Selected stories from the daily newsletter CQ HealthBeat from the week of July 19, 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.
Democratic Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV has leveled a new salvo at the health insurance industry, writing in a letter that insurers are attempting to "game" the health care law and are pouring "limitless" resources into their lobbying of state insurance commissioners who are developing key recommendations. Read more »
Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., and other House Democrats announced Thursday the introduction of a bill to add a government-run insurance plan to compete with private plans that will be offered in 2014 in insurance exchanges created under the health care overhaul law. Read more »
Research comparing different treatment strategies for the same disease has the potential to provide better information about what works in medicine, said advocates at a forum Thursday about the science—but one speaker warned that minorities could be harmed if insurers or Medicaid officials used the studies in reimbursement decisions. Read more »
When federal officials released final rules on July 13 governing how medical providers should use electronic records, they scaled back some requirements in an earlier proposal. They said they wanted to strike a balance and create goals that were ambitious but also realistic. Read more »
The Obama administration released on Thursday the interim final rules outlining how patients can make appeals if they are unhappy with a decision by their insurance company. Read more »
Despite doubts that Congress will pass legislation before the August recess to maintain higher levels of Medicaid funding, senior groups say they'll keep putting pressure on lawmakers to act this month. Read more »