Health care law ensures consumers get clear, consistent information about health coverage
September 24, 2012 (HHS News Release) - Because of the health care law, millions of Americans will have access to standardized, easy-to-understand information about health plan benefits and coverage. Insurance companies and employers are now required to provide consumers in the private health insurance market with a brief summary of what a health insurance policy or employer plan covers, called a Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC). Additionally, consumers will have access to a Uniform Glossary that defines insurance and medical terms in standard, consumer-friendly terms.
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Community colleges land grants for health IT programs
by Bernie Monegain
September 20, 2012 (HealthcareITNews) - Community colleges that received grants for health IT or other healthcare-related programs:
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Health care law's impact on businesses varies
by Kelly Kennedy
September 24, 2012 (USA Today) - Companies specializing in driving down spending on health care, whether through electronic records, preventive care or consolidating services, are turning out to be the biggest winners from the 2010 health care law. Investors, analysts and policymakers say any business that can help health care providers cut costs or keep patients from being readmitted to the hospital soon after an in-patient visit is attracting more customers and seeing more investment.
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Study Links Extended Physician Office Hours With Lower Health Care Costs
by James Arvantes
September 19, 2012 (AAFP) - A study in the September/October Annals of Family Medicine indicates there is a relationship between extended office hours in medical practices and lower health care costs. But, study researchers concluded that it is not clear whether the extended hours themselves account for lower medical costs or whether the extended hours are indicative of practices that generally do a good job of controlling expenditures.
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Survival of Safety-Net Hospitals at Risk
September 20, 2012 (Science Daily) - Many public safety-net hospitals are likely to face increasing financial and competitive pressures stemming in part from the recent Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, according to researchers at Penn State and the Harvard School of Public Health.
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Is A Competitive Health Care Model All It’s Cracked Up To Be?
by Julie Appleby and Marilyn Werber Serafini
September 20, 2012 (Kaiser Health News) -
Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan says his proposal to overhaul Medicare would use market competition to tame costs in the government health program relied on by almost 50 million people. As models, he often cites the health program for federal employees – including members of Congress -- and Medicare’s prescription drug program. "It works with federal employees, it works with the prescription drug benefit, and more to the point, it saves Medicare," Ryan said on "Meet the Press" in April.
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Impact of Nursing Shortage on Hospice Care: A New CMS Memo
by Evvie Munley
September 20, 2012 (LeadingAge) - In order to allow hospices affected by the shortage to utilize contracted nursing staff, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued Impact of Nursing Shortage on Hospice Care, a memo that extended from Sept. 30, 2012, to Sept. 30, 2014, the "extraordinary circumstance" exemption for hospice. The move is in response to continued requests from providers that the current nursing shortage be designated as an "extraordinary circumstance."
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Abused Substances Differ in Rural, Urban Areas
September 21, 2012 (Psychiatric News) - Alcohol and nonheroin opiates are the drugs of choice in rural populations presenting for substance abuse treatment in the United States, while heroin and cocaine top the list in urban areas, according to a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) report covers admissions to publicly funded or licensed substance abuse programs, with data reported by states.
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Through the Affordable Care Act, Americans with Medicare will save $5,000 through 2022
September 21, 2012 (HHS News Release) - Because of the health care law – the Affordable Care Act – the average person with traditional Medicare will save $5,000 from 2010 to 2022, according to a report today from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. People with Medicare who have high prescription drug costs will save much more – more than $18,000 – over the same period.
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