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Payment reform: A trend in White House thinking

White House health reformers have pressed over the last month for payment reforms that would reward doctors and hospitals for spending less and delivering higher quality care, rather than simply providing a higher volume of services.

9 Jul 2009

Healthcare reform gets boost from hospital groups

"In the face of mounting Republican opposition to its healthcare agenda, the Obama administration received a boost Wednesday, winning a preliminary agreement with leading hospital groups to cut federal payments to the industry over the next decade," The Los Angeles Times reports.

9 Jul 2009

Health care overhaul ignores illegal immigrants

"As Congress wrangles with overhauling the health care system, there is one population not being discussed. No proposal for a national health plan would cover the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants," NPR reports.

9 Jul 2009

States undergo a variety of health care policy developments

Connecticut: The Associated Press/Hartford Courant reports, "Gov. M. Jodi Rell has vetoed two health insurance bills he said were "well-intentioned" but "would cost the state billions of dollars before any economic recovery is complete."

9 Jul 2009

Nursing shortage leads to more students, new training programs

"Long second shrift to other medical training, nursing education has taken on new relevance as the country faces a drastic shortage of nurses and a thin job market overall," The Dallas Morning News reports.

9 Jul 2009

Legislation includes provisions for healthy lifestyle infrastructure

Sweeping healthcare legislation in Congress includes money for walking paths, streetlights, jungle gyms, and even farmers' markets. While supporters cite their importance for preventative health, critics see the billions of dollars for such provisions in the Senate and House versions as pure pork.

9 Jul 2009

Small business owners deliver mixed messages to Capitol Hill

As more specific legislative language emerges on health care, "small business organizations are encouraging members to make their views known through e-mails, letters, phone calls and personal visits" to members of Congress, but "the message is a decidedly mixed one," Kaiser Health News reports. "Small business, a powerful constituency in every congressional district, no longer speaks with one voice on health care.

9 Jul 2009

Medicare analysis finds too many needless deaths at hospitals

A new Medicare analysis by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found a "double failure" at U.S. hospitals. Its release comes as the White House and Congress seek ways to reward quality over quantity of care in health care reform.

9 Jul 2009

Convent focuses on different approach to end-of-life care

A focus on end-of-life care emphasizes social and spiritual elements over aggressive medical intervention.

9 Jul 2009

Biden formally announces $155 billion agreement with hospitals

Politico is reporting on its Political Intelligence Blog that Vice President Joe Biden, subbing for President Obama who is at the G-8 economic summit in Italy, formally announced the latest deal with the industry. "The nation's hospitals have tentatively agreed to forego about $155 billion in government payments for Medicaid and Medicare over the next decade -- about 20 percent of the $1 trillion projected to be needed to extend health coverage to about 47 million uninsured Americans."

8 Jul 2009

Hospitals, after agreeing to cuts, push ahead with a full agenda

With the Obama administration's help, hospitals are moving aggressively to resolve their biggest objections to legislative proposals to overhaul the health system.

8 Jul 2009

Emanuel reassures Democrats on public insurance option

"White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel reassured House Democrats on Tuesday night that President Barack Obama strongly backs a government-run health insurance plan, seeking to quell a firestorm among liberals upset at Emanuel's comments in the Wall Street Journal that suggested such a plan could be delayed," Roll Call reports.

8 Jul 2009

Health reform legislation will impact preventive and wellness programs

Reuters reports: "Efforts to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system and expand coverage to millions of uninsured could lead some wellness programs to expand and others to constrict, experts say.... In all of the bills in Congress, insurers would be required to cover some preventive services, and all of the bills include prevention and wellness incentives.

8 Jul 2009

Poor working conditions for docs may affect quality of care

"Adverse working conditions for primary care doctors, including time pressures and an unfavorable organizational culture, may lead to stress, burnout, and ultimately to lower quality patient care, a new study found," MedPage Today reports.

8 Jul 2009

Taxing health benefits lacking Hill support

The idea of taxing health care benefits is proving to be a divisive issue for Democrats as they continue to press forward in health overhaul negotiations.

8 Jul 2009

Obama busy 'selling the greater good' on health reform

President Barack Obama, in comments about health reform, has acknowledged what most Americans already know, that "(w)hat's good for the health care system as a whole often looks very different when it's their own health at stake, or the health of someone in their family," CQPolitics reports.

8 Jul 2009

Thirteen single-payer activists settle their cases after disrupting hearing

Thirteen people charged with "disruption of Congress" for standing and shouting pro-single-payer system slogans during a health care reform committee hearing settled their cases, The Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune reports.

8 Jul 2009

Providers and Medicare battle: who owns home oxygen equipment?

A new Medicare rule limiting payments for oxygen providers is prompting an aggressive lobbying campaign by the industry, and unintended consequences for patients, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

8 Jul 2009

Abortion could prove divisive for health reform, too

An ultimatum against using federal money for abortion procedures could reopen the politically treacherous rift over the issue, creating yet another obstacle for congressional Democrats to overcome if they are to achieve their health reform goals, Time reports.

8 Jul 2009

Health reformers shy from proposals that would limit treatment options

In a story headlined 'In Retooled Health-Care System, Who Will Say No?' the Washington Post reports: "Although Obama and his advisers have held up providers' spending patterns as the crux of the crisis, proposals in Washington go only so far in addressing the thorniest questions about who gets what care."

8 Jul 2009