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White House offers reassurance that public option is very much alive

The Wall Street Journal: "The White House sent an email to members of Congress and other supporters saying that President Barack Obama wants a public insurance option as part of health-care overhaul. Ms. Sebelius seemed to suggest otherwise on Sunday, saying a public option isn't an 'essential element.'"

19 Aug 2009

Women air concerns on government takeover of health care

300,000 American women with breast cancer might have died over the last decade, if the US had adopted a British-style, government-run health care system. This shocking figure, from recent studies by the Lewin Group and Lancet Oncology, appears in a TV ad launched today by The Independent Women's Forum, a non-profit organization focused on issues of concern for women. The 60-second spot highlights the deadly risks to women under the "public option" - or co-op - plan currently under consideration in Congress.

19 Aug 2009

Efforts to create treatment guidelines are often complicated

The development of treatment guidelines for illnesses such as diabetes is a complicated process.

19 Aug 2009

Massachusetts could prove model to cut costs

CNNMoney reports that Massachusetts could prove to be a model for how to grapple with high health care costs as its own soaring costs threaten national efforts at reform.

19 Aug 2009

Texas Public Policy Foundation says health plans would cause more harm than good

The health care reform plans pending in the U.S. Congress would cause more harm than good, according to a study released today by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

19 Aug 2009

Medical fraud creates unknown amount of waste

Lawmakers seek a reduction in the amount of money lost each year to medical fraud. Meanwhile, two Miami doctors are convicted of Medicare fraud.

19 Aug 2009

Looking to September, lawmakers focus on health reform messages, measures

House Republicans are preparing for September and planning to depict Democratic attempts to reform the health care system as "potentially ruinous to small businesses," CQ Politics reports.

19 Aug 2009

Liberal backlash on public plan

The strong reaction by liberals to the possibility that the public option could be dropped from a health overhaul proposal peppered Tuesday's news coverage.

19 Aug 2009

Gfk Healthcare launches Brand BEAT to provide a holistic evaluation of brand equity

GfK Healthcare, the largest provider of fully integrated custom health care marketing research in the United States, announced today the launch of Brand BEAT™ (Brand Equity Assessment & Tracking), a complete package of health care-specific brand positioning diagnostic tools for measuring the cognitive and emotional strengths of a brand.

19 Aug 2009

Confusion reigns about public option, health cooperatives

Reports that President Obama could accept a reform plan without a government-run public option have triggered a barrage of comments from administration officials and congressional leaders insisting that the public option remains on the table, as well as discussion of how health insurance cooperatives would work.

19 Aug 2009

Delay in appointing Medicare Chief baffles lawmakers

To the puzzlement of Congress and health care experts around the country, Mr. Obama has not named anyone to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services," The New York Times reports.

19 Aug 2009

COBRA rolls double as subsidy makes coverage more affordable to laid-off workers

"A federal subsidy designed to make health insurance more affordable for laid-off workers has led to a doubling in the number of people who have opted to continue their former employer's coverage," USA Today reports. The subsidy, created by the federal stimulus package, covers 65 percent of COBRA premiums for workers who were laid off between Sept. 1, 2008 and the end of this year.

19 Aug 2009

Boehner blasts PhRMA on deal with White House

KHN reports that Minority Leader John Boehner is taking issue with "the drug industry's decision to agree to $80 billion in concessions to the White House."

19 Aug 2009

Electronic Cigarette Association calls for a law restricting the sale of E-Cigarettes to underage smokers

In a letter sent to Congressional members on August 14, the Electronic Cigarette Association (ECA) criticized the recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study on electronic cigarettes as it failed to follow standard scientific protocols and was too narrow in scope. In addition, the letter called on Congress to enact legislation that would make it illegal to sell electronic cigarettes to those below the legal age of smoking.

19 Aug 2009

Obama calls for veterans' health care expansion

President Obama Monday included health care in a speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars' national convention Monday, The Arizona Republic reports.

19 Aug 2009

H1N1 vaccine administration coverage from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New Hampshire

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New Hampshire has announced that it will offer coverage for the administration of the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine when it becomes commercially available to the general public. The vaccine administration will be covered for members whose benefit plans provide coverage for vaccines.

19 Aug 2009

Cost of physician reimbursement for diabetic leg amputations misconstrued

The cost of doctors performing lower-limb amputations for people with diabetes has been misconstrued during recent health care reform discussions, according to the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA).

19 Aug 2009

ASA members upset with Medicare cuts

CBS News "has learned that up to 60,000 people have cancelled their AARP memberships since July 1, angered over the group's" support of Democratic health care proposals. "Many are switching to the American Seniors Association, a group that calls itself the conservative alternative … 'I think that probably the seniors are most upset with cuts in Medicare,' said ASA President Stuart Barton. The American Seniors Association is flat-out against President Obama's plan, which calls for $313 billion dollars in Medicare cuts over ten years ... Last week, Obama told a town meeting in Portsmouth, NH, 'We have the AARP on board because they know this is a good deal for our seniors'" (Attkisson, 8/17).

19 Aug 2009

GOP sees chance for revival as Democrats struggle with health proposals

"Republicans finally have a little spring back in their step thanks to a health care debate that has done more to cool off Obama-mania and reignite the conservative base than even most of its leaders had hoped," Politico reports.

18 Aug 2009

High cost of Tennessee's state program under the reform microscope

TennCare, the plan enacted in the mid-1990s to cover the Tennessee's uninsured through a public insurance program which nearly bankrupted the state, is fueling national debate about a public option, The Wall Street Journal reports.

18 Aug 2009