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Health Outlays Still Seen Rising
Health Outlays Still Seen Rising
By: Wall Street Journal
The health-care overhaul enacted last spring won't significantly change national health spending over the next decade compared with projections before the law was passed, according to government figures set to be released Thursday.
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Public Release of Clinical Outcomes Data — Online CABG Report Cards
Public Release of Clinical Outcomes Data — Online CABG Report Cards
By: New England Journal of Medicine
The voluntary reporting of risk-adjusted coronary-artery bypass grafting procedure outcomes in approximately 20% of U.S. cardiac surgery programs is a watershed event in health care accountability.
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Defining Medical Expenses — An Early Skirmish over Insurance Reforms
Defining Medical Expenses — An Early Skirmish over Insurance Reforms
By: New England Journal of Medicine
Whereas the industry strongly opposes the NAIC’s draft recommendations, in a July 6 statement consumer representatives urged that the recommendations be “accepted as drafted” because they represent “a carefully crafted compromise.”
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State Throwing Away Millions in Potential Drug Rebates
State Throwing Away Millions in Potential Drug Rebates
By: KOMO News
When generics first come on the market, the rebates on brand-name drugs may still make them less expensive.
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Health Insurers Plan Hikes
Health Insurers Plan Hikes
By: Wall Street Journal
Health insurers say they plan to raise premiums for some Americans as a direct result of the health overhaul in coming weeks, complicating Democrats' efforts to trumpet their signature achievement.
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Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits
Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits
By: New York Times
In recent years, cognitive scientists have shown that a few simple techniques can reliably improve what matters most: how much a student learns from studying.
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HHS Issues Guidance on Waivers from Healthcare Reform's Annual Limits
By: The Hill
The waiver is only valid for one year, and plans must reapply annually "in accordance with future guidance from HHS."
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In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic, No Final Answer
In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic, No Final Answer
By: New York Times
About half a dozen states have banned BPA in children’s products, and U.S. Senator Feinstein hopes to accomplish the same nationwide, with an amendment to the food safety bill scheduled for a vote in the Senate next week.
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U.S. Smoking Rate Hasn't Changed, CDC Says
One in five Americans lights up regularly. If all states had prevention programs like those in California and Utah, 5 million fewer people would be smoking, the agency says.
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Food Safety Tips for the Budget-Conscious
Food Safety Tips for the Budget-Conscious
By: New York Times
There is good reason to be scared into action. Every year, 76 million cases of foodborne illness occur, leading to about 300,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths.
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Cost of Medical Malpractice Tops $55 Billion a Year in U.S.
By: U.S. News & World Report
The researchers said their estimate includes $45.6 billion in what's known as defensive medicine costs -- when doctors prescribe unnecessary tests or treatments to avoid lawsuits.
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Health Care Wastefulness Is Detailed in Studies
By: New York Times
Researchers have calculated that more than half of the 354 million doctor visits made each year for medical care, like for fevers, stomachaches and coughs, are not with a patient’s primary physician, and that more than a quarter take place in hospital emergency rooms.
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Steep Rate Hikes On Way for Individual Health Insurance
Steep Rate Hikes On Way for Individual Health Insurance
By: Seattle Times
Double-digit rate increases are hitting most individual health-insurance plans in Washington state, hurting jobless workers and worrying insurance regulators.
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State's Employees Health Care Premium Plan Follows U.S. Trend
By: Tacoma News Tribune
Nonetheless, the Washington Federation of State Employees, which is bargaining on behalf of about 40,000 workers, has rejected the governor’s offer.
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Medicare Head Pushes Health Care Test Sites
By: Boston Globe
Newly installed Medicare chief Donald Berwick, keeping a low public profile after encountering controversy over his appointment, is moving quickly behind the scenes to seed the US health care system with 100 to 300 sites to test new models of caring for patients.
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Prescription Drug Use Rose to Include Half of Americans in 2008
Prescription Drug Use Rose to Include Half of Americans in 2008
By: Bloomberg
Almost half of Americans took at least one prescription drug per month in 2008, an increase of 10 percent over the past decade, a U.S. study found.
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Report: U.S. Medical Programs Missing Millions of Kids
By: Reuters
An estimated 7.3 million children were uninsured on an average day in 2008 and 65 percent of them were eligible for Medicaid of CHIP coverage.
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Washington Health Program Enrollment at 1,200 and Growing
By: State Health Care Authority
The Washington Health Program enrolled its 1,200th member last week, less than two months after the Health Care Authority rolled out the new non-subsidized health coverage program for Washington residents.
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Drug Makers Pay Fine to State for Off-Label Promotion of Headache medication
By: Seattle PI
Johnson & Johnson promoted their drug to treat symptoms for other than those approved by federal regulators. As a result, Medicaid and other government health care programs paid millions more for Topamax prescriptions than they should have.
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Organic Strawberries Given a Thumbs Up in WSU Study
Organic Strawberries Given a Thumbs Up in WSU Study
By: Seattle Times
Organic produce has more nutrients than conventionally grown, according to a Washington State University study published Wednesday.
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Wyden Pushing For Oregon Waiver From Health Care Law, Individual Mandate
Wyden Pushing For Oregon Waiver From Health Care Law, Individual Mandate
By: Huffington Post
Should U.S. Senator Wyden prove successful -- both in pushing the Federal waiver start date to 2014 and in scrapping the individual mandate -- it stands to reason that other states will soon follow.
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Victims Pressure Sen. Harry Reid on Food Safety
Victims Pressure Sen. Harry Reid on Food Safety
By: Politico
Victims of foodborne illness and their family members are set to descend on the Capitol next week to lobby Senate offices to pass a stalled food safety bill.
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Employers Push Higher Health Insurance Costs Onto Workers
Employers Push Higher Health Insurance Costs Onto Workers
By: Kaiser Health News
Workers nationwide, on average, are paying nearly $4,000 a year toward the cost of family coverage. That's a hefty 14%, or $482, more for health insurance in 2010 than in 2009, according to a Kaiser survey released on Thursday.
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Seattle, Spokane, Weyerhauser — and the State of Washington — Will Receive Federal Funding for Healthcare
By: The Capitol Record
What’s that mean for the state? About $60 million in savings over two years, according to the Health Care Authority.
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About 2,000 Employers Qualify for Federal Subsidies for Retiree Healthcare
By: Los Angeles Times
The Obama administration announced Tuesday that nearly 2,000 businesses, labor unions and local governments have qualified for federal subsidies to offset the cost of providing their retirees and dependents with medical insurance, another early benefit of the new healthcare law.
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Why Do Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers?
Why Do Heavy Drinkers Outlive Nondrinkers?
By: Time
Over a 20-year period, mortality rates were highest for those who were not current drinkers, regardless of whether they used to be alcoholics, second highest for heavy drinkers and lowest for moderate drinkers.
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Cough Medicines Should Be Restricted: FDA
Cough Medicines Should Be Restricted: FDA
By: Red Orbit
“Robotripping,” as it is known among abusers, involves taking more than 25 times the recommended dosage of a cold medicine. The problem is most often associated with teenagers.
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America's Most Profitable Hospitals
America's Most Profitable Hospitals
By: Forbes
Some big nonprofits also made the list, including both of Mayo Clinic's main hospitals and Ohio State University's hospital.
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Health Care Reform Timeline: What's Changing and When
Health Care Reform Timeline: What's Changing and When
By: HealthCare.gov
The federal government's website on health care reform lays out a convenient timeline on reforms.
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Dear Patients: Vote to Repeal ObamaCare
Dear Patients: Vote to Repeal ObamaCare
By: Wall Street Journal Op-Ed
"Please remember when you vote this November that unless the Democratic Party receives a strong negative message about this power grab our health care system will never be fixed and the doctor patient relationship will be ruined forever."
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Public Sours on Health Care Reform as Midterms Loom
Public Sours on Health Care Reform as Midterms Loom
By: Politico
The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll has support for the bill dropping seven percentage points in August – down to 43% – while opposition rose 10 points to 45%.
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Flies, Birds, Mice Found at Egg Plant
Flies, Birds, Mice Found at Egg Plant
By: Wall Street Journal
Wright County Egg Co., in Iowa, one of the nation's largest egg producers, had "significant objectionable conditions" at some of its plants, including "live and dead flies too numerous to count."
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Pro & Con: Will Health Overhaul Provide Better Care for U.S. Workers?
Pro & Con: Will Health Overhaul Provide Better Care for U.S. Workers?
By: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Washington Congressman Jim McDermott and Galen Institute President Grace-Marie Turner square off on health care reform.
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Weight Index Doesn’t Tell the Whole Truth
Weight Index Doesn’t Tell the Whole Truth
By: New York Times
“The B.M.I. tables are excellent for identifying obesity and body fat in large populations, but they are far less reliable for determining fatness in individuals.”
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Regulators Probe Allegations Of Fraud In Health Credit Cards
By: Kaiser Health News
Patient advocates are concerned that practitioners are taking advantage of patients' trust at a time when they need help and may be in pain.
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Health Reform Group Aids Campaigns
Health Reform Group Aids Campaigns
By: Politico
The progressive coalition Health Care for America Now fought hard to pass health care reform. Now it’s fighting hard to help reelect lawmakers who voted for the bill – even if it means not talking about it.
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Cash-Poor Governments Ditching Public Hospitals
Cash-Poor Governments Ditching Public Hospitals
By: Wall Street Journal
More than a fifth of the nation's 5,000 hospitals are owned by governments and many are drowning in debt caused by rising health-care costs, a spike in uninsured patients, cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and payments on construction bonds sold in fatter times.
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You’ll Need Only 1 Flu Shot This Year
By: Everett Herald
Innoculation will fend off swine and seasonal viruses, and vaccine supplies will be ample, health officials say.
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58% Favor Repeal of the Health Care Law
By: Rasmussen
A majority has favored repeal of the legislation in every single week since it became law. Support for repeal has ranged from a low of 52% to a high of 63%.
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Appeals Court: Vaccine Does Not Cause Autism
By: Food Consumer
A federal appeals court on Friday ruled against the families of autistic children who claimed that vaccination led to autism, a disorder that now affects one in 110 children in the United States.
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Pierce Co. Considers Banning Smoking in Apartments
By: Seattle PI
The fight over smoking restrictions in Washington state has moved from bars and office-buildings to private residences.
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A Wary Take on Health Care Bill
By: Everett Herald
Donna Steward from AWB highlighted some of the issues with federal health care reform including the fact that beginning in 2012, all businesses must submit a 1099 form to the government for all transactions exceeding $600.
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Youth Tobacco Use: Downward Trend Is Slowing
Youth Tobacco Use: Downward Trend Is Slowing
By: WebMD
The report notes that in 2009, some 8.2% of middle school students and 23.9% of those in high school reported they used tobacco in some form.
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Groups Press Congress To End Patients' Wait For Medicare
Groups Press Congress To End Patients' Wait For Medicare
By: Kaiser Health News
Under federal rules, most people with disabilities who are younger than 65 aren't eligible for Medicare until more than two years after they qualify for Social Security disability income.
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Small Businesses Skip the Health-Care Tax Credit
Small Businesses Skip the Health-Care Tax Credit
By: Bloomberg Business Week
U.S. Small Business Administration chief Karen Mills says complaints about the tax credit are premature.
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Frugal Consumers Hurt Health-Care Stocks
By: Bloomberg Business Week
So far this year, U.S. patient visits to doctors' offices fell 7.5 percent to 10 percent in the second quarter from a year ago.
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U.S. Cracks Down on Healthcare Fraud
By: Los Angeles Times
The initiative, launched in May 2009, had so far produced more than 580 criminal convictions and recovered more than $2.5 billion in fraudulent proceeds.
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State Officials Say Infant Died of Whooping Cough
By: Associated Press
Grant County public health officials say one of two county infants diagnosed with whooping cough has died in a Seattle hospital. County Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny says the second child is recovering at home.
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Drug Lobby Defends Rise in Prices
Drug Lobby Defends Rise in Prices
By: The Hill
AARP found that the retail price of the 217 brand-name drugs most commonly prescribed to Medicare beneficiaries jumped 8.3 percent in 2009 --— the steepest increase in the last six years.
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This Flu Season's Goal Is More Shots, Sooner
This Flu Season's Goal Is More Shots, Sooner
By: Wall Street Journal
This year, the CDC is recommending flu vaccine for all Americans ages six months and older, except for people with egg allergies or certain other conditions.
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Large Employers’ 2011 Health Plan Design Changes
Large Employers’ 2011 Health Plan Design Changes
By: National Business Group on Health
In 2011, 63% of employers will be increasing the employee percentage contribution to premium costs, and 46% will increase out-of-pocket maximums, while 44% will increase in-network deductibles.
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FDA Releases Draft Calorie Labeling Rules
FDA Releases Draft Calorie Labeling Rules
By: Food Safety News
The general rule is that any restaurant with twenty or more locations is required to label products with calorie information. This rule also includes vending machines.
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Senate Stall to Blame for Slow Egg Recall?
Senate Stall to Blame for Slow Egg Recall?
By: Politico
The pressure is now on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has consistently pushed the bill to the back burner.
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Putting the Brakes on ObamaCare
Putting the Brakes on ObamaCare
By: Wall Street Journal
Grace Marie-Turner explains the six key strategies that a Republican Congress could employ to put on the brakes.
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More Than 3 Million Seniors May Have to Switch Drug Plans
By: AP
Medicare has already notified insurers they will no longer be able to offer more than one "basic" drug plan in any given location. When other changes are taken into account, as many as 3.7 million Medicare recipients may have to switch.
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New Hope in Fatigue Fight
By: Wall Street Journal
Researchers said they had identified a family of retroviruses in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, opening up a potentially promising new avenue of treatment for a debilitating disease that afflicts as many as four million Americans.
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FDA's New Rules Signal Closer Look at Egg Firms
FDA's New Rules Signal Closer Look at Egg Firms
By: Wall Street Journal
The new egg rules include such mandates as farms testing eggs and facilities for salmonella, protecting feed and water from contamination, and buying chicks and young hens from suppliers that monitor for salmonella.
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U.S. Judge Rules Against Obama’s Stem Cell Policy
By: New York Times
A federal district judge on Monday blocked President Obama’s 2009 executive order that expanded embryonic stem cell research, saying it violated a ban on federal money being used to destroy embryos.
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Egg Recall Grows, But Washington State Likely Unaffected
By: Olympian
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention included Washington state on the list of affected states, but health officials believe that few, if any, potentially contaminated eggs were distributed here.
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Fixing a World That Fosters Fat
Fixing a World That Fosters Fat
By: New York Times
Despite individual efforts by some states to tax soda pop, promote farm stands, require healthier school lunches or mandate calorie information in chain restaurants, obesity rates in the United States are growing.
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Tighter Medical Privacy Rules Sought
By: New York Times
The Obama administration is rewriting new rules on medical privacy after an outpouring of criticism from consumer groups and members of Congress who say the rules do not adequately protect the rights of patients.
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On health care, State Employees Contributions Must Come Closer to the Private Sector
By: Seattle Times Editorial
On Tuesday state negotiators will face public-employee unions over the issue of medical benefits. Last time they did this, they gave away the store.
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Sebelius Could Face Health-Reg Fight
Sebelius Could Face Health-Reg Fight
By: Politico
Sebelius is waiting for the NAIC to suggest rules surrounding how much insurance companies must spend on medical costs versus administrative expenses. The report, expected in weeks, isn’t likely to be as strict as top Democrats have hoped.
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FDA Commissioner Says Agency Needs More Authority
FDA Commissioner Says Agency Needs More Authority
By: AP
Food and Drug Administration chief Margaret Hamburg said Monday her agency is limited by law to a mostly reactive stance on food safety and argued that it needs a more "preventive approach."
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Dems Retreat on Health Care Cost Pitch
Dems Retreat on Health Care Cost Pitch
By: Politico
Key White House allies are dramatically shifting their attempts to defend health care legislation, abandoning claims that it will reduce costs and deficit, and instead stressing a promise to "improve it."
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More Offices See Bedbug Infestations
More Offices See Bedbug Infestations
By: USA Today
Four out of every 10 bed bug treatments are now in commercial buildings.
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Washington Has Third-Lowest Adult-Smoking Rate in Nation
By: Seattle Times
But people with lower incomes and educational backgrounds continue to smoke at higher rates. In addition, use of smokeless tobacco, such as chew, is on the rise among smokers.
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Colleges Say New Health Law May Imperil Student Policies
By: Kaiser Health News
Among other things, the colleges want clarification that they won’t have to offer the policies to non-students.
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Sebelius To Governors: Extra Medicaid Money Comes With A String Attached
Sebelius To Governors: Extra Medicaid Money Comes With A String Attached
By: Kaiser Health News
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius this week sent a letter to all of America's governors telling them that if they want to continue receiving the enhanced Medicaid funds that Congress approved last week they have to ask for the money.
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Egg Recall List: What You Need to Stay Safe
Egg Recall List: What You Need to Stay Safe
By: CBS News
This recall is of shell eggs only. So here's the full list of affected brands, according to a company press release on the FDA's website.
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Palliative Care — A Shifting Paradigm
By: New England Journal of Medicine
In this issue of the Journal the prevailing notion of palliative care is challenged by presenting the results of a randomized, controlled trial of early palliative care for patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer.
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Diabetes: Hospital Bills Cost Americans $83 Billion A Year
Diabetes: Hospital Bills Cost Americans $83 Billion A Year
By: Fiscal Times
A new report finds diabetes accounts for nearly $1 out of $4 spent on hospital care.
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Pharmacists and the Morning-After Pill: State Wants to Change the Rules
By: Seattle PI
On Tuesday, a month after the case was scheduled to go to trial, the state formally announced its intent to amend the rule.
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NAIC Approves Proposed MLR Financial Template
By: Business Insurance
The NAIC also did not include fraud prevention and detection, drawing criticism from America’s Health Insurance Plans.
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Repeated Sports-Related Head Trauma Linked to Lou Gehrig's-Like Disease
Repeated Sports-Related Head Trauma Linked to Lou Gehrig's-Like Disease
By: Bloomberg
Repeated head trauma from playing sports such as football and rugby is linked to the development of a new neurological disorder similar to Lou Gehrig’s disease.
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Commissioners OK Health Insurance Rate Allocation
Commissioners OK Health Insurance Rate Allocation
The NAIC approved Tuesday a preliminary outline of what insurers will be able to count as medical costs, given the health reform bill’s requirement that insurers spend at least 85% on medical costs in the large group market and 80% for small group and individual plans.
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The Avastin Mugging
The Avastin Mugging
By: Wall Street Journal
The decision betrays a bias that puts costs above treatment, and unless the FDA leadership overrules its own experts, the 40,000 women killed by breast cancer each year will be denied an important clinical option.
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Are iPods Behind Rising Teen Hearing Loss?
Are iPods Behind Rising Teen Hearing Loss?
By: Time
Music may not be the only thing that can be damaging kids ears.
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Employee Health Care Costs Going Up
By: Washington Business Journal
Employers expect their health care benefit costs to increase an average of 8.9% next year, compared to 7% this year, and 63% will increase employee contributions to premiums.
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Officials: Stay Current on Whooping Cough Shots
By: Tri-City Herald
For adults and teenagers, the pertussis vaccine is bundled with the tetanus shot they should be getting every 10 years.
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Breast Cancer: How Politics Is Driving Up Costs
Breast Cancer: How Politics Is Driving Up Costs
By: Kaiser Health News
If the FDA caves to patient advocacy group and drug company pressure and allows advanced metastatic breast cancer to remain on the Avastin label, it will be one more indication that the nation still isn't serious about controlling health care costs.
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Washington State Awarded $1 Million to Increase Transparency of Health-Insurance Rates
By: Kent Reporter
The health care reform grant must be used by states to improve the oversight of health-insurance rates, take action against unreasonable rates, and ensure that consumers receive value for their premium dollars.
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Some Americans May Not See New Health Care Provisions For Months
Some Americans May Not See New Health Care Provisions For Months
By: ABC News
Insurance companies are not obligated to include many of the new benefits until health insurance policies are renewed, starting on or after Sept. 23, 2010.
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Report: Cancer is the World's Costliest Disease
By: Associated Press
The World Health Organization has long predicted that cancer would overtake heart disease this year as the leading cause of death.
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Some States Are Lacking in Health Law Authority
Some States Are Lacking in Health Law Authority
By: New York Times
Insurance commissioners in about half the states say they do not have clear authority to enforce consumer protection standards that take effect next month.
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State May See Push for Circumcision after Evidence Shows Health Benefits
Less than a quarter of all infant boys in Washington are circumcised — one of the lowest rates in the nation.
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Future of Children's Healthcare Program Already Under Debate
By: The Hill
Sen. Max Baucus' comment this month that the popular CHIP initiative might assume "a different role" as healthcare reform evolves has raised the eyebrows of some children's welfare advocates.
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Health-Care Activists Hold Anti-Lobbyist Protest at Gathering of State Insurance Regulators
By: Seattle Times
Protesters in surgical masks and gowns offered to "disinfect" the National Association of Insurance Commissioners meeting in Seattle of a "lobbyist pandemic" Saturday at the Washington State Convention Center.
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Smoothie Pulp Linked to Typhoid Sold in NW
Smoothie Pulp Linked to Typhoid Sold in NW
By: King 5 News
The recalled mamey pulp was sold in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington.
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Extremely Resistant Superbug Triggers Global Concern
Extremely Resistant Superbug Triggers Global Concern
By: Healthy Living
Recently an extreme case of resistant bacterial strain has been reported which is claimed to be highly resistant to nearly all antibiotics.
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Health Insurance Debate: Is A Little Coverage Better Than None At All?
Health Insurance Debate: Is A Little Coverage Better Than None At All?
The premium increase waiver has reignited a debate that wasn’t settled during the contentious health care battle: Should the government insist on comprehensive insurance, even if it costs so much that some employers drop coverage entirely?
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UCSF Study Finds Big Jump in Emergency Room Visits
UCSF Study Finds Big Jump in Emergency Room Visits
By: San Francisco Chronicle
Emergency room visits to U.S. hospitals increased more than 23 percent from 1997 to 2007 - double what researchers expected the rise would be based on population growth.
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A Bitter Health Care Pill
By: Brookings Institute
Instead of taking a decade to move from fee-for-service to a capitation system, Massachusetts should implement two significant cost-saving measures: Reduce the number of mandatory coverage items and charge higher copayments for using the highest-cost providers.
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State Removes 6,200 People from Health Care Coverage
By: Health Care Authority
An audit conducted by the state agency that provides health insurance to state employees has identified 6,200 dependents who should not receive coverage.
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Medicare Doesn’t Work As Well For Younger, Disabled Beneficiaries As It Does For Older Enrollees
By: Health Affairs
The study finds that half of nonelderly disabled beneficiaries report problems paying for health care in the previous 12 months – nearly three times the rate reported by seniors (50 percent compared with 18 percent).
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Taking Control of the Health Care Debate: Avoiding the Mistakes of the 1990s
By: Heritage Foundation
The American people want a step-by-step approach, they want to be engaged in the conversation, they want incremental reform, but not incremental reform that turns a bigger and bigger share of our health sector over to the federal government.
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House Passes State Aid Bill
House Passes State Aid Bill
By: Reuters
The bill will give states, hard-hit by the U.S. economic downturn, $16 billion more for Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor, and $10 billion for education. The bill also raises multinational corporate taxes and cuts aid to the poor.
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WHO Says Swine-Flu Pandemic Is Over
By: Wall Street Journal
Nearly 14 months after declaring a new H1N1 flu to be a pandemic, the World Health Organization said Tuesday that it's over.
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The Stakes in the Health Care War
By: Politico Op-Ed
Despite lofty predictions that a broad-based Democratic constituency would be activated by the health care reform bill, recent polling shows that the bill has been a disaster for the party.
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Progressives and Conservatives Agree: Single Payer Healthcare Is Inevitable
By: Huffington Post Op-Ed
Former House Speaker Gingrich said, "The employer-based system will collapse because [the ACA] encourages businesses to drop health care coverage and incur the fine."
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Obama's Health Care Hard Sell
Obama's Health Care Hard Sell
By: Politico
Despite the administration’s focus on persuading seniors that the health care law is a good deal for them, there are increasing signs that they are not being swayed.
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Dems Digest Food Stamp Cuts
Dems Digest Food Stamp Cuts
By: Politico
As they prepare to slash food stamps to pay for Medicaid and teachers’ salaries, House Democrats are facing up to a harsh reality: To save some social programs, they’ll have to sacrifice others.
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Diet: Low-Fat vs. Atkins: Parallel Results
By: New York Times
Participants lost the same amount of weight after two years, regardless of which diet they were on, though the Atkins dieters had greater increases in HDL, or “good” cholesterol.
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Nine out of 10 U.S. Companies Anticipate Losing Grandfather Status Under Health Care Reform
By: Market Watch
Most large employers would rather have the flexibility to change their benefit programs than be tied down to the limited modifications allowed under the new law.
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Richard Foster for President
Richard Foster for President
By: Wall Street Journal
The trustee report shows "how the Affordable Care Act is helping to reduce costs and make Medicare stronger." One problem: That spin ignores the extraordinary companion analysis by chief Medicare actuary Richard Foster that repudiates this conclusion.
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Milliman Survey Results Indicate Group Health Insurance Rates to Rise in 2011
“It appears that group premium rates are likely to increase at a higher rate in 2011 than what we have seen in recent years."
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Latest Stimulus Bill Should Ease State's Financial Strain
By: Longview Daily News
Washington stands to receive $543 million, once the bill clears the House early this week. The AP reports that $338 million will be used as Medicaid match money and $205 million will be used to retain and hire teachers and other public employees.
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Time to Plan for Immunizations as First Day of School Nears
By: Covington Reporter
Children are due for a series of immunizations between the ages of 4 and 6, and again between the ages of 11 and 12.
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Dean: Individual Mandate Will Be Removed From Health Care Reform By 2014
Dean: Individual Mandate Will Be Removed From Health Care Reform By 2014
By: Huffington Post
On Friday, the former DNC chair took his skepticism with the individual mandate to a different, more provocative level. Appearing on MSNBC, Dean predicted that the policy will be removed from the legislation by the time much of the reform is implemented in 2014.
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Benefits and Cost-Sharing for Adult Medicaid Beneficiaries
Benefits and Cost-Sharing for Adult Medicaid Beneficiaries
By: Kaiser Family Foundation
KFF has released three new Issue Briefs including this one that "provides the details of the benefit and cost-sharing rules that will govern the coverage available to newly-eligible adult Medicaid beneficiaries."
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Officials Target Renegade Lemonade Stand Run by 7-Year-Old
Officials Target Renegade Lemonade Stand Run by 7-Year-Old
By: USA Today
Rules are rules, one official tells the paper, we "need to put the public's health first."
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From Florida To Oregon, Medicare Advantage's Benefits – And Cuts – Vary
By: Kaiser Health News
Medicare’s chief actuary said the reduced benefits would cause Advantage plans’ enrollment to fall from 11 to 7.4 million seniors.
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Medicare, Social Security Still Face Financial Hurdles
By: Seattle Times
This year, for the first time since 1983, Social Security is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes.
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Washington Health Dept. Reporting Hospital Errors
By: Seattle Times
The Washington Health Department website is now reporting medical errors and accidents at state hospitals and care facilities.
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State Aid Bill to Bring U.S. House Back
State Aid Bill to Bring U.S. House Back
By: Politico
The measure promises cash-strapped governors $16.1 billion to help meet Medicaid payments next year, and $10 billion would go to state and local school boards to preserve teacher jobs.
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Show Me ObamaCare
By: Wall Street Journal Editorial
Wait until the public discovers the government is now literally determining what qualifies as "health care" in America.
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Fingerpointing Erupts in Halls of Congress
Fingerpointing Erupts in Halls of Congress
By: Seattle Times
Democrats Accuse Republicans of Inconsistency in Health Care Tax Repeal
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Missouri Votes to Block Obama's Health Insurance Mandate
Missouri Votes to Block Obama's Health Insurance Mandate
By: Fox News
About 71% of Missouri voters backed a ballot measure, Proposition C, that would prohibit the government from requiring people to have health insurance.
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Maine, Pain Drive U.S. Senate Medicaid Vote Today
Maine, Pain Drive U.S. Senate Medicaid Vote Today
By: Politico
The $26.1 billion package will likely rise or fall on the vote of Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins but the spending cuts are also a big part of the story.
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Vibrio Parahaemolyticus Causes Washington State Health Officials to Close Oyster Growing Areas
Vibrio Parahaemolyticus Causes Washington State Health Officials to Close Oyster Growing Areas
By: Examiner
Lab tests and several illnesses in two Hood Canal oyster growing areas in Washington State have led state health officials to close these waters to recreational oyster harvesting.
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Wave of Health Reform Provisions Coming Next Month
By: Associated Press
Health care reform hits another milestone next month, with new provisions that include a coverage expansion for young adults and restrictions on an insurer's ability to impose annual coverage limits or to reject children with pre-existing conditions.
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The Salt Hiding in Your Diet
The Salt Hiding in Your Diet
By: Wall Street Journal
Nearly 90% of adults consume more salt than U.S. dietary guidelines recommend. Now, federal officials are considering making those guidelines even tougher to follow.
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Senate Postpones Vote on Medicaid Funding
By: The Hill
A vote on the revised bill is expected as early as Wednesday.
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Rating Your Doctor
By: Kaiser Health News
Some of the measures that matter most to consumers aren't included in many rating systems, experts say.
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Missouri Could Send Political Message About Health Care Today
In a first-of-its-kind referendum, Missouri voters were deciding on a ballot proposal attempting to defy a key element of a new federal law requiring most people to have health insurance.
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A Food Bill We Need
A Food Bill We Need
By: Washington Post Op-Ed
Michelle Obama adds her support to the Child Nutrition Bill which is working its way through Congress and "will bring fundamental change to schools and improve the food options available to our children."

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Republican Party Eyes Choking Health Law Funding
Republican Party Eyes Choking Health Law Funding
Republicans may not be able to repeal the Democrats’ health care reform law next year, but they’re eyeing the next best thing: Deny the Obama administration the money it needs to implement the law.
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Implementing Health Reform: Pre-Existing Condition Coverage
By: Health Affairs
The PCIP program suffers from widely acknowledged defects. First and foremost, it is badly underfunded.
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Call Your Senators Today to Protect a Million Jobs
By: Huffington Post Op-Ed
Later today, the U.S. Senate has scheduled a cloture vote on a bill - H.R. 1586 - that will provide $26 billion in funding to help states deal with their budget shortfalls, bolster Medicaid and fund education jobs.
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57% Say Health Care Plan Bad For the Country, 59% Favor Repeal
By: Rasmussen
Voter pessimism towards the new national health care bill has reached an all-time high, while the number of insured voters who feel it will force them to switch their coverage is up 11 points from early last month.
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Virginia Health-Care Lawsuit to Proceed
By: Washington Post
A federal judge Monday refused to dismiss a Virginia lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal health-care law, handing the law's foes their first victory in a courtroom battle likely to last years.
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New State High-Risk Insurance Pool Begins Enrollment
New State High-Risk Insurance Pool Begins Enrollment
By: Auburn Reporter
Washington residents who’ve been uninsured for at least six months and who have a pre-existing medical condition now can apply for coverage under the new, federally funded Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan.
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Medicaid and the Uninsured
By: Kaiser Family Foundation Report
Even in a period of fiscal austerity and diminished administrative capacity, states are creating the structure to respond to dozens of new roles, responsibilities and opportunities that will come to states with the implementation of health reform.
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Household Spray Cleaners Pose Greatest Danger to Toddlers
Household Spray Cleaners Pose Greatest Danger to Toddlers
By: Bloomberg Business Week
The number of injuries caused by exposure to household cleaning products have decreased almost by half since 1990, but roughly 12,000 children under the age of 6 are still being treated in U.S. emergency rooms every year for these types of accidental poisonings.
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Obamacare Only Looks Worse Upon Further Review: Kevin Hassett
By: Bloomberg Op-Ed
The new law creates 68 grant programs, 47 bureaucratic entities, 29 demonstration or pilot programs, six regulatory systems, six compliance standards and two entitlements.
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Utah’s Defined-Contribution Option: Patient-Centered Health Care
By: Heritage Foundation
Under this option, the employer offers its workers a tax-free contribution toward the health plan of their choice. Each worker then chooses the coverage he or she prefers from a menu of plans.
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Democrats Under Fire Over Health-Law Reporting Mandate
By: Wall Street Journal
Starting in 2012, businesses will be required to file a 1099 to the Internal Revenue Service for each supplier or service provider to which payments exceed $600 in a single year.
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Health Care Reform: What Does it Mean to Our Small Businesses?
By: Auburn Reporter Op-Ed
The exchanges will allow businesses with as many as 100 employees to pool their risk together, lower their administrative costs, and negotiate more effectively with insurance companies.
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Calcium Pills May Raise Heart Attack Risk
Calcium Pills May Raise Heart Attack Risk
By: CBC News
The researchers advised people consuming calcium supplements to seek advice from their doctors, eat more calcium-rich foods and try exercise, quitting smoking and keeping a healthy weight to prevent osteoporosis.
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Abortion Groups Caught Off Guard
Abortion Groups Caught Off Guard
By: Politico
The anti-abortion groups got what they wanted: a nationwide ban on coverage for most elective abortions in the so-called high-risk insurance pools, a position reaffirmed in a Health and Human Services regulation released on Thursday.
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CPR Studies Find No Benefit to Mouth-to-Mouth Over Chest compressions alone
CPR Studies Find No Benefit to Mouth-to-Mouth Over Chest compressions alone
By: Washington Post
For adults in cardiac arrest, mouth-to-mouth breathing might not be needed -- or even helpful.
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Support For Health Law Remains Steady While Opposition Drops
Support For Health Law Remains Steady While Opposition Drops
By: Kaiser Health News
The percentage of people who view the new health bill unfavorably dropped 6 points to 35% in the past month, but that has not translated into a significant increase of supporters.
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Buying Health Care, the Individual Mandate, and the Constitution
Buying Health Care, the Individual Mandate, and the Constitution
By: New England Journal of Medicine
The outcome of the battle over the individual mandate turns on whether the courts understand the health care reform act as a law that regulates economic conduct.
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Geographic Variation in Medicare Drug Spending
Geographic Variation in Medicare Drug Spending
By: New England Journal of Medicine
Using this more complete measure of spending reveals that area-level variation in total spending is not driven primarily by patient characteristics.
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End-Of-Life Savings: The ‘Fool’s Gold’ Of Reform?
By: Health Affairs
It is doubtful that a focus on reducing End Of Life spending per se will result in as much savings as is often assumed, for one simple reason: The concept of the last year of life is inherently retrospective.
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Americans Cut Back on Visits to Doctor
Americans Cut Back on Visits to Doctor
By: Wall Street Journal
Insured Americans are using fewer medical services, raising questions about whether patients are consuming less health care as they pick up a greater share of the costs.
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Move to Restrict Pain Killers Puts Onus on Doctors
Move to Restrict Pain Killers Puts Onus on Doctors
By: New York Times
The effort, in Washington State, represents the most sweeping attempt yet to stem what some experts see as the excessive use of prescribed narcotics, and it is being closely watched by medical professionals elsewhere.
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Health Policy Brief:  Accountable Care Organizations
Health Policy Brief: Accountable Care Organizations
By: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
This brief describes the ACO concept as set forth in the new health care reform legislation, discusses how ACO's might evolve over time, and reviews the challenges and opportunities facing health systems as ACOs take shape.
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A Fair Exchange
A Fair Exchange
By: New York Times Op-Ed
As it writes the regulations that will govern the health insurance exchanges, Washington D.C. needs to do three things so that states can effectively put their plans into operation.
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Recipe for Longevity: No Smoking, Lots of Friends
Recipe for Longevity: No Smoking, Lots of Friends
By: Time
The boost in longevity from social relationships is about as large as the mortality difference observed between smokers and nonsmokers, the study's authors say.
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At-Risk Groups Urged to Get Tested for Hepatitis B
At-Risk Groups Urged to Get Tested for Hepatitis B
By: Seattle Times
Roughly 10% of foreign-born Asian Americans suffer from chronic hepatitis B infection, a rate 20 times greater than the rest of the U.S. population. For those native to Vietnam, Korea or China, rates are even higher.
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Britain Plans Radical Changes to Health Care System
By: The Fiscal Times
After being touted as the ultimate role model, Britain's National Health Service, a fiscal failure, is about to be radically decentralized.
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Public Health System Plays Important Role in Medicine
By: Bellingham Herald Op-Ed
We have recently expanded the scope of public health to address diabetes and heart disease, going beyond medical diagnosis and treatment.
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Health Reform: Weighing Up the Employer Mandate
Health Reform: Weighing Up the Employer Mandate
By: Time
Hawaii launched a mandate in 1974 and Massachusetts did so in 2007. In both states, the mandate has successfully lowered the rate of the uninsured far below the national average, without substantially adversely affecting businesses.
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Poll Shows Majority of Seniors are Bewildered by New Healthcare reform law
By: The Hill
The poll --— part of the NCOA’s “Straight Talk for Seniors” campaign —-- highlights the dilemma facing Democrats as they seek to use the healthcare reform law to their advantage in November.
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AHRQ Releases State Snapshots of Healthcare Data
AHRQ Releases State Snapshots of Healthcare Data
By: CMIO
The five states with the smallest amount of improvement were North Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, Nebraska and Washington.
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Agents Want Piece of Health Reform Pie
Agents Want Piece of Health Reform Pie
By: Politico
NAHU wants the exchanges and portal to somehow link to professionals who can help consumers complete the process of buying coverage.
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Health Law Augurs Transfer of Funds From Old to Young
Health Law Augurs Transfer of Funds From Old to Young
By: Wall Street Journal
Health care reform diverges from the historical pattern by tapping a program for the elderly to help provide insurance to 32 million Americans of younger generations. Nearly half the funding for the law is supposed to come from Medicare.
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Some Insurers Stop Writing New Coverage for Kids
By: Associated Press
Starting later this year, the health care overhaul law requires insurers to accept children regardless of medical problems. Insurers are worried that parents will wait until kids get sick to sign them up, saddling the companies with unpredictable costs.
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F.D.A. Panel Opposes Plan to Tighten Use of Painkillers
By: New York Times
Members of the panel, which included doctors, pain experts and others, voted 25 to 10 against the F.D.A. plan, saying they did not think it was strong enough to control the use of such prescription narcotics.
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Major Change Proposed in British Health System
By: Seattle Times
The new coalition government is proposing what would be the most radical reorganization of the National Health Service since its inception in 1948.
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Veterans Affairs OKs Medical Pot at Clinics
By: Tacoma News Tribune
Patients treated at Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics will be able to use medical marijuana in the 14 states where it’s legal --- including Washington State, according to new federal guidelines.
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58% Favor Repeal of Health Care Bill, But 48% Say It’s Unlikely
By: Rasmussen
Support for repeal is up two points from a week ago but is consistent with findings recorded over the past several month. Weekly tracking surveys have found support for repeal has ranged from 52% to 63%.
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CDC: Fifteen Pacific Northwest Deaths Tied to Rare Tropical Fungus
CDC: Fifteen Pacific Northwest Deaths Tied to Rare Tropical Fungus
By: KOMO News
At least 60 people have been sickened in four states by the fungus, cryptococcus gattii, which grows on or around trees.
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Making Preventive Care Attainable: Kathleen Sebelius
Making Preventive Care Attainable: Kathleen Sebelius
By: Cleveland Plain Dealer Op-Ed
Beginning Sept. 23, all new private health insurance plans will have to cover a wide range of basic preventive services without charging a deductible, copayment or coinsurance.
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The Drawbacks of Dutch-Style Health Care Rules: Lessons for Americans
By: Heritage Foundation
Two health policy analysts, including one from Holland, explain why patients in the Netherlands do not have a significant choice among health insurance companies, nor can they access sufficient information about the health system.
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Gregoire Warns of Special Session if Medicaid Money Doesn't Come
Gregoire Warns of Special Session if Medicaid Money Doesn't Come
By: Seattle Times
Gov. Chris Gregoire says if $480 million in Medicaid matching money doesn't come from the federal government by Aug. 9 she'll have to consider a special session of the Legislature to deal with the budget.
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McDermott Touts Healthy Return of Health Care's 'Public Option'
By: Seattle Times
Four months after a Republican filibuster helped to kill off a government-run health plan, Seattle Congressman McDermott and other U.S. House Democrats are calling anew for a Medicare-like public insurance plan that would compete with private carriers.
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Walking the Tightrope of Health Insurance Reform between 2010 and 2014
Walking the Tightrope of Health Insurance Reform between 2010 and 2014
By: New England Journal of Medicine
A clear policy goal when phasing in insurance reforms will be to avoid excessive market disruption until 2014, when the act’s three core stabilizing provisions become effective.
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Health Reform, Primary Care, and Graduate Medical Education
Health Reform, Primary Care, and Graduate Medical Education
By: New England Journal Of Medicine
As the vast expansion of coverage that is called for in the reform law approaches in 2014, Congress will have to define with greater clarity the roles that federal and state governments will play in shaping the workforce.
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Health Care Choices Fall to States
Health Care Choices Fall to States
By: Politico
Congress has left some of the most difficult decisions about health care reform to state insurance commissioners — handing a group of relatively obscure officials enormous power over the implementation of the law.
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New Rules Guarantee Patients' Right To Appeal Insurance Claim Denials
By: Kaiser Health News
The regulations guarantee consumers the right to appeal denials — directly to their insurers and then, if necessary, to external review boards.
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Gregoire 'Not Optimistic' About Medicaid Funding
Gregoire 'Not Optimistic' About Medicaid Funding
By: KOMO News
Washington has been counting on $480 million of the $23 billion in Medicaid funding Congress has yet to approve, and Gregoire says she's not holding her breath.
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Massachusetts Shows Federal Reform Headed For Trouble
By: Kaiser Health News Op-Ed
Since the state’s reform initiative passed, premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance in Massachusetts increased by an additional 6% in aggregate compared to the nation as a whole.
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Lisa Benson and the Washington Post Writers Group
By: Lisa Benson and the Washington Post Writers Group
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Debating The Lessons Of Massachusetts
By: Health Affairs Blog
What does the Massachusetts experience tell us about the prospects for success of national health reform?
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White House Admits Obamacare’s Individual Mandate is a Tax
By: Heritage Foundation
The New York Times confirmed that in preparation for defending the constitutionality of the Obamacare individual mandate, an Obama Justice Department legal brief argues that the penalty used to enforce the mandate is “a valid exercise” of Congress’s power to impose taxes.
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Cuts in Home Care Put Elderly and Disabled at Risk
Cuts in Home Care Put Elderly and Disabled at Risk
By: New York Times
Since the start of the recession, at least 25 states and the District of Columbia have curtailed programs that include meal deliveries, housekeeping aid and assistance for family caregivers.
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New Gel Cuts Risk of HIV Infection
New Gel Cuts Risk of HIV Infection
By: Wall Street Journal
Researchers found that a gel applied by women before and after sex cut the chance of acquiring the AIDS virus by 39% and the genital herpes virus by 51%.
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Doctors Slam Insurers Over Their Rankings
By: Wall Street Journal
In the letter, sent to major insurers, the doctor groups argued that recent research from Rand Corp. showed that the health-plan rankings are unreliable.
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Obama's Health Care Reform Gives Consumers Fewer Choices
Obama's Health Care Reform Gives Consumers Fewer Choices
By: American Enterprise Institute
The Obama health plan creates a market where insurers will have both their costs and their revenues controlled by the federal government. In this kind of economic model, the only way to control expenses is to maintain tight networks.
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State Reinstates Disease Tests, But funds Are Still Short.
By: Tacoma News Tribune
The state public health labs that test for HIV, herpes, hepatitis and other illnesses sent out notices to clients on Friday saying the state no longer would provide free testing for those diseases due to "budget constraints."
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Health Care Reform: Are Rossi, Reichert For or Against?
By: Seattle PI
Rossi, meanwhile, says he wants to replace the new health care bill with something that would lower costs, improve access and give people greater choices. How would he pay for it?
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61% Expect Rise in Health Care Costs Under New Law, 56% Favor Repeal
By: Rasmussen
The percentage that favors repeal is up slightly from last week but remains consistent with findings since the law’s passage.
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As Economy Takes Toll, Mental Health Budgets Shrink
By: Bellingham Herald
Despite fluctuations in funding for nearly every other social service, state mental health budgets have increased nationally by about 6 percent per year for the past 30 years. Now for the first time mental health funding is declining.
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Health Care Reform Produces Win For Abortion Foes
Health Care Reform Produces Win For Abortion Foes
By: Huffington Post
Abortion foes have scored a victory and traditional allies of the Obama administration are grumbling about a decision to ban most abortion coverage in insurance pools for those unable to purchase health care on their own.
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Plan B Proposal Irks Gregoire
Plan B Proposal Irks Gregoire
By: Tacoma News Tribune
Gov. Chris Gregoire says she opposes a regulation in the works allowing pharmacies to refuse to fill prescriptions, including Plan B emergency contraception.
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As Massachusetts Health 'Reform' Goes, So Could Go Obamacare
By: Washington Post
Massachusetts did the easy part: expanding state-subsidized insurance coverage. It evaded the hard part: controlling costs and ensuring that spending improves people's health. Unfortunately, Obama has done the same.
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Federal Task Force On Preventive Care Faces New Challenge Under Health Law
Federal Task Force On Preventive Care Faces New Challenge Under Health Law
By: Kaiser Health News
Under the new law, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force could become a political lightning rod. If it doesn't recommend a service, insurers might not pay for it, and advocates might argue the decision is a barrier to care.
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572 Steps to Better Eating
572 Steps to Better Eating
By: Sightline Institute
"Since Sightline has long championed using our tax system to get more of the things we want, here's a smattering of ideas the report offers on that front to expand our healthy food choices."
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What Small Biz Should Know About Health Care Reform
What Small Biz Should Know About Health Care Reform
By: Forbes
" We did our best to boil things down and serve up the highlights (or, if you're an insurance executive, the lowlights)."
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Hijacked: Stolen Health Reform III: How Much Will Access to Care Be Expanded?
By: Huffington Post Op-Ed
A professor emeritus from the Universiy of Washington cautions, "Despite the hype we hear about 'near-universal' access just down the road with PPACA, the above leads us to believe that access to care will remain inadequate for much of the population."
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FDA Panel Rejects New Diet Drug Qnexa
FDA Panel Rejects New Diet Drug Qnexa
By: ABC News
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel has voted by a narrow margin against recommending the new diet drug Qnexa, citing concerns about a lack of data on the drug's cardiovascular effects.
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Are All Readmissions Bad Readmissions?
Are All Readmissions Bad Readmissions?
By: New England Journal of Medicine
To some extent, a higher readmission rate may be a consequence of successful care. Furthermore, planned readmissions for procedures or surgery may represent appropriate care that decreases the risk of death.
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Health Plans Must Provide Some Tests at No Cost
Health Plans Must Provide Some Tests at No Cost
By: New York Times
The rules will eliminate charges for blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol tests; many cancer screenings; routine vaccinations; prenatal care; smoking and obesity counseling; and regular wellness visits for infants and children.
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Washington State Officials Alarmed Over Prescription Drug Death Rise
By: Puget Sound Business Journal
Officials said they’re concerned about the rise in deaths from accidental overdoses of prescription pain medicine, which they say increased by 90 percent from 2003 to 2008.
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Study: Body Shape Affects Memory in Older Women
Study: Body Shape Affects Memory in Older Women
By: CNN
The effect is more pronounced in women who carry excess weight around their hips, known as pear shapes, than women who carry it around their waists, called apple shapes.
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A California Campaign with Global Consequences
A California Campaign with Global Consequences
By: Center for American Progress
This November, California voters are in danger of undoing one of the most progressive pieces of environmental legislation ever passed.
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Glaxo Plans $2.36 Billion Charge for Legal Issues
Glaxo Plans $2.36 Billion Charge for Legal Issues
By: NewYork Times
The company made the announcement a day after an American advisory panel recommended that Avandia, a controversial diabetes drug, should either be withdrawn from the market or have sales severely restricted.
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Panel to Rule on Safety of Diabetes Drug
Panel to Rule on Safety of Diabetes Drug
By: New York Times
A federal advisory panel will vote Wednesday on whether Avandia, a controversial diabetes medicine, is safe enough to remain on the market.
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Health Experts Who May Decide Whether You Live Or Die
Health Experts Who May Decide Whether You Live Or Die
By: Forbes
Friday NICE announced that the drug Avastin could not be used by certain breast cancer patients. Avastin, which costs $2,500 for two weeks, only extended the life of breast patients by seven weeks. That wasn't enough to justify the expense.
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Standards Issued for Electronic Health Records
By: New York Times
The federal government issued new rules Tuesday that will reward doctors and hospitals for the “meaningful use” of electronic health records, a top goal of President Obama.
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What Conservatives Are Winning
By: Kaiser Family Foundation Editorial
"The nature of health insurance itself is being redefined and moving gradually but seemingly inexorably in the direction conservatives have long advocated: more consumer 'skin in the game' through higher patient deductibles."
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State Board of Pharmacy Reverses Plan B Stance
By: Tacoma News Tribune
Pharmacists who object to selling Plan B emergency contraception suddenly have the upper hand in their legal fight with the state.
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Obama AIDS Policy: Much Social Media and Little Cash
Obama AIDS Policy: Much Social Media and Little Cash
By: Reuters
While it calls for more coordinated policies, the new AIDS plan does not allocate any new money to do the job. It aims to cut new transmissions by 25%, get more patients treated quickly and reduce the stigma that prevents people from getting tested.
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Round 1.5: Maximizing the Benefits of Health Care Reform
By: Huffington Post Op-Ed
The imperfect health care reform law President Obama signed in March was no one's first choice. Recognizing the progress in its provisions, however, some have called it Round 1 on the road to a more perfect system.
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NAACP Hears Michelle on Obesity
NAACP Hears Michelle on Obesity
By: Politico
"We are living today in a time where we’re decades beyond slavery, we are decades beyond Jim Crow; when one of the greatest risks to our children’s future is their own health," Obama said.
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High-Risk Pools Off to Slow Start
High-Risk Pools Off to Slow Start
By: Politico
A handful of states that have begun accepting applications for their new federally funded high-risk health insurance pools have seen a slow trickle of enrollees but expect a bigger wave as word spreads.
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President Obama's Policy Time Bombs
President Obama's Policy Time Bombs
By: Politico
The Democratic reform triumvirate — health care, Wall Street and energy — is filled with provisions designed to front-load policy benefits and delay political pain.
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Employers Face Tough Choices for Health Plans
By: North Bay Business Journal
Throughout the health care reform debate, employers and employees alike were told they’d be able to keep their current health plans. With the so-called “grandfathering” clause, however, brokers say such a prospect seems slim.
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Factory Efficiency Comes to a Seattle Hospital
By: New York Times
Seattle Children’s Hospital says it has improved patient care, and its bottom line, by using practices made famous by Toyota and others.
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Science Finally Closing in on an HIV Vaccine
By: Tacoma News Tribune Editorial
When the International AIDS Conference convenes in Vienna this Sunday, it will buzz with good news – the discovery of at least six antibodies that knock out broad spectrums of HIV strains.
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Preparing for the Next Public Health Crisis
Preparing for the Next Public Health Crisis
By: Center for American Progress
The oil spill reiterates why we need to better manage the short- and longterm responses required to address the public health threats such disasters pose whether they are manmade or due to natural causes.
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53% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law
By: Rasmussen
Support for repeal has ranged from a high of 63% in May to a low of 52% in late June.
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Census: Hospital Costs Second-Highest in Washington state
By: Puget Sound Business Journal
The average daily cost in 2007 was $2,332 per day in Washington, which trailed only Oregon at $2,336.
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Cancer Death Rates Are Dropping in U.S.
By: Web MD
Death rates for all cancers combined decreased 2% per year from 2001 to 2006 in males and 1.5% annually from 2002 to 2006 in females.
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Goal for High School Smoking Is Unmet
Goal for High School Smoking Is Unmet
By: New York Times
The nation has failed to reach its 2010 health goal of reducing high school smoking to 16 percent. High school smoking rates dipped significantly to 21.9% in 2003, from 34.8% in 1995, then progress stalled.
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Hijacked, Stolen Health Care Reform: Why Health Care Costs Will Not Be Contained
By: Huffington Post Op-Ed
These are some of the many reasons that we can already conclude that health care costs will continue to run out of control at rates far exceeding the costs of living and median household incomes.
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Health Provider Partners May Face Privacy Fines
By: Reuters
U.S. companies that partner with hospitals and other health providers could face steep fines if they disclose private patient information under a new federal rule proposed on Thursday.
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Many Americans Rely on Government Care
By: Olympian Columnist
Too many Americans have come to rely on government to take care of them, and government has passed the point where it can do so any longer.
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Implementing Health Care Reform — Why Medicare Matters
Implementing Health Care Reform — Why Medicare Matters
By: New England Journal of Medicine
More than half of the $938 billion health care reform price tag, mostly for expanding coverage for low-income individuals, will be paid from decreased Medicare spending.
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Without Medicaid Money, Special Session (and More Cuts) Looking Likely
Without Medicaid Money, Special Session (and More Cuts) Looking Likely
By: Publicola
It turns out Gregoire doesn’t have the authority to make the cuts herself --— making a special session more likely.
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Donald Berwick Appointed to Head Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Donald Berwick Appointed to Head Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
By: Politico
The White House made the recess appointment of Harvard Medical School Professor Donald Berwick official Wednesday, sidestepping a protracted battle on the Hill over his nomination.
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Pre-Existing Conditions Allowed Under New State Medical Plan
By: Everett Herald
Children and adults in Washington who haven’t been able to get health insurance because they have cancer or other serious health problems will be able to sign up for insurance beginning next month.
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The Coming Medicaid Expansion
The Coming Medicaid Expansion
By: Washington Post
Under the new healthcare law, Medicaid will expand by at least 16 million people as eligibility is raised in 2014 to a new nationwide standard of 133% of the poverty level.
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Healthcare: Democrats Up Ante
Healthcare: Democrats Up Ante
By: The Hill
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team have seized on new polls that suggest healthcare overhaul’s popularity is rising, and they are urging members of Congress to use this week’s recess to tout the new law.
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The Massachusetts Health-Care 'Train Wreck'
The Massachusetts Health-Care 'Train Wreck'
By: Wall Street Journal
The future of ObamaCare is unfolding here: runaway spending, price controls, even limits on care and medical licensing.
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Why the Health Reform Wars Have Only Just Begun
By: Heritage Foundation
Consider just four aspects that will mean profound changes and critical decisions in the years to come. Each underscores both the degree of change that the public will encounter and likely future battles.
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Emergency Room Visits Grow in Massachusetts
By: Boston Globe
The number of people visiting hospital emergency rooms has climbed in Massachusetts, despite the enactment of nearly universal health insurance that some hoped would reduce expensive emergency department use.
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Evolution of Politics Around Health Care has been Breathtaking
Evolution of Politics Around Health Care has been Breathtaking
By: Seattle Times Op-Ed
Federal health-care reform cannot be rhetorical only. Yet, guest columnist Brendan Williams, a Washington state representative, argues that is what it will be if federal Medicaid money is not approved by Congress.
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The State Supreme Court Rules for Lawsuits, Defensive Medicine
By: Tacoma News Tribune Editorial
Unfortunately, the Washington Supreme Court last Thursday overturned a modest – almost pathetically modest – attempt to prevent disputes with doctors from escalating into lawsuits.
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States Resist Federal Premium Control
States Resist Federal Premium Control
By: Politico
The Health Insurance Rate Authority Act, introduced by Sen. Feinstein, would grant the HHS secretary the power to approve, deny or modify premium rate increases in the 23 states where insurance commissioners do not already have that authority.
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German Government Balks At Big Health Reform, Ups Fees
By: Wall Street Journal
Chancellor Merkel's coalition government watered down far-reaching health-care reform plans, agreeing to cover deep deficits with higher fees and only small spending cuts instead of the sweeping overhaul promised in last year's election campaign.
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Massachusetts Health Payment Overhaul Shelved
By: Boston Globe
The state’s ambitious, first-in-the-nation plan to transform how hospitals and doctors are paid is on hold, at least for this year.
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Virginia Begins Courtroom Assault on Federal Health-Care Overhaul
Virginia Begins Courtroom Assault on Federal Health-Care Overhaul
By: Washington Post
The legal challenge to the nation's new health-care law was launched Thursday in a courtroom in Richmond, where the Virginia Attorney General argued that the measure violates the founders' intention of a limited federal government.
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'Game Changer' Rule Looms For Health Insurers
By: Wall Street Journal
How federal regulators interpret a metric known as a medical-loss ratio could affect players from industry giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. down to specialized companies such as American National Insurance Co. Plans could be forced to pay out millions in rebates, while others may be driven out of the m...
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Fireworks Safety is Critical During Holiday Celebrations
By: Olympian Editorial
There has been enough destruction. South Sound elected officials should follow Lacey’s courageous lead and ban fireworks. In the meantime, state Fire Marshal Chuck Duffy urges residents to follow the three B's of fireworks safety.
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Health Law to Bring Longer ER Waits, Crowding?
Health Law to Bring Longer ER Waits, Crowding?
By: MSNBC
The biggest users of emergency rooms by far are Medicaid recipients. And the new health insurance law will increase their ranks by about 16 million.
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Five Questions About The Government’s New Health Insurance Website
Five Questions About The Government’s New Health Insurance Website
By: Kaiser Health News
Consumers shopping for health insurance coverage get a boost today with the launch of a new federal website, www.healthcare.gov.
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Governors Push for Medicaid Money
By: Tacoma News Tribune
The State Legislature could be called back to Olympia before summer's end if Congress doesn't act to extend financial help to the states before its August recess.
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State Braces for West Nile Outbreak
State Braces for West Nile Outbreak
By: Seattle Times
Mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus have been discovered in Eastern Washington, prompting state health officials to urge that residents take precautions against the pests.
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Final Phase of Mental Health Parity Law Takes Effect
By: Access Washington
Starting Thursday, any limits on the number of office visits or inpatient hospital days to treat mental disorders must be removed from all state-regulated health plans, unless the limits also apply to other health services.
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Clarifying Sources of Geographic Differences in Medicare Spending
Clarifying Sources of Geographic Differences in Medicare Spending
By: New England Journal of Medicine
Our results suggest that including additional and better measures of health reduces the magnitude of the unexplained geographic differences, but our additional measures could be improved on.
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Despite Breast-Feeding, Washington One of 38 Fattest States
Despite Breast-Feeding, Washington One of 38 Fattest States
By: Seattle PI
Washington State was the 28 fattest state according to a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Mississippi took the cake as the fattest state with 33.8 percent of its residents considered obese. Colorado was least obese state, with only a 19.1 obesity rate.
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States' Responses to Health law Mixed
States' Responses to Health law Mixed
By: Politico
Bills to oppose or limit reform have passed in four states, four other states have passed laws that will require a statewide vote on application of the federal law this year.
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Poll: Favorable Views of Health Reform Law Increasing Among Americans
The Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 48% of the public had a favorable view of the law in June while 41% had an unfavorable opinion. A month earlier, the split was 41% favorable to 44% unfavorable.
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Customers Deserve 'Plan B' Referrals from Pharmacies, State Board Says
The state's Board of Pharmacy wants pharmacies that can't fill a particular prescription, the so-called "Plan B" emergency contraceptive, to be required to actively help patients find a drugstore that does carry the medication.
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Gregoire's Health Care Motion Rebuffed
Gregoire's Health Care Motion Rebuffed
By: Seattle Times
A federal judge has denied a request by Gov. Chris Gregoire and three other Democratic governors to weigh in against the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new health-care law.
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High Court Won't Review San Fran health Care Plan
By: Associated Press
The Supreme Court has rejected a business-led challenge to San Francisco's universal health care program that has enrolled more than 53,000 people who lacked health insurance.
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Nine in Ten Docs Blame Lawsuit Fears for Overtesting
By: Seattle PI
The findings echo a recent Associated Press story in which many emergency room doctors said lawsuit fears are the main reason for overtreating in the ER.
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Preparing More Care of Elderly
Preparing More Care of Elderly
By: New York Times
More than 40 percent of adult patients in acute care hospital beds are 65 or older. Seventy million Americans will have turned 65 by 2030.
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WSU Takes Big Role in Fighting Disease
WSU Takes Big Role in Fighting Disease
By: Associated Press
Researchers at Washington State University are working to prevent diseases from moving from animals to humans, and they will soon have a new state-of-the-art facility to help them.
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Experts Urge Reform of National Drug Policy
By: Associated Press
Policies that criminalize drug users fuel the spread of AIDS and should be reformed, experts preparing for an international conference said Monday.
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U.S. House Passes Medicare Reimbursements Reprieve
U.S. House Passes Medicare Reimbursements Reprieve
By: Politico
The House quickly approved and sent to the White House Thursday evening a six-month reprieve from deep cuts in Medicare reimbursements to physicians that took effect June 1.
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Ranking Big Pharma's Record in Getting Medicine to the Poor
Ranking Big Pharma's Record in Getting Medicine to the Poor
By: Seattle Times
In this year's rankings, European pharmaceutical companies performed better than their American counterparts. However, U.S.-based companies are doing more than they have in the past to make medicines available to people in developing countries.
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Panel Sees Possible Cost Savings for Whatcom County from Federal Health Law
The estimates are that about $500 million per year will be paid toward patient care that previously was uncompensated in the state, Insurance Commissioner Kreidler said.
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Reusable Grocery Bags Found to be Full of Bacteria
By: Washington Post
A reminder to shoppers who use reusable grocery bags: Don't forget to wash them after you've emptied them.
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Gregoire Seeks to Counter Suit Challenging Health-Care
Gregoire Seeks to Counter Suit Challenging Health-Care
By: Seattle Times
Gov. Chris Gregoire is joining three fellow Democratic governors in asking a federal judge to consider their opposition to a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the nation's new health-care law.
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Senate Democrats Push Unemployment Benefits and Medicaid Compromise
By: Reuters
In an effort to trim the cost, the new version pares down proposed Medicaid aid to states struggling to balance their budgets.
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Feed's Launching Health Website For Consumers Next Week
Feed's Launching Health Website For Consumers Next Week
By: Kaiser health News
Consumer advocates are saying consumers should be able to get exact prices from insurers on the site. That could require patients to submit detailed medical histories — at least until 2014.
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Buying Health Care, the Individual Mandate, and the Constitution
By: New England Journal of Medicine
Three separate cases raising constitutional challenges to the federal Affordable Care Act are now under way, and together they present issues of great legal complexity.
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America Spends The Most On Health Care, Yet Gets The Least
America Spends The Most On Health Care, Yet Gets The Least
By: NPR
A comparison of health care in industrialized countries finds the Netherlands is tops and the U.S. is the worst.
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GOP Continues Attacks On Health Law, Boehner Issues Critical Report
By: Kaiser Health News
Republicans are marking the 90-day anniversary of the health bill with new assaults on Democrats and the overhaul.
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Got a Light? New FDA Rules Won't Snuff Out Harmful 'Light' Cigarettes
Got a Light? New FDA Rules Won't Snuff Out Harmful 'Light' Cigarettes
By: Daily Finance
Different box same tobacco.
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McDonald's Faces Lawsuit Over Happy Meals
McDonald's Faces Lawsuit Over Happy Meals
By: The LA Times
A watchdog group says giving away toys with Happy Meals contributes to childhood obesity and threatens to sue.
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'We're not going back,' Obama Warns as he Promotes Health Care Reform
By: Kansas City Star
Obama unveiled a package of consumer benefits to build support for his health care overhaul and warned Republicans about trying to repeal his landmark law.
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Federal Health Care Site Coming First of July
Federal Health Care Site Coming First of July
By: USA Today
Starting July 1st, www.healthcare.gov will provide just basic facts, such as the names of companies, health plans and Web links.
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Study Clears Cell Phone Towers of Childhood Cancer Connection
Study Clears Cell Phone Towers of Childhood Cancer Connection
By: US News
Proximity during pregnancy doesn't appear to raise risk of leukemia, brain tumors.
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DHHS to Begin Testing New System for Medicaid Billing
By: The Portland Press Herald
Testing a new Medicaid billing system at various sites as the Department of Health and Human Services works to replace a troubled computer network.
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Health Costs, Buyout Trim Walgreen 3Q Net Income
By: The Seattle Times
Walgreen's profit sank 11 percent in the third quarter due to higher costs related to the nation's health care rules and its $623 million buyout of rival Duane Reade.
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Individual Health Insurance Premium Hikes far Exceed Group Plan Hikes
By: The LA Times
Recent increases for individual coverage average 20%, according to a survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
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Congress Battles as Medicare Burns
Congress Battles as Medicare Burns
By: POLITICO
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, is now enforcing a 21 percent cut in physician payments, and an estimated 50 million claims.
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Obama to Outline New Health Care Regulations
Obama to Outline New Health Care Regulations
By: CBS News
Marking 90 Days Since He Signed Health Overhaul Law, President to Tout New Patients' Bill of Rights.
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Obama's Pick to Run Medicare, Medicaid Programs Faces Resistance
Obama's Pick to Run Medicare, Medicaid Programs Faces Resistance
By: The Statesman
GOP pounces on 'rationing' ideas of Dr. Donald Berwick, who has stated his 'love' for Britain's National Health Service.
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The Prospects for Ending Obamacare: Learning from Health Policy History
By: Heritage Foundation
Based on Washington’s record of health policymaking, ending or rolling back Obamacare is hardly implausible. For example, the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 was enacted with huge bipartisan support and repealed one year later.
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Obama to Warn Health Insurers Against Rate Jumps
Obama to Warn Health Insurers Against Rate Jumps
By: Reuters
Obama will warn health insurance today against imposing big rate increases ahead of tighter rules under the new healthcare law.
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Seattle Children's Hospital set to Open New Bellevue Clinic
Seattle Children's Hospital set to Open New Bellevue Clinic
By: The Seattle Times
Seattle Children's hospital will open a $75 million clinic and outpatient-surgery center in Bellevue's busy hospital district.
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Seniors Confront a Maze of Medicare Changes
Seniors Confront a Maze of Medicare Changes
By: The Seattle Times
Overhauling Medicare, the federal insurance plan that pays the medical bills of some 45 million Americans, most of them seniors, is a key part of remaking the national health-care system.
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Men Test Sperm Count From Home
Men Test Sperm Count From Home
By: ABC
New technology will allow men to have a accurate and affordable way to test their sperm count from privacy of their own homes.
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Doctors limit new Medicare patients
Doctors limit new Medicare patients
By: USA Today
Doctors refusing new Medicare patients because of low government payment rates.
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Health System Continues To Fray Despite Health Care Overhaul
Health System Continues To Fray Despite Health Care Overhaul
Despite, being promised more funding states struggle with Health Care.
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Expensive Medicare Wheelchairs
Expensive Medicare Wheelchairs
By: The Morning Call
Medicare is changing how it provides wheelchairs and other medical equipment after a history of overpaying.
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BP Oil Spill Trauma May Lead to Mental Health Issues
By: ABC News
Economic Impact, Loss of Livelihood Take Psychological Toll, Doctors Say.
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UW Wins $1.2M Grant To Reduce Hospital Energy Use
By: Seattle PI
The University of Washington has won a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to reduce energy use at Pacific Northwest hospitals.
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Senate Passes Bill But Fails to Spare Doctors from Medicare Cuts
Senate Passes Bill But Fails to Spare Doctors from Medicare Cuts
By: Washington Post
Moments after the Senate acted, Medicare announced it would begin processing claims it has already received for June at the lower rate.
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Feds to States: Explain High-Risk Insurance Pool Plans
By: McClatchy Newspapers
Nineteen states said they would leave that task to the federal government, with some arguing that the federal funding may dry up and leave them on the hook.
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West Nile Virus Monitoring Underway; Avoiding Mosquito Bites is Key
By: Access Washington
Last year was Washington’s most active year to date with 38 human cases, including one death.
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"Political Leadership"
Kaiser Health News
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ER Visits for Non-Medical Uses of Opioid Prescription Drugs More Than Doubled From 2004 to 2008
ER Visits for Non-Medical Uses of Opioid Prescription Drugs More Than Doubled From 2004 to 2008
By: Los Angeles Times
Overall, the number of ER visits for the misuse and abuse of all drugs rose from 1.6 million in 2004 to 2 million in 2008. But the visits for cocaine, heroin and other illicit drugs remained constant at 1 million.
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Medicare Payment Cuts To Doctors Loom As Republicans Reject Slimmed-Down 'Extenders' Package
By: Kaiser Health News
The measure would protect doctors from a steep cut in Medicare rates scheduled to take effect Friday and extend emergency unemployment benefits that support more than 5 million people.
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Health Care Reform and Cost Control
By: New England Journal of Medicine
The ACA not only will extend health care coverage to millions of Americans but also will enact many policies specifically aimed at reducing the amount we are spending on health care.
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Idaho to Comply with National Health Care Reform
Idaho to Comply with National Health Care Reform
By: Idaho State Journal
The Idaho Department of Insurance is working to implement a major piece of a new health care law, even as the state seeks to overturn the reform.
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Universal HC Symbols Being Tested in Seattle
Universal HC Symbols Being Tested in Seattle
By: King 5 News
CHS is one of four hospitals and clinics nationwide participating in a project that is trying to develop easy-to-understand ways for non-English speakers to navigate health care facilities.
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Obama thanks nurses for backing health care bill
By: Politics AP
Addressing the American Nurses Association on Wednesday, Obama said nurses are the "beating heart" of the health care system.
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HHS to Invest $250m on Increasing Primary Care Staff
HHS to Invest $250m on Increasing Primary Care Staff
By: Top News
HHS, Kathleen Sebelius said the federal Government will invest $250M to increase the number of doctors, nurses and other care providers.
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Doctors Recouped Cuts in Medicare Pay
A new study shows doctors respond by simply treating more patients to make up for the lost income.
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AP-GfK Poll Shows Gains for Health Care
By: Yahoo News
With 45 percent in favor and 42 percent opposed, up from 36 percent last month, the shift in public sentiment was significant.
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As Health Costs Soar, Deductibles Do, Too
As Health Costs Soar, Deductibles Do, Too
By: Wausau Daily Herald
As costs continue to soar, plans with deductibles greater than $1,000 are becoming more common.
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House Rejects Plan to Repeal Health Care Mandate
By: Fox News
The House of Representatives Tuesday defeated a Republican-backed effort to repeal the mandate that persons purchase health insurance.
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Medical Marijuana Group is Denied Business License in Marysville
Medical Marijuana Group is Denied Business License in Marysville

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Feds Put Employers On Notice Over Health Costs
By: Freep.com
Don’t jack up costs for workers, and you won’t have to worry about interference from the new health care law.
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Checks go to Those in Medicare 'Doughnut Hole'
By: The State Journal Register
The one-time rebate offered to senior citizens will soon get their $250 rebate checks.
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Obama is Misleading Seniors about Medicare Changes
Obama is Misleading Seniors about Medicare Changes
By: Union Leader
Newt Gingrich and Nancy Desmond: Most Americans will pay higher insurance premiums, according to an April report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
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New Health Care Rules Could Add Costs
New Health Care Rules Could Add Costs
By: The Washington Post
New regulations may increase benefits but cost you more, slightly changing your plan.
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Young Canvassers Part of Nationwide Health Care Drive
By: USA Today
"Door knockers," canvass a lower-income neighborhoods looking for children who are eligible for two government programs: Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
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With Deficit Worries, Democrats Get Spooked About Spending
With Deficit Worries, Democrats Get Spooked About Spending
By: TIME
Deficit worries threaten Bills on Medicare and unemployment.
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Drug Could Be a Lifesaver for Accident Victim
By: Web MD
Study Shows Inexpensive Medicine Called TXA Could Treat People Who Suffer Blood Loss.
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Lifestyle May Not Prevent Alzheimer's
Lifestyle May Not Prevent Alzheimer's
By: TIME
Diet and exercise may not be enough to prevent Alzheimer's.
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5 Painful Health-Care Lessons from Massachusetts
5 Painful Health-Care Lessons from Massachusetts
By: CNN Money
An examination of the Massachusetts plan yields five important lessons that show the dangers ahead for the Obama HC blueprint.
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Blood Pressure Drugs May Raise Cancer Risk
Blood Pressure Drugs May Raise Cancer Risk
By: Reuters
A widely used class of blood pressure drugs may slightly increase the risk of cancer, U.S. and they are calling on U.S. regulators to take a closer look.
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Human Genome Sciences Expecting FDA to Reject Hepatitis C Drug Zalbin
By: The Washington Post
Human Genome Sciences doubts that FDA will approve its treatment for chronic hepatitis C after the drug received an unfavorable preliminary review.
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Employer health care costs to jump 9% in 2011
By: CNN Money
Companies that offer health plans will see their costs jump 9% in 2011, and most employees will pay higher deductibles as a result.
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COBRA Subsidy Cut May Leave Many Without Health Care
By: ABC News
Cutting Cobra subsidy may leave the unemployed searching for affordable HC.
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Health Care Regulations Unveiled
By: The Chicago Tribune
The Obama administration announced new regulations to discourage companies from scaling back health benefits, which is a top priority of the new health care law.
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Rating System For Medicare Advantage Plans Slated For Upgrade
Rating System For Medicare Advantage Plans Slated For Upgrade
Under the new health law, the star system will be used to award bonuses.
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Doctors Face 21% Cut in Medicare Payments
Doctors Face 21% Cut in Medicare Payments
By: Washington Post
The Senate had until June 1 to avert the cuts. It is not expected to vote by Tuesday, when the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' temporary hold on Medicare claims expires.
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D.C. Needs to do Right Thing and Give Washington its Anticipated Funds
By: Olympian
Washington is one of 30 states — with both Democrat and Republican state legislatures — that assumed the additional federal Medicaid funding when it balanced its budget.
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The Impact of National Health Care Reform on Businesses in Washington State
By: Washington Policy Center
Every employer and employee will be subject to increased government regulation, higher taxes and fewer personal choices in health care.
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Health-Care Reform by the Numbers
Health-Care Reform by the Numbers
By: Huffington Post
Nonetheless, the federal reform voting patterns at the Congressional district level, when mapped to insurance coverage rates, clearly indicate that economic interest influenced voting outcomes.
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For A Second Week 58% Favor Repeal of the Health Care Bill
By: Rasmussen
Support for repeal since March has ranged from a low of 54% to a high of 63% in mid-May.
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Deficit Effects of the Health-Care Bill
Deficit Effects of the Health-Care Bill
By: National Review
This deficit reduction does nothing to reduce the substantial pressure of growing health-care costs on the federal budget.
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Medical Malpractice: Washington State to Lead in Patient Safety Reform
Medical Malpractice: Washington State to Lead in Patient Safety Reform
By: Examiner
On Friday, U.S. Senator Murray announced that Washington State will be receiving four DHHS federal grants to invest in state programs that work to implement and evaluate patient safety approaches and medical liability reforms.
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What to Expect in Next Year’s Health Benefits Offerings
What to Expect in Next Year’s Health Benefits Offerings
By: New York Times
Fidelity Consulting Services predicts that come fall you’ll probably be asked to absorb even bigger cost increases than in the last few years because of the federal reform law.
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Drug Companies Share Data to Speed Brain Research
By: Washington Post
In an unusual step, a dozen competing drug companies have agreed to share data on thousands of Alzheimer's patients in hopes that the extra information will spark new ideas for treatments.
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Obama's Health Care Reform Still a Very Tough Sell
By: Cato Institute
The ink was barely dry before the RAND Corp. released a report concluding that, not only would the health care package fail to curb health insurance premium increases, but the bill itself would drive premiums for young people up as much as 17 percent.
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New law Gives N.Y. Regulators power to approve health rate hikes
New law Gives N.Y. Regulators power to approve health rate hikes
In what federal officials called “a bold move,” New York Gov. David A. Paterson has signed a series of health insurance reforms into law.
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Medicare to Issue $250 Rebates
By: Everett Herald
Seniors who reach their maximum out-of-pocket expense for prescription drugs will be sent a check starting this week.
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Spill Drowns Out GOP Health Message
Spill Drowns Out GOP Health Message
By: Politico
House Republicans have been pushing repeal, with Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio arguing that the latest jobs report is proof that it’s time to roll back the bill.
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Health Insurance Exchanges — Key Link in a Better-Value Chain
Health Insurance Exchanges — Key Link in a Better-Value Chain
By: New England Journal of medicine
Under Federal health care reform the administrative budgets for state exchanges will be covered through surcharges on transactions, so both margin and mission depend on sales.
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Geographic Variation in Medicare Drug Spending
Geographic Variation in Medicare Drug Spending
By: New England Journal of Medicine
Pharmaceutical spending represents a substantial share of total Medicare spending — more than 20%, on average — and it also varies substantially among regions, with the highest-spending region spending 60% more per beneficiary than the lowest.
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Interactive Calculator: Health Reform Helps Small Businesses
By: Center for American Progress
In fact, recent guidance released by the Department of Treasury—included in this updated calculator— broadens the supports that small businesses are eligible for under federal health care reform.
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There's No Excuse for Letting Children's Teeth Rot
By: Tacoma News Tribune
Bacteria make teeth rot. So do the apathy and ignorance of adults.
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Obama Lobbies Elderly on Benefits of Health Law
Obama Lobbies Elderly on Benefits of Health Law
By: New York Times
Mr. Obama said, previewing the election-year message he will use against Republicans, “They’d gut the existing consumer protections. They’d put insurance companies back in charge.”
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Young Adults Gain New Coverage Option
By: Center on Budget & Policy Priorities
This brief explains the details and the impact of the new policy, as outlined in regulations recently issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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Washington State View: Massachusetts Health Care is a Bellwether for Nation
Washington State View: Massachusetts Health Care is a Bellwether for Nation
By: Don Brunell/ The Columbian
Op-ed: ABC News reports that patients wait an average of 50 days to see a doctor in Boston, nearly double the next-longest wait time — 27 days in Philadelphia.
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A New Study Tests a Tribal Approach in Fighting Obesity in American Indian Children
A New Study Tests a Tribal Approach in Fighting Obesity in American Indian Children
By: Oregonian
Although childhood obesity is a nationwide crisis, tribes have been hit especially hard. Almost half of American Indian children are overweight, compared with nearly one-third of U.S. children overall.
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Thousands Brave Seattle Rain in Komen Race for the Cure
Thousands Brave Seattle Rain in Komen Race for the Cure
By: Seattle Times
More than $1.5 million was raised for breast-cancer research and prevention.
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Layoff Victims Now Ineligible For COBRA Subsidy