Daily Health Care News Clips - 8/4/08
08/04/08 | Comment (0)
Today's health care news clips from all over the web. If I've missed an important story, feel free to leave a link in the comments!
NEWS
California fines two health plans $13 million - Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/la-fi-blue18-2008jul18,0,104126.story
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield also agree to restore coverage to patients whose coverage was canceled after they became ill.
Americans look abroad to save on health care - San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/03/BUGA121GPF.DTL&type=health
Consumers increasingly are trying alternatives to their local hospitals and doctors, from going abroad for less-costly surgery to seeking quick, basic care at new clinics in drugstores and discounters, experts say.
Fake Firms Given Medicare Funds, Study Says - Los Angeles Times
http://www.dailyme.com/story/2008080400002801/
The government is putting millions of Medicare dollars at risk by authorizing fictitious sellers of wheelchairs, prosthetics and other medical supplies to submit reimbursement claims with only limited review, congressional investigators say.
Health Insurance Ambition Narrows - Los Angles Times
http://www.dailyme.com/story/2008080400003611/
Seeking to salvage two years of efforts to completely remake California's health insurance system, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislators are nearing deals intended to rein in costly, meager medical insurance policies sold directly to individuals.
OPINION
WHO PAYS FOR HEALTH CARE? - The American Prospect
http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=08&year=2008&base_name=who_pays_for_health_care
The issue here is that though we see prices at the pump, we're not as aware of increases in health spending. Out-of-pocket costs go up, sure, but the bulk of the spending happens in the HR departments of our employers. We never see the change.
Editorial: Playing politics with women's health care - Minneapolis Star-Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/26192064.html?location_refer=Editorials:highlightModules:3
What century is this? That's the first of many disturbing questions prompted by a new federal health proposal clearly targeting women's access to birth control and abortion. The Pill was approved in the United States in 1960. Abortion, legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973. Yet the nation's leading medical organizations -- from the American Medical Association to the American Nurses Association -- are now fighting to ensure that women continue to get these important medical services and information about them.
Health reform is possible; voters still hold the power - The Health Care Blog
http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/2008/08/health-reform-i.html
I believe economic pressures are pushing us toward a political turning point. (If you want to understand what is happening in history or in politics, follow the money.) The Bush administration has been thoroughly discredited. Americans are ready for change. Health care reform will not happen tomorrow; it will require a bare-knuckled political fight. But it will happen, and this is why: Although lobbyists are powerful, so are voters. And they realize that we are approaching a flashpoint: middle-class Americans are being priced out of our health care system.
