What Others Are Saying 

Recreational Drugs FAR Less Likely to Kill You than Prescribed Drugs!

09/03/2010 -

While approximately 10,000 per year die from the effects of illegal drugs, an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported that an estimated 106,000 hospitalized patients die each year from drugs which, by medical standards, are properly prescribed and properly administered. More than two million suffer serious side effects.

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Medical Loss Ratio - into the wind

09/02/2010 -

Recent Article Published in the Self Insured Institute of America by Bob Shupe

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Health-Insurance Market Moves Ahead in California

09/02/2010 -

California passed legislation creating a health-insurance marketplace, a move set to be echoed across the country as states take steps to implement federal law. Millions of Americans around the U.S. are expected to eventually purchase their coverage through such exchanges, which will offer health plans to individuals and some small businesses.

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Proposed federal regulations bother rural hospitals

09/02/2010 -

Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., met Wednesday with nearby rural hospital heads and a federal health care agency representative about proposed laws that would require more physician oversight for various procedures. Jonathan Blum, with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, came to the state to gather feedback on a proposal that would require doctors to oversee other health care professionals who administer injections, transfusions and other procedures  if those hospitals are seeking to be reimbursed through Medicare.

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Dear Patients: Vote to Repeal ObamaCare

09/02/2010 -

Facing a nationwide backlash, Democratic congressional candidates have a new message for voters: We know you don't like ObamaCare, so we'll fix it. This was the line offered by Democrat Mark Critz, who won a special election in Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district after expressing opposition to the law and promising to mend it—but not to repeal it. As a doctor I know something about unexpected recoveries, and this latest attempt to rescue ObamaCare from repeal needs to be taken seriously.

To counter this election-year ruse, my colleagues and I at Docs4PatientCare are enlisting thousands of doctors in an unorthodox and unprecedented action. Our patients have always expected a certain standard of care from their doctors, which includes providing them with pertinent information that may affect their quality of life. Because the issue this election is so stark—literally life and death for millions of Americans in the years ahead—we are this week posting a "Dear Patient" letter in our waiting rooms.

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Audit: Mass. may be losing millions on MRI’s

09/02/2010 -

State Auditor Joseph DeNucci has released a report saying Massachusetts may be losing millions in Medicaid dollars covering the cost of unneeded imaging services like MRIs. DeNucci said on Wednesday that the state lacks safeguards against possible conflicts of interest from doctors who refer patients to facilities where they have a financial interest.

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Thirty Million New Patients - Sorry, Nothing Available

08/24/2010 -

Finally something about delivery, not finance. Before you read this turn off all other forms of media. You should not be distracted.

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There will be more competition - where you ask

08/24/2010 -

Health Reforms greatest cry is that it will lower costs and increase competition. This article demonstrates the reforms ability to drive competition away and increase the size of a few insurers to the magical plateau of "too big to fail."

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You Have To Read This One

08/16/2010 -

The language is direct and instead of 3,000 pages the bill could be printed on a 3X5 index card. What is it called? S.3653 -- Health Care Bureaucrats Elimination Act

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Massachusetts law - the example?

08/16/2010 -

The state’s largest health insurer managed to cut its second-quarter losses, thanks to investment gains, after a financially painful rate-hike battle with regulators. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts yesterday posted a net loss of $14.3 million in the April-to-June period, an improvement over last year’s $33.6 million loss.

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Where There is Smoke - there is likely an AK-47

08/16/2010 -

True or false: The new health care law will cut Medicare benefits for seniors. It will slash Medicare payments to doctors. It will ration health care.In three polls conducted last month, large percentages of Americans answered "true" to each statement. All three are false.

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Insurance Exchanges - Rub the lamp Real Hard

08/16/2010 -

Years into the colossal debate about how to reach the millions of people without health insurance, all the talk is turning into something real in Colorado conference rooms packed with insurance executives, advocates for the sick and disabled, and average folks who want better care. They are the brains behind one of the most complicated tasks in national reform: building a state insurance exchange.

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Health Care Continues to Wound Democrats

08/11/2010 -

At the time President Barack Obama signed the health care overhaul in March, polls showed the legislation was unpopular with the American people. The White House told naysayers that public sentiment would become more favorable and turn out to be a political plus for Democrats this fall. Democrats would “be able to campaign proudly” on the legislation, White House senior aide David Axelrod said at the time. These days, Democrats are doing it with some trepidation and, depending on their districts, at some risk.

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Insurance commissioners weigh medical loss ratio definitions

08/11/2010 -

A new draft document outlines some of the outstanding issues state insurance commissioners need to resolve concerning the medical loss ratio. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners begins its annual meeting in Seattle this week, and one of its highest-profile tasks will be defining what should count as medical care and what shouldn't.

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Missouri vote repudiates health care law

08/06/2010 -

More than four months after pushing through President Obama's health care legislation, Democrats said Missouri voters who overwhelmingly rejected the new law still don't know enough about it. "Once you explain what's in this bill, the American people, of course, like it," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat.

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Voters in Missouri Oppose Health Law

08/06/2010 -

Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a measure intended to nullify the new federal health care law, becoming the first state in the nation where ordinary people made known their dismay over the issue at the ballot box.

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Missouri vote puts health care back in crosshairs

08/06/2010 -

WASHINGTON – Missouri voters' overwhelming opposition to requiring nearly all Americans to buy health insurance puts one of the least popular parts of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law back in the political crosshairs.

Even if the vote sets no legally binding precedent, it will help mobilize foes of Obama's agenda in the fall midterm elections, and that could make a difference in some states with close congressional races that could decide the balance of power in Washington.

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In Defense of "Unelected Bureaucrats

08/06/2010 -

The effort to repeal health care reform, all in one fell swoop, seems to be stalling. Instead, the opponents of reform are trying to dismantle it piece by piece.

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Great Uncertainty on Medicare Cuts

08/06/2010 -

Top administration officials say that the Obama health care law has dramatically improved Medicare's finances.  "Medicare's Hospital Insurance Trust Fund is now expected to remain solvent until 2029, 12 years longer than was projected last year," says Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. 

Source: Jim Angle, "Great Uncertainty on Medicare Cuts," Fox News, August 5, 2010. 

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The Effect of Health Insurance Coverage on the Use of Medical Services

08/06/2010 -

The authors estimate that if the United States adopted universal health insurance coverage and there were sufficient capacity, there would likely be an increase in hospital stays of roughly 3.8 million per year and in emergency room visits of approximately 13.1 million per year.

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Repeal the Bill

07/23/2010 -

Repeal the Bill - another 150 sign up! A plan that would enable members of the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal Obamacare – whether health care takeover advocate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants it or not – is continuing to gain momentum.

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The Hermanator - Could the answer be a pizza guy?

07/23/2010 -

"We need a realistic candidate to run on the Republican ticket who can beat Barack Obama – not just beat the Democrats," Herman Cain, an Atlanta radio talk-show host, former CEO of Godfather's Pizza and 2004 Senate seeker, told WND. "We've also got to beat Barack Obama."

He added, "Obama is a master of rhetoric. He is a master of deceptive language. And any white candidate who runs against him will be up against the race card. I take the race card off the table."

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Solo practices let doctors spend more time with patients

01/19/2010 -

Solo practices let doctors spend more time with patients, by Chris Swingle satff writer, Democrat and Chronicle.com, January 19, 2010 - When Dr. Linda Lee sees patients, she brings them from the waiting room, typically spends a half hour with them, cleans up the exam room and submits the insurance claims online. She's the one who returns phone voicemails, and she gives patients her cell phone number for urgent after-hours needs.

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They still don't get it

01/18/2010 -

The American Spectator, AMSPECBLOG, They Still Don’t Get It, By Greg Scandlen, 1.17.10 - I don’t know Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA). Don’t know a thing about him. But if an article about his recent town hall meeting on health care is accurate, and if he is representative of other Congressional Republicans, it looks like they haven’t learned a damned thing over the past year of frenzied debate.

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McConnell: Mass. Senate race is "referendum on national health care bill'

01/18/2010 -

Politico Live, January 17, 2010, McConnell: Mass. Senate race is "referendum on national health care bill', Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that Tuesday's Senate election in Massachusetts is a "referendum on the national health care bill."

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From Bay State to Red State

01/18/2010 -

The New York Times, January 15,2010, Opinionator, From Bay State to Red State, by Tobin Harshaw -Strike One: “The mission in Afghanistan was to go in because we believed that the Taliban was giving harbor to terrorists … They’re gone. They’re not there anymore.” 

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Health Talks in Overdrive With Obama Pushing

01/15/2010 -

Health Talks in Overdrive With Obama Pushing, Associated Press, Erica Werner, January 15, 2010 - President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats stand within days if not hours of striking final deals on historic health care legislation after key labor unions won concessions and pledged their support.

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United Health Care's Soft Approach

12/30/2009 -

Health Care Modernization News Flash, United Health Care, Volume 1, Issue 15, December 28, 2009. The following was included at the beginning of the email sent to the industry and does not appear in the attached article:

Our Perspective - Since the beginning of the reform debate we have advocated for comprehensive changes to the health care system that would expand coverage, reduce costs, and improve quality.  Our view has not changed.

The current legislation reflects some of the market reforms we have advanced that would not only expand access but ensure that the cost of coverage is affordable for everyone.   However, we believe there is more that can, and should be done, to slow the growth of medical costs and increase the likelihood that reform results in a health care system that is sustainable over time. 

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The Factors Fueling Rising Healthcare Costs 2008

12/23/2009 -

The Factors Fueling Rising Healthcare Costs 2008, Price, Waterhouse, Coopers, Commissioned by AHIP, December 2008.

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AHIP RELEASES NEW STUDY ABOUT ADVANTAGES OF MEDICARE ADVANTAGE

12/16/2009 -

AHIP Center for Policy and Reasearc