Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 15, 2008. Twenty percent of Georgia residents younger than age 65 in 2007 did not have health insurance, nearly the same rate as in 2006, but the number of uninsured residents is expected to increase in 2008 and 2009 because of the economic recession, according to a study released Thursday by the […]

Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 15, 2008. A number of U.S. hospitals have begun to use new practices to address overcrowding and delays in emergency departments, USA Today reports. According to USA Today, hospitals have “plenty of incentive” to make their EDs “more inviting,” as EDs have “essentially become the front door to most hospitals.” About half […]

Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 15, 2008. Democratic lawmakers and President-elect Barack Obama in 2009 likely will seek to reduce reimbursements to private health insurers under Medicare Advantage and make changes to the Medicare prescription drug benefit, the Wall Street Journal reports…  Click title to read more… According to the Journal, reimbursements for MA plans are 13% […]

Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 15, 2008. President-elect Barack Obama’s HHS secretary nominee — former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), who Obama also named as director of a new White House Office of Health Reform — “has put a premium on cooperation between the White House, Congress and major health care interest groups” in the overhaul […]

AMA News headlines – Dec. 15, 2008. Despite the setback, states are anticipating changes under the new administration that would allow health coverage expansions to continue. Read Full Article

AMA News headlines – Dec. 15, 2008. The agency is seeking comments on which physicians should forego Medicare pay under the policy and what related complications might qualify as errors. Read Full Article

HFMA News – Dec. 15, 2008. At the request of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM) has prepared a report titled HHS in the 21st Century assessing whether the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is ?ideally organized? to meet […]

HFMA News – Dec. 12, 2008. As expected, President-elect Barack Obama made official his nomination of former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) as Secretary of Health & Human Services on Thursday, Dec. 11. He also named Daschle as director of a new White House Office on Health Care Reform. Dr. Jeanne Lambrew, who authored a book […]