Selected stories from the daily newsletter CQ HealthBeat from the week of October 18, 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.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) concluded months of intense deliberations on a key rule establishing minimum medical payouts under the health care overhaul law by rejecting arguments that would have given insurers much greater flexibility to meet the standards. Read more »
The Obama administration upped the ante in its battle against rising health insurance premiums, filing a lawsuit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Read more »
Top officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) outlined their framework for a new office that will distribute $10 billion over a decade in grants aimed at updating the nation's health care system. Read more »
The new health care law contains several elements that are designed to revolutionize the way that Medicare pays for medical services. But leading policy analysts said at an American Enterprise Institute briefing that many political and institutional challenges could keep that promise from being fulfilled. Read more »
Consumers will get help resolving disputes with insurance companies and better information before enrolling in health plans under $30 million in grants awarded to states by the Department of Health and Human Services. Read more »
A new report by a bipartisan group of health policy analysts says the health care overhaul law creates "important opportunities" to lower growth in health care spending. But it also says other steps are needed, such as taxing high-premium health plans starting in 2014, not 2018 as is called for in the law. Read more »