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San Francisco Chronicle examines 'Healthy San Francisco' program enrollment progress

Although city officials estimated in July 2007 that Healthy San Francisco would offer access to health care to all city residents by January, the program one year later remains open only to individuals with incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

4 Jul 2008

Massachusetts cigarette tax increases by $1 per pack to fund state health insurance law

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on Tuesday signed into law a bill that increases the state cigarette tax by $1 per pack, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The increase, which brings the tax to $2.51, took effect immediately.

4 Jul 2008

Lord Darzi's final vision for primary care is positive though undermined by previous announcements

While many of the ambitions within the government's Vision for Primary and Community Care are welcome, previously announced government proposals will undermine the positive in this report, the BMA said today (Thursday 3 July 2008).

3 Jul 2008

Edward Kennedy working toward bipartisan support for major health care initiative in 2009

The office of Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has begun to hold a series of meetings with a number of health care experts to "begin laying the groundwork for a new attempt to provide universal health care," the Boston Globe reports.

3 Jul 2008

North Carolina mental health parity law comes into effect

North Carolina health care insurers must provide the same amount of coverage for certain mental conditions as they do for physical ailments under a state law that took effect on Tuesday, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

3 Jul 2008

USA Today examines financial strain on retirees with fixed incomes as health care costs, other essentials rise

USA Today on Tuesday, in the first article of a series about retirement issues in the 21st century, examined how retirees are seeing "inflation wring much of the value out of their fixed incomes."

3 Jul 2008

Report says cancer clinicians should understand and consider the economic impact of new interventions

Cancer clinicians should understand and consider the economic impact of new interventions, which often have substantial costs, according to a report appearing in the July/August issue of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

2 Jul 2008

CMS rule requires hospice providers to track, improve quality of care delivered

CMS has issued a new rule requiring hospice providers participating in Medicare to implement a quality assessment and improvement system, the Washington Post reports.

2 Jul 2008

Democratic lawmakers call Bush administration's efforts to temporarily hold Medicare physician payment rates at current levels 'misleading'

Democratic Sens. Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) and Charles Schumer (N.Y.) in a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt wrote that there "have been several misleading -- and possibly incorrect -- reports from the [Bush] administration regarding actions on physician claims filed beginning July 1," The Hill reports (Young, The Hill, 6/30).

2 Jul 2008

Costs pose challenge to Massachusetts health insurance law one year after deadline for residents to obtain coverage

One year after the deadline for Massachusetts residents to obtain health coverage under the state's health insurance law, the percentage of uninsured has declined but the law "still faces a huge challenge: costs," USA Today reports.

2 Jul 2008

President Bush signs war supplemental spending bill that blocks six new Medicaid rules

President Bush on Monday signed into law a supplemental war appropriations bill (HR 2642) with a provision that will delay for one year six new Medicaid regulations proposed by his administration, CongressDaily reports (Sanchez, CongressDaily, 6/30).

2 Jul 2008

Report recommends that Washington, D.C., spend $90 million on health care services in underserved areas

Washington, D.C., should spend $90 million of the funds it received from the 1998 tobacco settlement to expand services provided by community health centers in the district's underserved areas, according to a RAND report released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.

2 Jul 2008

Bush Administration to temporarily keep Medicare physician payment rates at current levels after congress fails to pass legislation to delay scheduled cut

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Friday said that the agency will maintain the current Medicare payment rate for physicians because Congress was unable to pass legislation to avert a 10.6% cut scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday before lawmakers left for the Fourth of July recess, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, congressional aides said the freeze to payment rates could last 10 days (Kane, Washington Post, 6/28).

2 Jul 2008

Old order Amish, Mennonites reject health insurance, face high costs for care at not-for-profit hospitals

Old Order Amish and Mennonites in Lancaster County, Pa., "suffer from endemic proportions of certain deadly genetic diseases" because they do not marry outside their communities, and, as they "seek lifesaving treatments, the uninsured in these Pennsylvania communities are struggling with escalating costs of care" at not-for-profit hospitals, the Wall Street Journal reports.

2 Jul 2008

Federal Judge rejects request for injunction against Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, editorial says

U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Ricardo Urbina on Monday rejected a request for a preliminary injunction against a Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 6/30).

2 Jul 2008

New Australian health programmes provide health checks for children and teen dental care

Three new health programmes for children and teenagers have been announced by the Australian Federal Government which include a $150 voucher for teenage dental care, free health checks for children starting school and a guide to kids' health for parents.

2 Jul 2008

New American Medical Association adverts blast Senate inaction on Medicare cuts

Reflecting physicians' frustration with a group of senators that blocked action last week on legislation that would stop harsh Medicare physician payment cuts, the AMA began airing new TV and radio ads urging opponents of H.R. 6331 to put patients' access to care before insurance profits.

1 Jul 2008

$300m earmarked to care for the elderly outside hospital in Australia

The Australian government has earmarked almost $300 million to free up public hospital beds and plans to achieve this by making it possible for frail, elderly people to move back into their homes.

30 Jun 2008

What price for a more effective Australian health care system?

The pressures from an ageing population on the rising costs of healthcare in Australia will be the subject of the third annual Menzies Oration to be held at The Australian National University tonight.

26 Jun 2008

House votes 355-59 to approve legislation that would delay Medicare physician fee cut

The House on Tuesday voted 355-59 to approve legislation (HR 6331) that would delay for 18 months a 10.6% reduction to Medicare physician fees scheduled to take effect on July 1, among other provisions, the Washington Post reports (Kane, Washington Post, 6/25).

26 Jun 2008

Healthcare News

San Francisco Chronicle examines 'Healthy San Francisco' program enrollment progress

Massachusetts cigarette tax increases by $1 per pack to fund state health insurance law

Lord Darzi's final vision for primary care is positive though undermined by previous announcements

Edward Kennedy working toward bipartisan support for major health care initiative in 2009

North Carolina mental health parity law comes into effect

USA Today examines financial strain on retirees with fixed incomes as health care costs, other essentials rise

Report says cancer clinicians should understand and consider the economic impact of new interventions

CMS rule requires hospice providers to track, improve quality of care delivered

Democratic lawmakers call Bush administration's efforts to temporarily hold Medicare physician payment rates at current levels 'misleading'

Costs pose challenge to Massachusetts health insurance law one year after deadline for residents to obtain coverage

President Bush signs war supplemental spending bill that blocks six new Medicaid rules

Report recommends that Washington, D.C., spend $90 million on health care services in underserved areas

Bush Administration to temporarily keep Medicare physician payment rates at current levels after congress fails to pass legislation to delay scheduled cut

Old order Amish, Mennonites reject health insurance, face high costs for care at not-for-profit hospitals

Federal Judge rejects request for injunction against Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, editorial says

New Australian health programmes provide health checks for children and teen dental care

New American Medical Association adverts blast Senate inaction on Medicare cuts

$300m earmarked to care for the elderly outside hospital in Australia

What price for a more effective Australian health care system?

House votes 355-59 to approve legislation that would delay Medicare physician fee cut

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

Freezing Point Osmometry in Life Science Applications

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