Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 18, 2008. Utah lawmakers on Tuesday during the final meeting of the Legislature’s Health System Reform Task Force unveiled a plan to overhaul the state’s health insurance market, the Salt Lake Tribune reports…  Click title to read more… The proposal, the first part of a 10-year health reform plan, would expand the […]

Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 18, 2008. Aides to President-elect Barack Obama have told lawmakers that a two-year economic stimulus package they plan to consider in January 2009 could cost as much as $850 billion, rather than the $600 billion currently under consideration, congressional officials said on Wednesday, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports (AP/Contra Costa Times, 12/17)… […]

Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 18, 2008. The incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama plans on “applying some of the lessons learned” from President Clinton’s health care reform efforts in the 1990s, which “means … moving fast, seizing momentum and not letting it go,” AP/Kansas City Star reports… Click title to read more… According to the AP/Star, […]

Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 18, 2008. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society on Wednesday released a set of policy recommendations for the incoming Obama administration and the 111th Congress that outline five priorities to promote wider use of health information technology and stimulate the economy, CQ HealthBeat reports…  Click title to read more… Under the […]

Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 18, 2008. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) on Wednesday said a vote on health care overhaul legislation likely would not occur during the first 100 days of the new Congress and could be put off until late 2009 or 2010, The Hill reports. Congress has several smaller […]

HFMA News – Dec. 18, 2008. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released a report on key issues related to adverse events in hospitals. These adverse events include the ‘never events,’ such as surgery on the wrong patient, which the National Quality Forum has said should never […]

Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 17, 2008. As part of its occasional series “The Evidence Gap,” the New York Times on Wednesday examined how Medicare coverage of certain treatments varies by location because CMS leaves “many reimbursement decisions to the discretion of 15 regional contractors around the country.” According to the Times, coverage disparities between states have […]

Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 17, 2008. The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday released the “2009 Statistical Abstract of the United States,” which includes some data on health care, the New York Times reports. The report contains data from the Census Bureau and other sources. Most of the data “had been previously released, but not necessarily in […]

Kaisernetwork.org – Dec. 17, 2008. The New Jersey Senate on Monday approved legislation that would require physicians at outpatient surgery centers to inform patients about how their services will be billed and whether the doctors have any financial interests in a referral to such centers, the Bergen Record reports. Under the bill — sponsored by […]