Selected stories from the daily newsletter CQ HealthBeat from the week of August 2, 2010. Provided as a service under rights licensed by The Commonwealth Fund. The full-text version of this newsletter is available in the
Health Reform section of commonwealthfund.org.
Republicans hoping to uncrate live rounds of rhetorical ammunition against the health care overhaul law had to be disappointed in flipping through the pages of a new report by Medicare and Social Security trustees on the solvency of those programs—it credited the overhaul with strengthening not only Medicare, but Social Security, too. Read more »
The Senate last week approved a $26.1 billion state-aid package that the House is poised to consider next week, after being called back from August recess. The measure would provide funds for state and local governments to prevent layoffs of teachers and maintain Medicaid health coverage of the poor, despite budget crunches.
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The state exchanges that will serve as health insurance marketplaces under the health care law may differ in major respects from state to state, panelists at an Alliance for Health Reform briefing said. At the same time, cash-strapped states are struggling to understand the many pieces of the sweeping law they're expected to implement and monitor, often with not enough time or staff. Read more »
Insurance companies, health care providers and professional organizations that oversee physicians announced a host of private-sector initiatives aimed at complementing the federal push for wider use of electronic health records in health care. Read more »
Calling the new health care law "an unprecedented intrusion on the sovereignty of the states and the freedom of their citizens," attorneys general from 20 states and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) made another move in their lawsuit against the overhaul. Read more »
The government will make information available next week on how to apply for $250 million in grants that will boost the expansion of 350 community health centers, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced. Read more »