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Health Insurance / Medical Insurance News From Medical News Today
Latest Health Insurance / Medical Insurance News From Medical News Today.

• Rep. Stark Says Lawmakers Might Not Vote On Legislation To Overhaul U.S. Health Care System Until Late 2009, 2010
  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,
• Federal Debt Will Rise To Almost 300% Of GDP In 2050, Center On Budget And Policy Priorities Report Says
  Congress must limit health care spending and weigh the benefits of tax cuts because current budgetary policies will bring the federal debt from 46% of the gross domestic product in 2009 to 279% in 2050, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, CongressDaily reports.
• Associated Press Examines Incoming Obama Administration Health Care Overhaul Strategy
  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.
• Utah Lawmakers Announce 10-Year Plan To Overhaul State Health Care System
  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.
• Blue Cross Blue Shield Revises Surgery Fees, Including Obstetrics, Under Federal Employee Plan
  In response to criticism from federal workers and members of Congress, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association has announced that it will revise its 2009 fee structure for out-of-network, non-emergency surgeries -- including obstetrical surgeries -- under its standard plan for federal employees, the
• Recommendations For Stimulus Package To Include Funding For A 10 Percent Increase In Medicare Payments To Physicians
  At the request of the presidential transition team, ideas on advancing health care reform in the stimulus package were provided by the American College of Physicians (ACP). ACP represents 126,000 internal medicine physicians and medical student members. It is the nation's largest medical specialty society and it is the second largest physician membership organization.
• New York Times Examines Obama Health Care Transition Team Community Discussions, Potential Insurance Industry Presence
  Health insurers have encouraged employees and satisfied customers to attend community meetings and house parties over the next two weeks to discuss health care reform, the New York Times reports. Earlier this month, HHS Secretary-designate and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.)
• Interest Groups Ask President-Elect Obama To Address Health Care Reform, Other Issues
  Most new presidential administrations "face a cacophony of competing demands" from interest groups, but "few presidents have been confronted with the sort of urgent and varied pleas" received by President-elect Barack Obama, USA Today reports. For example,
• Newspapers Examine Loss Of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage In Weak Job Market
  Summaries of two news articles and an editorial about employer-sponsored health coverage during a weak job market appear below.
• Percentage Of Uninsured Californians Declined In 2007, But Gains Likely Reversed During Recession, Report Finds
  The percentage of Californians younger than age 65 who were uninsured at some point in 2007 declined to 19.5% from 20.2% in 2005, according to a survey released on Monday by the University of California-Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research, the Sacramento Bee reports.
• Cover Florida Program Will Waive Requirement Of Six Months Without Insurance For Newly Unemployed Residents
  Unemployed Florida residents will be able to enroll in Cover Florida without having been uninsured for six months, as the program requires of some other beneficiaries, Florida Health News reports.
• Lack Of Insurance Might Explain Racial Disparities In Outcomes Of Intestinal Condition, Study Finds
  Insurance status might explain why blacks have poorer outcomes after being diagnosed with diverticulitis than whites, according to a study published in the December issue of Archives of Surgery, HealthDay/Washington Post reports.
• Price Controls On Prescription Drugs Could Have Adverse Effect On Life Spans, Study Says
  Placing price controls on prescription drugs in the U.S. would result in modest cost savings but would shorten life spans as the pace of drug innovation slowed, according to a study in Health Affairs, Reuters reports. Some policymakers recently suggested that the U.S.
• Los Angeles Times Examines HHS Secretary-Nominee Daschle's Approach To U.S. Health Care System Overhaul
  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 of the U.S. health care system, the
• Health Care Industries Lobby For Funds In Proposed Economic Stimulus Package
  As President-elect Barack Obama and Democratic congressional leaders craft an economic stimulus package, "a parade of interest groups is seeking shares of the portion that will go to infrastructure construction projects," including some in the health care sector, the Boston Globe reports.
• Philadelphia Inquirer Series Examines Lifetime Health Insurance Caps
  The Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday, as part of a continuing series called "Falling Through: Casualties of the Health Insurance Crisis," examined how more U.S.
• Uninsured Rates In Georgia Expected To Increase Amid Economic Recession, Growing Job Losses
  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 Center for Health Services Research at Georgia State University, the
• CQ's Carey Discusses Economic Stimulus Package, Daschle As HHS Secretary Nominee, Health Reform Efforts In Congress
  Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, examines expected health care inclusions in an economic stimulus package, the nomination of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) as HHS secretary, and Sen. Max Baucus' (D-Mont.) health care overhaul legislation in this week's "
• Papers Examine Effects Of Expanded Eligibility In Public Health Insurance Program For Older Children, Medicare Spending; More
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• Report Shows Nearly 6.4 Million Californians Lack Health Insurance
  Nearly one-fifth of all Californians under age 65 were without health insurance for all or some of 2007, according to a policy brief released by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Drawing on comprehensive new data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the policy brief's authors found that 6.4 million Californians lacked any health insurance coverage for all or some of 2007, the most recent year for which comprehensive statewide data is available.
• State Health Care Programs May Cut Back On Benefits Without Federal Bailout, InsuranceBureau.com Reports, USA
  InsuranceBureau.com, an independent consumer resource for insurance information, reports that state health care programs like the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and Medicaid may experience severe cutbacks. This is troubling news for many who are already struggling because of economic trouble. Many states have recently raised income requirements for enrollment to cover more people.
• Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Arizona Covers Microvolt