| America's Health Insurance Plans' Statement On National Committee For Quality Assurance's State Of Health Care Quality Report
October 23, 2009 at 11:00 am
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| | America's Health Insurance Plans issued the following statement about a new report issued by the National Committee for Quality Assurance: "No segment within health care is more committed to quality and quality improvement than the community of health insurance plans, as evidenced by the fact that 979 plans covering 116 million people reported performance measures publicly and voluntarily in 2008 - both record numbers. |
| Ignagni: Reform Needs To Happen
October 23, 2009 at 10:00 am
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| | AHIP President and CEO Karen Ignagni affirmed health plans' strong support for comprehensive, bipartisan health care reform that covers all Americans, improves quality, and makes care more affordable. Speaking at AHIP's annual state issues conference, Ignagni said the experience in the states has shown that insurance market reforms need to be paired with a commitment to universal coverage to keep coverage as affordable as possible. |
| Senate Dems Still Debating Public Plan In Health Bills
October 23, 2009 at 9:00 am
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| | Senate Democratic leaders are tracking the support of a government-run public option in health care reform legislation. BusinessWeek: "Not long ago, as attention centered on the Senate Finance Committee's moderate health-care reform bill, pundits dismissed the idea of a publicly run insurance program to compete with private insurers as all but dead. |
| Obama Administration Disputes Government Report On Reform's Higher Costs
October 23, 2009 at 9:00 am
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| | Administration officials quickly rejected a new analysis that found "the nation's medical costs will keep spiraling upward even faster than they are now under Democratic legislation pending in the House," the Associated Press reports. |
| Health Care Lobbyists Spend Big To Win Big, Consumer Groups Fight Industry Deals
October 23, 2009 at 9:00 am
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| | Health care lobbyists are on track to set new spending records this year, with some individual companies nearly doubling their investment compared to previous periods, USA Today reports. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spent almost as much by September as it did in the entire year in 2008. |
| Health Reform Changes Could Increase Costs To States
October 23, 2009 at 9:00 am
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| | Today's state news round-up includes the cost of health reform to New York, immigrants in California, a possible new mental health overhaul in Arizona and a delay in expanding the children's health program in Iowa. New York: "The Paterson administration is raising alarms that health care legislation taking shape in Washington could drive up deficits and punish New York and other states that have expanded Medicaid coverage on their own," |
| Women's Health Should Not Be 'Special Interest,' Opinion Piece Says
October 23, 2009 at 8:00 am
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| | Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) "obviously doesn't understand" that health insurance "should be designed to spread the risk among us all, not to exclude certain classes of people so that policies cost less," Dave Zweifel, editor emeritus of the Madison Capital Times, writes in an opinion piece. |
| Obama Adopting A More Partisan Tone On Health Care
October 23, 2009 at 8:00 am
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| | "In sharp contrast to how he got elected, President Barack Obama is bashing Republicans this week while urging Democrats to unite behind his effort to reform the nation's healthcare system," The Hill reports. |
| House Republicans Find Many Angles For Opposition To Health Bills
October 23, 2009 at 8:00 am
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| | House lawmakers who oppose Democratic health reform efforts are finding a variety of targets for their complaints. For instance, "A coalition of pro-life groups, accompanied by several House Republicans outside the U.S. Capitol, delivered a petition signed by 137,000 Americans Wednesday voicing disapproval with current health care reform legislation," |
| Large Firms That 'Self-Insure' Are Resisting New Regulations
October 23, 2009 at 8:00 am
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| | "Despite promises by President Barack Obama, more than 70 million Americans who have health insurance through their jobs could be open to higher costs or denials of some coverage under a leading overhaul plan making its way through Congress," The Associated Press reports. |
| Study: Massachusetts Health Reform Popular With Doctors, Doesn't Hold Costs Down
October 23, 2009 at 8:00 am
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| | "The first broad-based survey of how physicians feel about the Massachusetts experiment shows strong and deep support: 70 percent favor the law; three-quarters want to keep it," NPR reports. "Only 7 percent would repeal the law, and it's hard to find a doctor to say so publicly, says a spokesman for the Massachusetts Medical Society. |
| Leaders Confident They Have Support For A Public Option In Final House Health Bill
October 23, 2009 at 7:00 am
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| | CQ Politics: "'We're right around 218 (votes) for a robust public option,' Democratic Caucus Chairman John B. Larson of Connecticut said early Wednesday afternoon as Majority Whip James E. Clyburn , D-S.C., was working to complete a whip count of Democrats that Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., asked for on Tuesday. |
| Crossover Vote Or Lost Cause? Maine Sen. Collins' Reform Vote Examined
October 23, 2009 at 7:00 am
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| | Sen. Susan Collins, Maine's junior senator, has a lot of people asking her which way she's leaning on supporting health care reform. And she's remaining mum. The Washington Post reports that both she and her Maine colleague, Sen. Olympia Snowe have supported other controversial Democratic proposals before, like the $787 billion stimulus. |
| Americans Split On Obama's Health Care Proposals, New Poll Finds
October 23, 2009 at 7:00 am
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| | Americans are split evenly on President Barack Obama's proposals for health care reform, according to a new poll released Wednesday. Still, a "CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey indicates that a majority say (sic) it would be better to pass some sort of reform legislation than to leave the current health care system unchanged," CNN reports. |
| House Committee Votes To Remove Antitrust Protection From Insurance Companies, Senate May Follow
October 23, 2009 at 7:00 am
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| | Bloomberg: "The U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted to repeal the insurance industry's federal antitrust exemption in a move aimed at spurring competition and controlling the cost of premiums. The panel, in a 20-9 vote, approved legislation to ban companies from engaging in price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation. |
| A Selection Of Today's Opinions And Editorials
October 23, 2009 at 7:00 am
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| | Doctors, Patients, And The Need For Health Care Reform New England Journal Of Medicine"In nearly a century of effort, this country has never been as close as we are today to bringing true stability and security to our health care system. | | | 
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