Healthcare News

RSS

South Carolina audit finds inadequacies in Medicaid transportation service program

The South Carolina Legislative Audit Council, the investigative arm of the General Assembly, on Wednesday released an audit report finding that the state might have improperly managed the Medicaid transportation program, the Columbia State reports.

30 Mar 2009

Federal lawsuit questions Medicaid's ability to deny care deemed necessary by doctor

Health officials from Florida, Georgia and Alabama this week argued in a federal appeals court in Atlanta that state Medicaid programs can cut treatments for children that a doctor has ordered as medically necessary, Florida Health News reports.

30 Mar 2009

UnitedHealth Group, Ingenix to testify at senate hearing about out-of-network rates

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chair Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday will hold a hearing that follows lawsuits and an investigation by New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) alleging that UnitedHealth Group and subsidiary Ingenix manipulated out-of-network rate data resulting in patients paying more for those services, the AP/USA Today reports.

30 Mar 2009

New York Times examines Massachusetts health insurance law as model for U.S. health reform

"By tackling cost at the same time as access," the Obama administration and congressional lawmakers "have made their political challenge more difficult," the New York Times reports.

30 Mar 2009

Health Reform Dialogue Coalition releases recommendations for U.S. health care system overhaul

A coalition representing health care firms, patients and medical providers on Friday presented a five-page report to Congress recommending changes to the health care system, CQ HealthBeat reports (Adams, CQ HealthBeat, 3/27).

30 Mar 2009

$78 billion spent for heart disease care in 2006

Opening blocked arteries, trying to keep heart attack victims alive, fixing defective heart valves, and treating other heart ailments cost $78 billion in 2006 - roughly 8 percent of the more than $1 trillion spent on all medical care for the community population, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

30 Mar 2009

Florida senators introduce bill to prevent Medicaid fraud

Florida Senate Health Regulation Committee Chair Don Gaetz (R) and state Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee Chair Durell Peaden (R) at a news conference on Wednesday "expressed confidence" that lawmakers will pass legislation (SB 1986) aiming to prevent and detect Medicaid fraud, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.

30 Mar 2009

Obama discusses health reform during internet town hall meeting

President Obama on Thursday fielded questions from U.S. residents on a range of topics, including health care, at a town hall meeting that was broadcast on the Internet and cable news channels, Politico reports (Gerstein, Politico, 3/26).

30 Mar 2009

Senate panel hears from witnesses detailing insurer practices that limit transparency of payment rates

Witnesses at a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on Thursday discussed the need for increased consumer protections that would limit the practice of insurers underpaying for out-of-network medical services, CQ HealthBeat reports.

30 Mar 2009

Hoyer to coordinate committees on health care legislation process

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Thursday announced that he will coordinate the efforts of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Education and Labor Committee in drafting a comprehensive health reform bill, The Hill reports.

30 Mar 2009

Senate committee advances budget resolution; debate remains over whether to use reconciliation to fast track health reform

The Senate Budget Committee on Thursday voted 13-10 along party lines to approve a $3.5 trillion fiscal year 2010 budget resolution that does not include budget reconciliation instructions for comprehensive health care reform legislation, CQ Today reports (Clarke et al., CQ Today, 3/26).

30 Mar 2009

New survey tracks behavioral health treatment trends

Behavioral healthcare systems are playing a major role in responding to the needs of the millions of Americans of all ages who experience psychiatric and substance use conditions each year, according to the latest annual survey from the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) released.

30 Mar 2009

Cleaning fluids used in hospitals may pose a health risks

A pilot study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health has found that potentially hazardous chemicals are contained in a selection of agents used in several different hospitals.

29 Mar 2009

National Urban League urges Obama to address racial health disparities in annual report

The National Urban League on Wednesday released its annual of "State of Black America" report, in which it urges President Obama to address health care and other disparities blacks face, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

25 Mar 2009

Nearly 11% of Utah residents uninsured

About 10.7% or 298,200 Utah residents did not have health insurance in 2008, compared with 10.6% in 2007, according to the annual Utah Healthcare Access Survey, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

25 Mar 2009

CMS orders end to 'referral fees' to sales agents for Medicare Advantage plans

CMS has ordered private insurers to payment of "'referral fees' to sales agents who steer a beneficiary to a company for enrollment," Florida Health News reports.

25 Mar 2009

Los Algodones, Mexico has become a popular destination for dental medical tourism

Los Algodones, Mexico, has become "the latest boomtown for medical tourism," with about 350 dentists providing care for prices that are up to 70% less than what U.S. residents typically pay, the Chicago Tribune reports.

25 Mar 2009

Employers increase use of eligibility audits for workers' dependents to reduce health care costs, survey finds

Employers are becoming more aggressive about checking the health coverage eligibility of workers' dependents as a way to reduce health care costs, according to a recent Watson Wyatt survey, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

25 Mar 2009

More physicians performing house calls

The Washington Post on Tuesday examined how a "small but growing tribe of doctors, nurses, physician assistants and nurse practitioners ... are reviving [the] once-common practice" of performing house calls.

25 Mar 2009

AHIP, BCBS say insurers willing to stop basing premiums on members' health status if all U.S. residents are required to obtain coverage

In a letter to leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committees on Tuesday, America's Health Insurance Plans and the BlueCross BlueShield Association said that their memberships would be willing to end the practice of charging different premiums based on individuals' health status if all U.S. residents were required to obtain coverage, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 3/25).

25 Mar 2009

Healthcare News

South Carolina audit finds inadequacies in Medicaid transportation service program

Federal lawsuit questions Medicaid's ability to deny care deemed necessary by doctor

UnitedHealth Group, Ingenix to testify at senate hearing about out-of-network rates

New York Times examines Massachusetts health insurance law as model for U.S. health reform

Health Reform Dialogue Coalition releases recommendations for U.S. health care system overhaul

$78 billion spent for heart disease care in 2006

Florida senators introduce bill to prevent Medicaid fraud

Obama discusses health reform during internet town hall meeting

Senate panel hears from witnesses detailing insurer practices that limit transparency of payment rates

Hoyer to coordinate committees on health care legislation process

Senate committee advances budget resolution; debate remains over whether to use reconciliation to fast track health reform

New survey tracks behavioral health treatment trends

Cleaning fluids used in hospitals may pose a health risks

National Urban League urges Obama to address racial health disparities in annual report

Nearly 11% of Utah residents uninsured

CMS orders end to 'referral fees' to sales agents for Medicare Advantage plans

Los Algodones, Mexico has become a popular destination for dental medical tourism

Employers increase use of eligibility audits for workers' dependents to reduce health care costs, survey finds

More physicians performing house calls

AHIP, BCBS say insurers willing to stop basing premiums on members' health status if all U.S. residents are required to obtain coverage

Transforming Cardiovascular Care: Insights from Mina Makar at AstraZeneca

Clue's CEO Rhiannon White on the Future of Femtech and PCOS

Freezing Point Osmometry in Life Science Applications

Latest News