Opinion
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Next Up in Maryland: Universal Health Mandate?
Opinion -Since a federal court struck down its "Wal-Mart law" in July, Maryland has been considering other ways of making sure all of the state's residents have health insurance--including the possibility of adopting a universal health coverage mandate like that -
NM Governor Proposes Massive Medicaid Expansion, Universal Coverage
Opinion -In a clear sign that health care and the uninsured remain hot-button issues on which many politicians intend to be proactive, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) on July 20 proposed significant changes to the state's Medicaid system. -
CMS Lifts Ban on Physician-Owned Specialty Facilities
Opinion -The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in August ended a three-year-old ban on Medicare payments going to new specialty hospitals. Under new rules, physicians must inform patients and the CMS when they own medical facilities. -
Medical Tourism Prompts Price Discussions
Opinion -Howard Staab, a 53-year-old North Carolina contractor, was healthy in the summer of 2004--or so he thought, until his doctor found a life-threatening heart condition during a routine physical. -
Redefining Consumer-Driven Health Care
Opinion -Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results Michael E. Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2006 506 pages, hardcover, ISBN: 1591397782, $35. -
Think Tank Calls for End of I-SaveRx
Opinion -(Chicago, Illinois - September 22, 2006) On Tuesday, September 19, the Illinois Auditor General released an audit of the state's prescription drug reimportation program, known as I-SaveRx. -
S.F. Adopts Health Plan for Residents
Opinion -On August 7, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law an ordinance establishing a health coverage plan for city residents. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors had unanimously passed the law on July 25. -
UnitedHealth Group Study: Consumer-Driven Plans a Success
Opinion -UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation's largest health insurers, released in July one of the first comprehensive studies of consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) since Congress voted in 2004 to create market-driven, high-deductible health plans and -
MS Drug Gives Patients Options
Opinion -Champion pool player David Krolick found himself behind the eight ball six years ago when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). -
Electronic Patient Visits Gaining Traction
Opinion -National and regional health insurers have begun to reimburse providers for electronic patient visits, in the hope these payments will improve care quality as well as doctor-patient relationships. -
Health Care Leadership Forecast Released
Opinion -When Development Dimensions International (DDI), a multinational management firm based in Pittsburgh, released its fourth annual Health Care Global Comparison leadership forecast in June, it had several recommendations for health care leaders. -
Anti-Obesity Drug Reaches Market in EU
Opinion -As concerns about obesity rise, pharmaceutical manufacturers are racing to develop drugs to combat the problem. Rimonabant, developed by drug manufacturer sanofi-aventis, might be the first to reach the public. -
Record Number of Flu Vaccine Doses Available This Year
Opinion -When the fall/winter flu season descends once again, the Centers for Disease Control will be ready for it, according to agency representatives. -
Correction
Opinion -The August 2006 issue of Health Care News incorrectly identified U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) as his father, the late Sen. John Chafee. HCN regrets the error. -
Health Care in the News Nationwide
Opinion -Denver. The Denver Business Journal reported the local National Federation of Independent Business chapter was "going to Washington" to fight for Association Health Plan legislation that has been endorsed by 8,000 small business owners in Colorado. -
Making Health Insurance Portable
Opinion -One of the great things about Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) is that they are portable--if you change jobs, you don't necessarily have to change accounts. However, the same can't be said for health insurance--HSA-eligible or any other type. -
Long-Term Care DRAma in Congress
Opinion -When a local Medicaid planning attorney in U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett's (R) district in Hagerstown, Maryland criticized him on July 10 for voting for the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), which President George W. -
Congress Considers Bills for Universal Health Coverage
Opinion -Over the last few days of July, two U.S. senators with presidential aspirations offered bills outlining their plans for insuring the 19 million to 46 million Americans who are believed to lack coverage. -
Maryland Ruling Is Hailed by Health Care Experts
Opinion -Free-market advocates cheered long and loud in mid-July when U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz struck down Maryland's Fair Share Health Care Fund Act, popularly known as the "Wal-Mart law. -
New Drug Safety Bill Introduced in Senate
Opinion -In a bid to increase federal scrutiny of the safety of pharmaceutical industry products, U.S. Sens. Michael B. Enzi (R-WY) and Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) unveiled the Enhancing Drug Safety and Innovation Act of 2006 in late July. -
Competition Works for Medicare Part D
Opinion -A study of the Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Program, also known as Part D, reveals free-market competition is keeping drug prices down more effectively than price controls in Medicare's other segments. -
Health IT Bill: Boon or Boondoggle?
Opinion -A bill pending in Congress would create a framework for a national interoperable network for storage and transmission of individual health care records. -
Heavy Diet of Falsehoods About Food
Opinion -Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know about Fast Food by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson Houghton Mifflin, May 2006 270 pages, $16.00 cloth, ISBN 0618710310 Available on Amazon. -
Expert Comment: Contrary to Media Reports, New Study Does Not Undermine Health Savings Accounts
Opinion -Expert comment on "How Much More Cost Sharing Will Health Savings Accounts Brings?
