April 15: Health Care Reform News
TOP STORIES
Sebelius: Gov’t Will Work to Close Minority Health Gap
USA Today
April 15, 2010
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday she is developing a national plan of action that would focus for the first time on reducing health care disparities between minority and white populations.
A Revised Contract For America, Minus ‘With’ and Newt
The New York Times
April 15, 2010
Members of the Tea Party movement released a legislative agenda they want elected officials to follow - the 10 planks of the Contract From America are heavy on fiscal restraint and limited government, and light on social issues.
TRANSPARENCY/SAFETY
Moody’s: Health Reform Will Drive Consolidation, Hinder Credit for Nonprofit Hospitals
Healthleaders Media
April 15, 2010
Health care reform will have a long-term negative credit effect on not-for-profit hospitals, even though it will reduce bad debt expenses and charity care according to a new Moody’s Investors Service report.
Doing What Works Pays Political Dividends
The Hill
April 15, 2010
Opinion surveys show overwhelming majorities favor government action to address health care and energy. But the public also sees government as wasteful and inefficient; there is little confidence government will get it right when it comes to specifics.
STATE NEWS
Medical Survey Results Show Health Reform Will Overburden Connecticut Doctors
Hartford Courant
April 15, 2010
Accommodating people who are now uninsured would stretch the state's primary care practices even thinner, increasing patient loads by 7 percent to 20 percent.
THV Arkansas
April 15, 2010
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel says his office cannot issue an opinion on whether the federal health care reform law is constitutional.
How Ohioans Might Vote on Health Care Opt-Out in Dispute
The Columbus Dispatch
April 15, 2010
Ohioans should be able to vote this November on a single ballot issue to exempt themselves from federal health care mandates.
NM House GOP Asks AG King to Sue Over Health Care Reform
The New Mexico Independent
April 15, 2010
Republican members of the New Mexico House of Representatives have asked Attorney General Gary King to join a lawsuit that would repeal the health care reform bill.
Alaska House to Vote on Fighting Federal Health Care Act
The Anchorage Daily News
April 15, 2010
The Alaska House of Representatives is about to vote on amending the state Constitution to fight the Congressional health care reform law. But if the House does pass it, the Senate almost certainly won't.
MEDICARE/MEDICAID
Insurer Sets Out Medicaid Coping Strategies for States
The Wall Street Journal
April 15, 2010
UnitedHealth Group Inc. and its rivals in the managed-care industry are gearing up to go after one of the biggest new markets to be created by the new federal health-care law: the roughly 16 million new people expected to be eligible for insurance coverage under state Medicaid programs.
IMPLEMENTING THE LEGISLATION
National Health Care Repeal Drive to Launch in Lincoln
Lincoln Journal-Star
April 15, 2010
Former New York Gov. George Pataki will headline an event in Lincoln next Monday mounting a national petition drive to repeal health care reform legislation across the nation. Pataki will kick off the effort in Boston on Sunday.
Becerra, Vavuto, and Attila the Hun
Fox News Transcript
April 15, 2010
Xavier Becerra, one of the House's top-ranking Dems, had a heated back-and-forth Wednesday night with Fox News' Neil Cavuto, who was pressing him on the news that a loophole in the new health care law might lead to representatives and their staffers losing coverage.
NEW ADMINISTRATION
Obama Slips On Handling of Health Care and Economy
The Salt Lake Tribune
April 15, 2010
President Barack Obama's national standing has slipped to a new low after his victory on the historic health care overhaul, even in the face of growing signs of economic revival.
EMPLOYERS
Memo to the Health Care Industry: The Jig is Up
CNN Money
April 15, 2010
The health legislation recently passed will expand access to health insurance, but will leave the health care system unreformed. Not only that, but challenges faced by large employers remain largely unchanged.
The Boston Globe
April 15, 2010
State Senate President Therese Murray yesterday followed up on Governor Patrick's rejection of high insurer rate increases with a reform package that should at least slow the annual premium hikes that are strangling many retailers and other small businesses.
Corporate America Books Health Care Reform Charges
Reuters
April 15, 2010
U.S. companies have begun to tally the financial hit they say they will take as a result of the U.S. health care overhaul.
MISCELLANEOUS
Sweden, Canada Outrank U.S. on Health Care
Reuters
April 15, 2010
People living in countries with government-run health care systems like Sweden and Canada are far more confident than Americans that their families can get good, affordable care, according to a 22-nation survey released on Thursday.
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