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Pelosi raises banner of public plan in response to insurers' attacks

The health insurance industry's recent attacks on health-overhaul legislation only strengthens the case for the federal government to offer a competing health plan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday, the Associated Press reports.

19 Oct 2009

Senate Democratic leaders say party will unite on health reform vote

Sens. Max Baucus and Harry Reid are predicting that a health care overhaul in the Senate will attract the votes of all Democrats in the Senate — and maybe even more than one Republican.

19 Oct 2009

Physical therapists can promote early diagnosis of breast cancer-related lymphedema

As breast cancer awareness month is observed during October, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is hoping to shine a spotlight on lymphedema, a chronic, debilitating and often irreversible side effect of cancer treatment.

19 Oct 2009

Lawmakers wrestle with health reform details - publicly and behind closed doors

Reporters examine which provisions - such as the public option or cost control provisions - may be included as House and Senate negotiators try to meld various Democratic health reform bills.

19 Oct 2009

Slow start for PSOs meant to help providers learn from mistakes

A federal agency has designated 68 "Patient Safety Organizations" to offer health care providers a way "to share information and learn from problems," Modern Healthcare reports. But, a year after the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality began implementing the program, its "technology has not been finessed enough to really enable that sharing."

19 Oct 2009

Poll questions lead to varying answers on health reform

News outlets continue to analyze how polls and public opinion intersect.

19 Oct 2009

Public option re-emerges in Senate discussions; continues to play role in House

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's efforts to merge the two Senate health care reform bills is being complicated by question of whether to include a public plan and how it might fit with vote counting, the president's agenda and the more liberal version sure to come out of the House.

19 Oct 2009

Hearings focus on gender discrimination in health coverage and the underinsured

During a hearing before a subcommittee of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, several women shared stories of gender discrimination in health care coverage.

19 Oct 2009

Study reveals greater public support for reducing health care disparities among socio-economic groups

As Congress debates the public health care option, a recent study reveals greater public support for reducing health care disparities among socio-economic groups (i.e. by income or education) than among racial groups.

19 Oct 2009

Palin criticizes Baucus health bill in essay on her Facebook page

Politico reports that "Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin penned a tough but wonky critique Saturday night of the health care bill approved this week by the Senate Finance Committee. In a more than 1,000-word essay posted on her Facebook page shortly before midnight, Palin knocked the bill sponsored by Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) for not setting up proper cost offsets, but offered none of the more incinedary, 'death-panel' type claims that have marked her previous comments."

19 Oct 2009

New NIH grants to develop Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System

The National Institutes of Health announced today that it is awarding 15 new grants to further develop and test the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS).

19 Oct 2009

Obama administration appears open to public plan 'trigger'

"The Obama administration signaled a willingness to compromise on a proposed government-run health- insurance company by praising Senator Olympia Snowe's plan to start the entity only if private insurers don't meet targets," Bloomberg reports.

19 Oct 2009

GOP, Some Dems object to plan for adjusting physicians' medicare pay

Senate Democrats next week will take up a $240 billion, stand-alone bill that would stop scheduled cuts in Medicare's payments to physicians, The Hill reports. Although the action would be separate from sweeping health reform legislation, "[f]ixing the physician payments could boost Democrats' health reform efforts by providing physicians with a win on their foremost priority.

19 Oct 2009

House members consider where others stand in health reform debate

As the House Democratic leadership continues to work toward moving a health overhaul measure to the floor, members continue to stake out positions - sometimes because of their personal histories or where they are from. In a few cases, the positions they have taken lead to increased attention.

19 Oct 2009

Studies find frail seniors often get poor, futile care

Two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine find that some medical care, especially at the end of life, may be a poor choice for feeble seniors. They also show the importance of palliative care over aggressive treatment for certain patients.

19 Oct 2009

Inaccurate body temperature readings can harm the entire health care system

As we head into a flu season where the 2009 H1N1 swine flu is expected to cause increased sickness, hospitalization and deaths across the U.S., something as simple as inaccurate body temperature measurements may lead to social and economic turmoil – and may cause many more deaths.

19 Oct 2009

Lawmakers seek to quickly fix Medicare payments for physicians

Both the House and the Senate are considering moving quickly to bar cuts in Medicare payments to physicians.

19 Oct 2009

Latest ad audit asks if the insurers' claims add up

In his latest ad audit, Kaiser Health News staff writer Jordan Rau explores whether insurers' claims, made in a recent advertisement, add up.

19 Oct 2009

Legislation only modestly addresses medical errors

Health care legislation largely fails to address the issue of medical errors that were detailed in a 10-year old landmark federal study, "To Err Is Human," which proposed several key solutions.

19 Oct 2009

Wellness provisions advance in reform legislation

Employers could incentivize wellness if provisions passed by the Senate finance and health committees become law. The Washington Post reports: "By more than doubling the maximum penalties that companies can apply to employees who flunk medical evaluations, the legislation could put workers under intense financial pressure to lose weight, stop smoking or even lower their cholesterol."

19 Oct 2009