Healthcare Law News Archives

The two health reform bills moving through the U.S. Congress differ in a number of ways but achieve the same goal: a dramatic reduction in the number of uninsured Americans.

New York's fiscal crisis is now expected to have to take another $10 million from the anti-tobacco program to help balance the state budget.

Six Massachusetts hospitals are suing the state, saying they were shortchanged by the 2006 health care law.

Medicare spends far less per beneficiary in Rochester than it does in Manhattan, an example of the disparity that will be among the issues as lawmakers begin debating the U.S. Senate's version of the health care reform bill on Monday.

Top Florida lawmakers are balking at Congress' plans to help more poor people get healthcare, though they've protected an entitlement of their own: free insurance premiums.

It' simply not true that America is ambivalent about everything when it comes to the Obama health plan.

Lawmakers are weighing a bill to require every full and part-time college student in Massachusetts to have at least the basic level of health insurance required under the state's landmark 2006 health care law.

Unable to get the Legislature to agree on how to address a $3.2 billion deficit, New York Gov.

The American College of Physicians , representing 129,000 internal medicine physicians and medical student members, believes that it is essential that research on the effectiveness and comparative effectiveness of different medical treatments not be influenced by political considerations.

You wouldn't buy a second car when one would do. Nor an extra airplane ticket when you're traveling solo.

Unsurprisingly, President Barack Obama has recently realized early legislative success in pursuit of his massive government-heavy health care program.

Gregory Burnette treats a few babies with fevers, a few sprained ankles and sinus infections and, these days, plenty of flu sufferers.

Prime-time television took on a different meaning when the U.S. Senate met in a rare Saturday night session to move along the health-care reform debate in this country.

NE ADOPTION AGONY, 1ST LD-WRITETHRU OMAHA, Neb. - A northeast Nebraska man continues fighting for custody of his son nearly five years after he alleges a welfare worker allowed his newborn son to be taken for adoption by an Alabama couple without his permission.

Just before his family left town for Thanksgiving, Don Hall - an Ohio man who was laid off from his job as a manufacturing supervisor last year - wrote a $763.81 check to his health insurance company for his December payment.

The national health reform bill passed by the House last month and the Senate version to be debated in early December pose no threat to current health care benefits provided to military families, retirees or veterans, say advocates for these beneficiaries as well as congressional committee staffs.

Two familiar Nebraska agencies have won state contracts to create new services for families of troubled children.

By Ken Terry Nov 27, 2009 In one of the best "glass-half-full" commentaries on the Senate's healthcare reform bill , The Atlantic 's Ronald Brownstein interviews several health policy experts who concur that the cost controls in the measure could potentially be effective.

When you knowingly pay someone to lie to you, we call the deceiver an illusionist or a magician.

Republican Sen. Jon Kyl said Monday that President Barack Obama should delay trying to reform the health care system and focus on job creation.

Fri Nov 27, 2009 5:48am EST - Singer Nick Jonas testifies at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing about Type 1 Diabetes Research on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 24, 2009.

ALBANY - Health-care groups said Wednesday that while Gov. David Paterson's revised deficit-reduction plan would not cause as large of a loss in federal Medicaid funding, it would lead to layoffs and service cuts and possibly even closing of some institutions.

Federal and state prosecutors are each pursuing cases after a joint investigation into alleged Medicaid fraud against two women from Barre and Windsor.

Who might be the next victim of Obamacare? Gun owners. Government health care reform "will most likely dump your gun-related health data into a government databasea that can preclude you from owning firearms,a said Gun Owners of America, in an email notification to their members, shortly before the health care debate on Saturday.

One of the White House's biggest boasts about the health care legislation now moving through Congress is that it should reduce health care costs for both government and society.

WASHINGTON - Is Congress going through the ordeal of trying to enact health care reform only to have one of the main pillars - requiring individuals to obtain insurance - declared unconstitutional? An interesting debate for a constitutional law seminar.

The Obama administration pushed back Wednesday against claims that it's not doing enough to slow the growth of health care costs, a topic senators will debate heavily in coming weeks.

ALBANY -- Legislative leaders Tuesday said their staff would work over the weekend to digest a revised proposal from Gov.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell has unveiled a plan she says will erase Connecticut's latest budget deficit of nearly $470 million.

Americans could pay billions of dollars more in new taxes for a few years before they're likely to see significant change in the nation's health care system under legislation that Congress is considering.

Medicaid spending on the clot-busting drug Plavix soared after direct-to-consumer TV ads for the drug began airing -- though not because of any change in prescription trends, researchers said.

Doctors would jab sharp instruments into King Henry VIII's arm and drain blood out of his body.

Most Americans don't expect a health care overhaul to affect their lives directly, but those who worry about the fallout outnumber those expecting to come out ahead, a poll out Tuesday has found.

ALBANY - After originally saying they would take the weekend to complete negotiations and prepare legislation, lawmakers and Gov.

Facing a projected budget gap of as much as $3.5 billion, there is no doubt that the two-year spending plan being prepared by Gov.

Gov. Jay Nixon is resisting a plan that could provide health insurance to thousands of children despite running for office on a pledge to expand health care access.

Cuts to schools, roads and social services were among the hammer blows delivered Monday by Gov.

Governor Mark Parkinson announces another round of cuts to the state's budget, totaling over $258 million.

Failure is not an option on health care, a leading Democratic senator said Monday, even as Republicans turned up the heat on moderates who hold the fate of the legislation in their hands.

A Kansas nurse convicted of enslaving mentally ill residents of a Newton group home was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday after a federal judge acknowledged the original seven-year term was too short.

Schoolteacher Kinzi Blair makes only $46,000 a year, but she has what many would consider a "Cadillac" health plan, now targeted for a big tax increase by health reformers.

The question Rep. Paul Poirier hears from Vermonters most is, "What the heck are you going to do about these premiums that keep going up and up?" Poirier, a Barre City state representative, has a long memory of health care reform.

Earlier this year, lawmakers agreed to temporarily subsidize health insurance for laid-off workers, providing a big discount for coverage until they got back to work.

The health care reform bill will move forward to the Senate floor for debate following Thanksgiving break.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer boasted of Democrats' unity in pushing their health care reform package over a major procedural hurdle in the Senate Saturday night, saying on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday that his party showed "real momentum." "Last night was a very good night for us," Schumer told CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob ...

The Senate is ready to begin a volatile, high-stakes health care debate that's sure to be punctuated by tense and unpredictable battles over some of the most incendiary issues in American politics today.

BATON ROUGE - The Commission on Streamlining Government so far e has ndorsed 134 proposals covering a wide array of issues and they're "not finished yet," the panel's chairman says.

The U.S. Capitol is seen on September 29, 2008 in Washington, DC. WASHINGTON a ' Republican leader Mitch McConnell says the health care overhaul will create a "massive and unsustainable debt" after a vote to advance the legislation in the Senate.

Hooray! Tonight we're one step closer to getting a deficit-neutral health care reform bill that has at least some hope of "bending the health cost curve" in the future.

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WASHINGTON - How New York state would fare under proposed health care reform remains an open question, but there's no doubt that state government and, to some extent, county governments would share in the cost of expanding health coverage to more Americans.

Chiropractors get a lift in the Senate health care bill, thanks to a senator from the state practitioners consider the birthplace of their profession - Iowa.

New electronic record systems installed in thousands of U.S. hospitals have done little to rein in skyrocketing healthcare costs, Harvard University researchers said in a study released on Friday.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley says health care reform legislation being pushed by Democrats in Congress would be devastating to states.

Some of West Virginia's largest cities can soon freeze and gradually pay down their daunting pension funding shortfalls, after the House of Delegates sent Gov.

The Partnership to Improve Patient Care today applauded Senator Reid's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for including strong patient-centered comparative effectiveness research language.

Today's vote by the House of Representatives is an important step toward repealing the 21.5 percent Medicare pay cut for doctors set to take effect next year, and moves to stabilize Medicare's payment system for doctors for the long term.

How do the House and Senate bills differ? What do they mean for you? Health care videos Weekend health fight looms for Senate A A Nov.

The Senate will hold its first vote on health care legislation on Saturday night and Democrats will need 60 votes to prevail.

People suffering from a form of incurable blindness could soon become the first patients in the world to benefit from a new and controversial transplant operation using stem cells derived from spare human embryos left over from IVF treatment.

As the U.S. Senate braces for a heated debate about its version of health care reform legislation unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid late Wednesday, U.S. Rep.

The Democratic-controlled House voted Thursday to add more than $200 billion to the deficit to prevent steep Medicare payment cuts to doctors, a move Republicans denounced as a political payoff.

Insurance companies contacted by USA TODAY say they will continue paying for annual mammograms amid widespread fears that new breast cancer screening guidelines from a federal task force could lead women to lose coverage for those tests.

A comparison of the health care bills before Congress: ___ The Senate Democratic bill : WHO'S COVERED: About 94 percent of legal residents under age 65 compared with 83 percent now.

Vaccine makers praised the U.S. response to the swine flu pandemic on Wednesday but said regulatory delays and public suspicion have held up innovative ways to speed and stretch the U.S. influenza vaccine supply.

Health care legislation headed for the Senate floor includes higher payroll taxes for upper income wage earners.

A federal jury has convicted a Virginia Beach physician on nearly 30 counts in a fraudulent-billing scheme that bilked government health programs out of $1.2 million.

A group representing hundreds of West Virginia police officers sees the value in the special session legislation that aims to help ailing municipal pensions, one of its officials said Tuesday.

It is a core tenet of the push to improve American medical care and control its cost: Experts should study the effectiveness of treatments and procedures to determine which work best.

Senate health care legislation expected this week is likely to include a new long-term care insurance program to help the elderly and the disabled avoid going into nursing homes, Democratic officials say.

A Mid-South oncologist was instrumental in a clinical trial that will help women nationwide.

WASHINGTON -- Seniors would pay $49 billion in higher premiums over the next decade as a result of legislation headed for a House vote that raises fees for doctors treating Medicare patients, according to an estimate by congressional budget officials.

MADISON, Wis. - A no-frills health insurance plan for poor, childless adults may not be ready until March, state lawmakers were told Tuesday.

When it comes to paying for a health care overhaul, Americans see just one way to go: tax the rich.

Business foes of health care overhaul legislation are outspending supporters at a rate of 2-to-1 for TV ads as they grow increasingly nervous over a final bill.

Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an integrated specialty pharmaceutical company with both development and commercial capabilities focused on women's healthcare and pain management, announced today that Lysteda oral tablets has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for treatment of women suffering from cyclic heavy menstrual bleeding , ...

Arizona has a projected midyear budget shortfall of up to $2 billion, but the to-do list for a special Legislative session planned for this week would close about a quarter of that.

Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study.

Former President Bill Clinton visited Capitol Hill recently to deliver a pep talk to Senate Democrats.

ALBANY -- It's easier to add than subtract, at least at the state Capitol. Lawmakers are finding that out as they try to reach an agreement with Gov.

A A Even as drug makers vow to support the health care overhaul by shaving $8 billion a year off the nation's drug costs, the industry has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years.

There were no doctors, no patients or even a floor at a medical office on the city's south side, but to Hidalgo County's largest hospital system it was reputedly worth lease payments of $8,000 a month.

Main Category: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Also Included In: Regulatory Affairs / Drug Approvals Article Date: 15 Nov 2009 The Food and Drug Administration today notified nearly 30 manufacturers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages that it intends to look into the safety and legality of their products.

WASHINGTON -- As Senate Democrats prepare to bring a health care bill to the floor this month, they might want to reflect on comments made by Democrats from New York and other states who voted against the version the House passed last weekend.

The Wisconsin representative who has served 40 years in Congress says passing the health care reform bill has been the most difficult legislative fight of his career.

WASHINGTON - Abortion-rights groups, outflanked and outnumbered in the health debate, are scrambling to regain lost ground after the House passed a health bill with strict abortion limits.

WASHINGTON a ' In the official record of the historic House debate on health care overhaul, the speeches of many lawmakers echo with similarities.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada and Senate Majority Leader, is weighing increasing the Medicare payroll tax by 0.4 to 0.5 percentage point, as a way to help fund universal health care, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday The current employee share of the Medicare tax is 1.45%. Reid's proposal would apply to only those earning more than ...

Overall spending on health care would rise as a result of legislation approved a week ago by the House, and billions of dollars in projected savings contained in the measure will be difficult to maintain, according to a report by a top official at the agency that oversees Medicare.

House Democrats missed opportunities to improve the House-passed health care bill when they rejected Republican ideas to limit lawsuits and give states more flexibility to enact innovative changes, a GOP lawmaker said Saturday.

An unusual look at internal documents from a pharmaceutical company suggests that clinical data was manipulated to make a popular anti-seizure drug, gabapentin , look more effective than it actually was, thereby increasing possibilities for its off-label usage, according to a new report.

The Food and Drug Administration has notified about 30 manufacturers of alcoholic beverages containing added caffeine that it intends to take a look at their products.

Iowa will recoup $4.3 million from pharmaceutical companies that overcharged for medications.

First lady Michelle Obama sought to assure older women on Friday that efforts to overhaul health care won't undercut the benefits they receive through Medicare, saying her husband considers the government-run program a "sacred part of America's social safety net." Mrs.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services received roughly 30 warnings from inspectors over three years during the Bush and Obama administrations but didn't respond to half of them, even after repeated letters, according to records provided to The Associated Press by U.S. Sen.

The Democratic health care bills in Congress - if done right - have the potential to tame runaway medical inflation, a leading business group said Thursday in a report immediately hailed by President Barack Obama.

While the House Democrats spent the week congratulating themselves for squeezing out the midnight passage of their version of health care reform, neutral observers were reminding them: You've left the job half done.

"? By Leslie Wayne Worried about swine flu? You can buy healing gels that "create a barrier between you and the potentially deadly virus now spreading across the globe." Or "ionic silver" that kills every known pathogen, germ, bacteria, virus or fungus within six minutes.

A federal grand jury in Louisiana has indicted an Oklahoma doctor on 48 counts alleging he defrauded a government program, insurance companies and other entities out of $1.3 million.

Mississippi Medicaid officials should have asked the Legislature for approval before tinkering with a law that would change reimbursements for pharmacists, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

Millions of American women will face tough choices about abortion coverage if restrictions in the House health care bill become law, both sides in the abortion debate agree.

Marcia Angell, a single-payer supporter and former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine , says she doesn't believe the House health-care reform bill is better than nothing.

The health care bill that the House of Representatives has passed would bar insurers from selling policies that cover abortion to anyone who gets a federal subsidy.

Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering a plan for higher payroll taxes on upper-income earners to help finance health care legislation he intends to introduce in the Senate in the next several days, Democratic officials said Wednesday.

Furious liberals on Monday threatened to derail the massive healthcare overhaul bill to protest a last-minute deal over insurance coverage of abortions that had secured passage of the legislation in the House.

With New York drowning in deepening deficit spending and running out of cash to pay huge bills due next month, the Legislature met in special session Tuesday and was poised to put off what Gov.

A look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: Can taxpayers afford new subsidies to provide health insurance for millions in such a weak economy? THE POLITICS: With a comprehensive policy averaging nearly $13,000 a year for a family, covering more than 30 million uninsured doesn't come cheap.

Many nursing homes in Nebraska may close if Gov. Dave Heineman's budget-cutting proposal were approved.

By Lee Bowman Scripps Howard News Service Health-reform legislation approved by the House last weekend would add tens of millions of Americans to the ranks of the insured.

President Barack Obama now stands closer to realizing the Democratic dream of universal coverage than any of his White House predecessors since Harry Truman after World War II.

Gov. Joe Manchin wants to hold off on a plan to expand Medicaid coverage for adults in West Virginia.

The following editorial appeared in Monday's Washington Post: Comparing the House Republican and Democratic health-care bills is like comparing a mouse to an elephant.

Virginia spent 74 percent more money overall in its most recent budget than it did 10 years earlier, the result of the economy, population growth and decisions by the General Assembly, according to the legislature's watchdog agency.

Results of the cervical study currently appear online in the journal Stem Cells.

Watch Jake Tapper's interview with the President. Nov. 9, 2009- President Obama said today that Congress needs to change abortion-related language in the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives this weekend that includes tougher restrictions on abortion funding but said there is more work to be done before a final piece of ...

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said Monday he could not support a bill unless it clearly prohibits federal dollars from going to pay for abortions.

Rep. Rick Boucher says he voted against health care legislation because of concerns about a government insurance option and Medicare reimbursement disparities.

Gov. David Paterson will address a joint session of the state Legislature at 3 p.m. today to urge them to pass a budget-cutting plan that he says is vital to the state's fiscal health.

Home : World : Obama praises Congress for passing health care bill Obama praises Congress for passing health care bill More on this topic WATCH - CTV News Channel: U.S. President Obama Selected Comment we find money to fight 2 wars, bailout banks, bailout professional gamblers on wall street, but we argue about healthcare for our citizens.

West Virginia's lone Republican in Congress wants to know how national health care legislation would affect the state's budget.

Read-only mm_head JANET HOOK Reporting from Washington With the struggle over healthcare entering an even tougher phase, President Obama has hit both a milestone and a speed bump in his duel pursuit of a major overhaul of the nation's medical system and a rebirth of progressivism in America.

The trillion dollar Affordable Health Care for America Act, narrowly passed the U.S House of Representatives, Saturday night, 220 to 215.

The House bill would change the way health insurance works in the United States.

JOYCE M. ROSENBERG AP Business Writer NEW YORK - Even though the economy is still suffering and many small businesses won't be hiring for some time, some companies are thinking about taking on more workers.

The US House of Representatives approved the broadest overhaul of US health care in four decades overnight, handing President Barack Obama a hard-fought victory that energised his top domestic priority.

Today the House reaches another major milestone in the effort to pass health insurance reform, and effort decades in the making.

A bipartisan coalition sought to impose stricter abortion limits on insurance sold under a new health care bill Saturday, hoping to leave their imprint on legislation otherwise crafted largely by more liberal lawmakers.

Central Texas Congressman Chet Edwards said Saturday he will vote against the sweeping House health care reform measure because he thinks a oethere is too much new spending in the bill.a Font Size: Rep.

Weeks after publicly criticizing each other, Mississippi Medicaid director Bob Robinson and state Attorney General Jim Hood are again exchanging sharp words.

House Democrats acknowledged today they don't yet have the votes to pass a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system, and signaled they may push back the vote until Sunday or early next week.

An independent hearing judge today ruled that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan only should raise its supplemental Medicare rates by 3.8%, not the 36.7% it had sought.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels announced on Friday a series of spending cuts and other steps to offset a continuing multimillion-dollar dive in state revenues.

Gov. Mike Beebe says that a proposal in the House to overhaul the nation's health care system could add $205 million to the state's budget by 2015.

New Hampshire, pay attention. How your representatives vote could change our state forever.

Share + Nov 5, 2009 12:15 pm US/Mountain Senate Reform Proposal Tri-Committee Reform Plan 1 of 1 Members of the Health Access protest group stage a crime scene-like "body pile-up" as part of their campaign against what they say is the poor state of the U.S. health care system on Oct.

Democrats in the House of Representatives scrambled on Wednesday to iron out lingering concerns over abortion in a healthcare reform bill that was headed to a close and potentially historic weekend debate.

Kansas policymakers met Thursday to evaluate how short revenue collections have fallen and determine and how deep a new round of state budget cuts might have to go.

WASHINGTON - House Democratic leaders have presented a new health overhaul bill that melds legislation passed by three committees over the summer.

As I was talking recently with the founder of a large American corporation, the conversation turned to health care reform.

South Carolina, trying to curb abuse of narcotics and save money, is requiring Medicaid patients suspected of doctor-hopping for drugs to choose one pharmacy for all of their prescriptions.

State social workers struggling with mounting welfare, food stamp and Medicaid caseloads said Wednesday they fear for their lives after being assaulted or threatened by recipients frustrated with long lines and delays in aid.

JANET HOOK Reporting from Washington After months of criticizing Democratic proposals to revamp the healthcare system from the sidelines, Republicans are moving aggressively to present an alternative approach and undercut critics' portrayal of the GOP as the "Party of No." Defining a stark contrast with the Democrats' comprehensive effort to ...

The Democratic health care legislation comes studded with cautious plans to test proposals for reining in Medicare costs.

House Democrats cleared the way Wednesday for a pivotal floor vote on health care overhaul as early as the weekend, after tweaking their 1,900-page bill to crack down harder on insurance companies.

Last year pharmaceutical companies spent more than $4 billion urging patients like you to "ask your doctor" about their drugs.

Chicago - President Obama's top health chief is coming to Chicago to get more uninsured children enrolled in government health insurance programs.

Published: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 11:25 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 11:25 p.m. TALLAHASSEE Florida's insurance consumer advocate said he is trying to find a lawmaker to help him ban a practice that sticks patients with big bills their health plans won't cover.

Most Nebraska agencies will feel some pain over the next year and a half if lawmakers adopt the widespread spending cuts Gov.

Healthy pregnant women need only one dose of H1N1 influenza vaccine to mount a robust immune response, U.S. health officials say.

After months of private wrangling, the fight over legislation to revamp the U.S. health-care system will soon spill onto the House and Senate floors.

Heineman is calling for broad cuts combined with transferring some money from the state's general fund.

The state Department of Health and Hospitals plans to dip into several one-time revenue sources and cut spending on mental health, public health and prescription drugs to make up for a $308 million deficit in its Medicaid program , authorities said Monday.

Small businesses would have an easier time banding together to offer insurance to employees.

The next health care fight has already started. It's the battle to define the bill that President Obama will eventually sign as a victory for consumers, taxpayers and the common good.

A woman suing Gov. Jim Gibbons, claiming she was fired because he believed she leaked information about personal messages sent from his state cell phone, was hired Monday by the state controller to oversee stimulus accounting.

More than 2,400 jobs have been saved or created in West Virginia because of federal stimulus funding, according to those who have been spending the money.

Main Category: Public Health Also Included In: Regulatory Affairs / Drug Approvals Article Date: 01 Nov 2009 - 3:00 PST printer friendly view / write opinions rate article The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued an interim final rule with request for comments today to strengthen its enforcement of the rules promulgated under the ...

Among some libertarians and conservatives, the most troubling aspect of the pending health care reform bills is the prospect of a federal requirement that Americans buy insurance.

The House of Representatives could begin consideration of its plan, whose net cost is an estimated $894 billion , late next week.

Published: Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 8:20 a.m. Last Modified: Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 8:43 a.m. SARASOTA When Rita Gorenflo's son Thomas was 6, he needed surgery for a spine disorder that doctors said threatened to squeeze his lung and suffocate him.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that only 2 percent of Americans under the age of 65 would sign up for insurance under the much-debated public option.

Many communities hit hardest by job losses, those built around dying factories and mills, have been slowest to see relief from President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, underscoring how hard it is for Washington policymakers to create lasting work in areas that need it most.

Main Category: Pain / Anesthetics Also Included In: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc announced that it has successfully completed an End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA for ARX-01, a drug/device combination product based on the company's proprietary NanoTab dosage form, which enables delivery of sufentanil by the ...

Lansing -- This year's contentious state budget was put to bed a month late Friday when Gov.