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Some states praise language to change Medicare pay formula

Some states such as Washington and Minnesota see benefit in changes to the Medicare pay formula.

24 Sep 2009

Finance senators debate issues of timing, transparency

The Finance Committee resumed its mark-up of a proposal authored by its chairman, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., on Wednesday, with much of the debate gravitating to amendments concerning speed, timing and transparency. Republicans sought to delay the vote, while Democrats argued for a compromise that would bring the committee's deliberations to a swifter conclusion.

24 Sep 2009

A selection of today's opinions and editorials

It seems a poor reflection on one of the richest countries in the world that we are so stingy, so callous and so xenophobic. At least we've not reached the point of turning away cases of immediate need — victims of car accidents or heart attacks or others who need emergency care (Cynthia Tucker, 9/22).

24 Sep 2009

Focused Health Solutions to host Population Health Management Forum

Focused Health Solutions, a leading national provider of customized population health management services, is hosting top healthcare industry experts in Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 15, for a timely discussion on population health management programs and the role they can play in improving health and ensuring a productive workforce.

24 Sep 2009

Global effort needed to protect people from species-crossing diseases, Report finds

A team of health experts on Tuesday called for the U.S. "to lead a global effort to protect people from new outbreaks of deadly infectious diseases that originate in animals, such as swine flu, AIDS and SARS," Reuters writes (Morgan, 9/22).

24 Sep 2009

Checking in with Linda Douglass

Kaiser Health News interviewed Linda Douglass, who spent three decades as a television news reporter in California and Washington before joining the Obama administration.

24 Sep 2009

Clinton, Obama open CGI; safe water, opportunities for African women commitments announced

During opening remarks of the Clinton Global Initiative's annual summit in New York, former President Bill Clinton said more people are "attending this meeting than ever before," Dow Jones Newswires/Wall Street Journal reports.

24 Sep 2009

Marchers, celebrities sound off on health care reform

Across the country, protesters and celebrities are sounding off on health reform as legislation gets closer to becoming reality.

24 Sep 2009

Restrictive age rating regulations would increase premiums for the youngest and healthiest Americans

Allowing age adjustments more restrictive than 5 to 1 would cause dramatic premium spikes for the young and healthy in the individual insurance market, making coverage unaffordable for many according to a new analysis.

24 Sep 2009

AmeriCares commits to donate medicines and medical supplies to health care organizations

AmeriCares this week pledged to expand its medical assistance across the United States at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. AmeriCares U.S. Medical Assistance Program, announced by President & CEO Curt Welling, is a two-year commitment to improve community health by donating medicines and medical supplies to health care organizations serving the uninsured and underinsured throughout the country.

24 Sep 2009

Pelosi, House Dems finding compromise on health bills difficult

The Hill: "Speaker Pelosi is backing away from a deal she cut with centrists to advance health reform, said a source familiar with talks. Pelosi's decision to move away from the agreement that was made with a group of Blue Dogs to get the bill out of committee would steer the healthcare legislation back to the left as she prepares for a floor vote.

24 Sep 2009

Who are the uninsured and where do they live?

"The nation's uninsured — a growing class of people whose recession-fed ranks have swelled to 46.3 million — are central to the health care debate in Washington and the questions about how and whether to get them covered are as vexing and emotional as they come," USA Today reports. "While the nation waits for Congress and the White House to come up with answers, those who live without insurance say they are waiting scared."

24 Sep 2009

Opinions: Reforming U.S. aid; delivering health care in developing countries

To change the U.S. foreign aid system, we must "[d]o what the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) did: break the rules and then rewrite them," Mark Dybul, former U.S. global AIDS coordinator, writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece examining the development and implementation of the program.

24 Sep 2009

Analyzing the Baucus bill: Individual mandate, tax provisions

One of the biggest points of contention in Senate Finance Committee's consideration of Max Baucus' health bill is the "individual mandate" requirement.

24 Sep 2009

Baucus bill doesn't bend cost curve enough, experts say

Kaiser Health News reports that "President Barack Obama and his congressional allies such as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus have repeatedly vowed to 'bend the curve' on health care costs, and Baucus' new bill makes good on some of those promises."

23 Sep 2009

Obama aides say media blitz helps; polls show majority of Americans unworried by costs, quality

White House advisers believe the strategy of blanketing the airwaves with President Obama's live speeches has been an effective one in gaining a foothold in the health care debate, Roll Call reports. After a particularly media-heavy month for the president, critics have said Obama is "overexposed." His aides, however, call that "dominating news cycles," a welcome change after an August in which harsh criticism of the president's plans stole headlines.

23 Sep 2009

Insurers, GOP react to criticism of letters to seniors

Insurers and Republicans react to the Obama administration's criticism of letters about health care reform from insurance companies, including Humana, to seniors. The Associated Press reports: "Republican lawmakers rebuked the Obama administration Tuesday for telling health insurance companies to stop warning elderly customers about proposed health care legislation, which some equated to a gag order."

23 Sep 2009

Some Medicare benefit cuts, increasing premiums could create 'political nightmare'

News outlets examine Medicare costs and long-term financing while the budget chief contradicts the president's repeated claim that seniors wouldn't see their Medicare benefits cut under health care reform.

23 Sep 2009

Trial lawyers push back on medical malpractice reform

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23 Sep 2009

Comparing U.S. health insurance to other developed nations: Some surprises

USA Today reports on "how other developed countries provide and pay for health care compared with the U.S. system, based on the most recent information available." For example, they report that "Germany requires people making less than about $70,000 a year to have health insurance, which is operated by more than 200 competing, non-profit insurance companies."

23 Sep 2009