2010 November Health Care News

The November issue of Health Care News warns of an Obama administration crackdown on health insurers. In a letter to Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius warned there would be “zero tolerance” for “misinformation and unjustified rate increases.”

Also in this issue:

• Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), the two physicians currently serving in the U.S. Senate, have released a blistering study of President Barack Obama’s health care law, revealing disconcerting data on the effects the law will have on the cost of health insurance and health care services.

• Higher costs under new regulations are putting further pressure on recession-battered state budgets.

• Several states need to reconsider their obsolete certificate of need laws, which inhibit building of new hospitals.

• New questions emerge as agency takes heat for Avandia approval.

• Missouri voters showed their displeasure at the ballot box by voting 79-21 against Obama’s individual insurance mandate.

• Under Obamacare, IRS enforcement mechanisms will be applied to health care decisions at the individual and employer level.

• The raw milk movement has run afoul of government regulators, resulting in crackdowns in several states.