how some large employers, such as Sprint Nextel and Waste Management, have begun "cutting the middleman in heath insurance" and have "signed direct-contracting deals with medical groups instead of insurers" to help reduce costs.

30 Aug 2006

Elderly in British hospitals malnourished

If you are elderly and sick in Britain, hospital may not be the best place for you.

30 Aug 2006

Portuguese government approves community sites where injection drug users can inject themselves under supervision

The Portuguese government has approved the establishment of community sites where injection drug users can inject themselves under supervision, and new measures call for needle-exchange programs to be installed in prisons by 2008, AFP/Today Online reports.

30 Aug 2006

End of moratorium on new specialty hospitals likely to prompt 'building boomlet'

The decision earlier this month by CMS not to extend a moratorium on approval of new specialty hospitals likely will prompt a "building boomlet" of the facilities, the Wall Street Journal reports.

30 Aug 2006

Hospital system in New Orleans examined one year after hurricane Katrina

The Boston Globe on Monday examined the hospital system in New Orleans one year after damage from Hurricane Katrina forced most facilities in the city to close.

30 Aug 2006

Officials of the Christian Science Church seek recognition of faith healing under Massachusetts law requiring health care coverage

The Boston-based Christian Science Church is concerned that the Massachusetts law passed earlier this year requiring employers to provide health insurance to workers might not recognize the church's insurance plans that cover faith healing, the Boston Globe reports.

30 Aug 2006

Nurses in New Jersey begin strike over health plan in proposed contract

Almost all of the 1,300 nurses at the 584-bed Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., on Thursday began a strike over a fee that they would have to pay for medical procedures performed outside of their health plan network under a proposed contract, the New York Times reports.

30 Aug 2006

Wall Street Journal examines increased popularity of Medicare Advantage Plans

The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday examined how hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries have begun to enroll in Medicare Advantage plans, which offer "traditional benefits without the usual restrictions on access to doctors and hospitals" and some additional benefits.

30 Aug 2006

Massachusetts ends plans to partner with not-for profit to simplify Medicaid application process

Massachusetts will not be working with RealBenefits, a not-for-profit subsidiary of Community Catalyst that sells computer software to not-for-profit groups to make data input faster, to simplify the Medicaid application process, the Boston Globe reports.

28 Aug 2006

Many programs to recruit, train minority providers lose federal grant money this year

HHS recently awarded four institutions across the country $11.8 million in Center of Excellence grants, which over three years will fund training, recruitment and retention of medical students and medical faculty members from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, the New York Times reports.

28 Aug 2006

Decline in participation in employer-sponsored health plans

Large companies that employ 1,000 or more workers are experiencing a decline in participation in employer-sponsored health plans because of increases in out-of-pocket costs, the Wall Street Journal reports.

28 Aug 2006

Diverting nonemergency cases from EDs in Canada does little to improve care quality for other patients

Diverting nonemergency cases from emergency departments in Canada does not have much impact on the efficiency or timeliness of care given to sicker patients, according to a study published Wednesday on the Annals of Emergency Medicine Web site, the Houston Chronicle reports.

24 Aug 2006

WellPoint to expand consumer-driven health plans to individuals, more companies

Officials for Indiana-based WellPoint, the largest U.S. health insurer in terms of membership, on Tuesday announced that the company on Jan. 1, 2007, will begin to offer consumer-driven health plans to individuals and companies of all sizes, the Indianapolis Star reports.

24 Aug 2006

Medicaid reimbursements for emergency care for undocumented immigrants in Oklahoma increase 154% in three years

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority paid health care providers $9.7 million to treat 4,450 undocumented immigrants under Medicaid's Alien Emergency Services Program in the fiscal year that ended June 30, compared with $3.8 million to treat 2,054 people in 2003, the Daily Oklahoman reports.

24 Aug 2006

Healthcare News

Next Massachusetts Governor will be responsible for implementing law requiring health insurance coverage

UNC Health Care announces new efforts to inform low-income patients about financial assistance

Md. Senatorial Candidate Mfume touts single-payer health care system

Researchers analyze increases in medical expenses versus improvements in health

Report questions CMS Cancer Care Research Program

Primary care physicians should receive pay by the hour

Some large employers contract directly with medical groups to reduce health care costs

Elderly in British hospitals malnourished

Portuguese government approves community sites where injection drug users can inject themselves under supervision

End of moratorium on new specialty hospitals likely to prompt 'building boomlet'

Hospital system in New Orleans examined one year after hurricane Katrina

Officials of the Christian Science Church seek recognition of faith healing under Massachusetts law requiring health care coverage

Nurses in New Jersey begin strike over health plan in proposed contract

Wall Street Journal examines increased popularity of Medicare Advantage Plans

Massachusetts ends plans to partner with not-for profit to simplify Medicaid application process

Many programs to recruit, train minority providers lose federal grant money this year

Decline in participation in employer-sponsored health plans

Diverting nonemergency cases from EDs in Canada does little to improve care quality for other patients

WellPoint to expand consumer-driven health plans to individuals, more companies

Medicaid reimbursements for emergency care for undocumented immigrants in Oklahoma increase 154% in three years

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