Roundup: Poll finds growing support in Mass. for health law

Jun 6 2011

The Boston Globe: Support For State Health Law Rises
Support for the Massachusetts universal health care law has increased since 2009, according to a poll of the state's residents -- even as the law has become the subject of blistering attacks in national and presidential politics, and health care costs soar. The poll by the Harvard School of Public Health and The Boston Globe found that 63 percent of Massachusetts residents support the 2006 health law, up 10 percentage points in the past two years. Just 21 percent said they were against the law (Lazar, 6/5). 

California Healthline: Assembly Sends Health Insurance Regulation Bill On To Senate
First there was a motion to block the bill to regulate health insurance rate increases because bill language had been amended the day before. The Assembly voted to reject that objection by waiving the one-day waiting period. ... None of those moves slowed down AB 52, which passed out of the Assembly with a one-sided, Republican-less vote (Gorn, 6/3). 

The Connecticut Mirror: State Workers Say Health Care Concessions Are Biggest Worry
Questions about changes to their health coverage are the biggest concern state employees have about the $1.6 billion concession deal between the Malloy Administration and union leaders, workers who attended a closed-door briefing at the State Armory Saturday told reporters afterward. ... Steve Curran, a Department of Correction officer with 21 years of state experience ... agreed that the health care provisions, and particularly a new "value-based health plan" that imposes higher premiums and deductibles on workers who don't receive regular physicals and other health care screenings, is a [big] problem for many (Phaneuf, 6/4). 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Democrats At Convention Target Walker, Ryan
Meeting for the first time since their humbling defeats in November, Wisconsin Democrats took aim at what they see as their leading antagonists over the next year -- Gov. Scott Walker and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan. Walker and Ryan were popular fodder for criticism at the Democratic state convention in Milwaukee on Friday and Saturday as officials and speakers criticized Walker for his stance on public employee unions and Ryan for his deficit-reduction plan and proposals for Medicare (Bergquist, 6/4). 

ABC: Florida Law Bans Doctors From Asking About Guns
Doctors and gun control groups say they will challenge a Florida law, signed Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott, that bans physicians from asking patients about gun ownership. "Gov. Rick Scott should realize the risks to public health and safety that he would be sanctioning by giving into the gun lobby's agenda," the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said in a joint statement with the Florida chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians and American College of Physicians. When it was first proposed in January, the gun gag bill sparked outrage among pediatricians, who said asking parents about guns in the home was not only their right but their responsibility (Moisse, 6/3). 

Modern Healthcare: Ariz. Providers Handling Cuts Well: S&P
Arizona hospitals and health systems have cut labor and supply costs and altered programs in response to the state's recent and expected future Medicaid cuts, according to Standard & Poor's (Evans, 6/3). 

Stateline: New Governors Drive To Reorganize Agencies
The most controversial change [of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback] is to bring the Kansas Health Policy Authority, the agency that administers Medicaid, into the state health department. ... An unusually large number of governors are proposing merging agencies this year. That's partially because the fiscal crisis has governors looking to find savings anywhere they can find them. But it's also because a majority of states have new governors this year, and as chief executive officer, they often come into office with their own ideas about how government should be structured. However, experience shows that consolidating state agencies is easier to do on the organizational chart than it is in real life (Maynard, 6/6). 

WBUR's CommonHealth blog: How Is Network Health Cutting Its Premiums 15%?
Stop the presses! Somebody's health insurance premiums are actually going down!! Network Health, a managed care plan owned by Cambridge Health Alliance, has just announced that as of July 1, its Commonwealth Care plan will cut its premiums by 15%. ... The announcement is timed to appeal to potential members during the open-enrollment period for Commonwealth Care, the state-subsidized health insurance for people with low and moderate incomes (Goldberg, 6/3).