April 19: Health Care Reform News
Pawlenty, DFL wrangle over how to fund public health care programs
Slightly more than three weeks ago, on March 26, Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a compromise bill that kept alive the general assistance medical care (GAMC) program…
Jerry Crest, chief operating officer for Immanuel St. Joseph’s Hospital in Mankato, which is part of the Mayo Clinic system, said the hospital would rather join an uncompensated care pool than participate in the GAMC reform program.
Politics in Minnesota, by Charley Shaw, 4/2010
TOP STORIES
Obama Health Team Turns to Carrying Out Law
The New York Times
April 19, 2010
Here are profiles of three top members of the Obama team whose challenging job is to make the transition from waging political war on Capitol Hill to managing one of the most profound changes in social policy.
After Health Care Passage, Obama Pushes to Get It Rolling
The New York Times
April 19, 2010
Mindful that the new health care law’s ability to slow rising medical costs will depend to a great extent on how it is put in effect, President Obama is assembling a high-level team to carry out key elements of the overhaul and is considering moving faster than the law requires to put them into action.
Obama’s Health Reform Isn’t Modeled After Heritage Foundation Ideas
The Washington Post - Op-Ed
April 19, 2010
The Obama health care law "builds" on the Heritage health reform model only in the sense that a double-quarter-pounder with cheese "builds" on the idea of a garden salad. Both have lettuce and tomato and may be called food, but the similarities end there.
Pataki Launches Anti-Health Care Group Amid 2012 Talks
The Hill
April 19, 2010
Former New York Gov. George Pataki on Sunday debuted "Revere America" a new 501(c) (4) organization that seeks to drum up support for a prompt repeal of Democrats' health care reforms.
INSURANCE
Health Insurers Weighing Options To Get Ahead of Reform
The Washington Post
April 19, 2010
Weeks after the health care law was enacted, insurers are still scouring it to figure out precisely what it allows - redefining medical spending to make the requirement more attainable is just one way insurers might adapt to the new legislation.
New York Offers Costly Lessons on Insurance
The New York Times
April 19, 2010
New York’s insurance system has been a working laboratory for the core provision of the new federal health care law and an expensive lesson in unplanned consequences.
WELLNESS/CHRONIC CARE
Health Care Overhaul Has Provisions That Will Help Disabled with Long-Term Care
The Kansas City Star
April 19, 2010
The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act (CLASS) is a little-discussed part of the massive health care reform package, designed to give workers a consumer-financed national insurance pool to help pay for long-term care.
MinuteClinic Expands Its Services
The Star Tribune
April 19, 2010
MinuteClinic launched its new chronic-condition monitoring service with an eye to the many patients who don't have primary care providers.
STATE NEWS
Hospitals Are Opting Out of New Minnesota Health Plan
The Star Tribune
April 19, 2010
A revamped state health care program for about 37,000 of the poorest and sickest Minnesotans will start June 1, but with funding cuts to one-fourth of the projected costs, only five of 17 qualifying hospitals have agreed to provide the care.
Illinois Hospital Not Charitable Enough to Merit Tax Exemption
American Medical News
April 19, 2010
A recent Illinois Supreme Court decision could set in motion new standards for hospital charity care requirements.
North Carolina Democrats’ Votes Against Health Care Push Labor to Form Party
The Washington Post
April 19, 2010
Some of North Carolina’s Obama supporters are mounting a defiant strike against the president's party.
MEDICARE/MEDICAID
CIGNA, Humana Team Up To Sell Medicare Advantage
The Hartford Courant
April 19, 2010
CIGNA Corp. and Humana Inc. announced plans to work together selling Medicare Advantage to employers that offer health coverage to retirees.
IMPLEMENTING THE LEGISLATION
Doctors Hear Many Questions About Health Law
The New York Times
April 19, 2010
After months of public wrangling and brinkmanship in Washington, the nation’s doctors now find themselves having to answer questions about a 2,400-page law that many do not understand themselves, and which they may have opposed.
Faces of Health Debate Point to Law’s Complexities
The New York Times
April 17, 2010
A look at three patient cases that illustrate both the enormous potential benefits of the new health care law and how the complexity of the health system will continue to pose a formidable challenge for patients and health care providers in the months and years ahead.
Health Care Law Hits Home in Complex Ways
The Los Angeles Times
April 19, 2010
The health insurance overhaul signed into law last month has been billed as the most sweeping reform in generations but when it comes down to how the law mixes with the variables of everyday life, things get complicated.
The Boston Globe - Op-Ed
April 19, 2010
Once Congress passed a national health reform law that followed the Massachusetts plan, the state was almost sure to lose Jon Kingsdale’s services. The former insurance executive is the first head of the agency overseeing reform in Washington D.C.
NEW ADMINISTRATION
Doctors Pursue House and Senate Seats
USA Today
April 19, 2010
Forty-seven physicians are running for the House or Senate this year, three times the number of doctors serving in Congress today, and potentially altering the landscape for future debates over Medicare and rising insurance premiums.
MISCELLANEOUS
Health Industry Continues to Hire as Economy Recovers
American Medical News
April 19, 2010
Several reports released in March and April suggest demand for health care jobs, long stronger than the demand for jobs as a whole, is growing.
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