[poochee]

New Health Care Advocacy Group Launches With $5 Million In The Bank (EXCLUSIVE)
2012 Election Cycle
Sam Stein
stein@huffingtonpost.com
First Posted: 04/14/11 05:07 PM ET Updated: 04/14/11 05:29 PM ET

WASHINGTON -- The newest health care advocacy campaign already has millions of dollars in the bank. Launched by Democratic lawmakers and reform proponents, the two-part program is meant to frame the debate around the law during the 2012 election cycle.

“Our efforts here are to really to make sure that this is a factual debate and that the facts are out there,” said Doyle. “It is critical that people understand what the benefits of this act are, and I look forward to making sure those facts are known across the country.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0...=Daily%20Brief

[poochee]

Mark Blumenthal
mark@huffingtonpost.com
207Polls Show Opposition To Medicare Cuts, Uncertainty About Ryan Budget
First Posted: 04/15/11 01:44 PM ET Updated: 04/15/11 02:37 PM ET

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_849725.html

[poochee]

Five myths about Planned Parenthood
By Clare Coleman, Friday, April 15, 10:49 AM

I was a Planned Parenthood affiliate chief executive, supervising a network of clinics in Upstate New York, during the early days of this terrible recession. We ran deficits, cut hours, closed centers and laid off staff members. In a recession, things get very difficult — more and more people are in need, while government funds lag and donations dwindle. But still we did not turn patients away, even if they could not pay. At the same time, we had to fight political battles to preserve women’s rights to basic care and information about their sexual health. Those battles continue: Thursday, the House voted to defund Planned Parenthood permanently; the Senate opposed that measure. Amid the debate, let’s address some of the misperceptions about this nearly 100-year-old health-care organization.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...y.html?hpid=z4

[poochee]

New Alzheimer's guidelines target early stages
Disease begins a decade before dementia appears
By Julie Steenhuysen
Reuters
1 hour 39 minutes ago 2011-04-19T14:53:07

CHICAGO — The first new U.S. diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease released in 27 years paint the disorder as a disease that occurs gradually over many years, starting with changes in the brain, then mild memory problems and finally progressing to full-blown dementia.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42653936...imers_disease/

[poochee]

Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Drug czar unveils plan to attack prescription drug abuse
By Halimah Abdullah and Lesley Clark | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled a plan to fight prescription drug abuse, warning that accidental fatal overdoses now exceed the combined deadly overdoses from the crack epidemic of the 1980s and black tar heroin in the 1970s.



http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/04/1...to-attack.html

[Davec]

Originally Posted by poochee

Five myths about Planned Parenthood
By Clare Coleman, Friday, April 15, 10:49 AM

I was a Planned Parenthood affiliate chief executive, supervising a network of clinics in Upstate New York, during the early days of this terrible recession. We ran deficits, cut hours, closed centers and laid off staff members. In a recession, things get very difficult — more and more people are in need, while government funds lag and donations dwindle. But still we did not turn patients away, even if they could not pay. At the same time, we had to fight political battles to preserve women’s rights to basic care and information about their sexual health. Those battles continue: Thursday, the House voted to defund Planned Parenthood permanently; the Senate opposed that measure. Amid the debate, let’s address some of the misperceptions about this nearly 100-year-old health-care organization.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...y.html?hpid=z4

Interesting. Apparently he's never read their mission statement. From Planned Parenthood's 2008 Form 990:


PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC. 13-1644147

STATEMENT
FORM 990, PART III, LINE 1 - ORGANIZATION'S MISSION
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
1
THE PURPOSE OF THE FEDERATION IS:
(A) TO PROVIDE LEADERSHIP:
- IN MAKING EFFECTIVE MEANS OF VOLUNTARY FERTILITY REGULATION,
INCLUDING CONTRACEPTION, ABORTION, STERILIZATION, AND INFERTILITY
SERVICES, AVAILABLE AND FULLY ACCESSIBLE TO ALL AS A CENTRAL ELEMENT
TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE:
- IN ACHIEVING, THROUGH INFORMED INDIVIDUAL CHOICE, A U.S. POPULATION
OF STABLE SIZE IN AN OPTIMUM ENVIRONMENT; - IN STIMULATING AND
SPONSORING RELEVANT BIOMEDICAL, SOCIO-ECONOMIC, AND DEMOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH;
- IN DEVELOPING APPROPRIATE INFORMATION, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING
PROGRAMS.
(B) TO SUPPORT AND ASSIST EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE SIMILAR GOALS IN THE
UNITED STATES AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/fil...Inspection.PDF

[poochee]

Wendell Potter.
Former insurance company executive; author.
Ryan's Medicare Plan Would Be a Windfall for Insurance Companies
Posted: 04/21/11 08:32 AM ET

Rep. Paul Ryan's plan to privatize Medicare would accelerate a trend started several years ago by corporate CEOs and their political allies to shift ever-increasing amounts of risk from Big Business and the government to workers and retirees.

If enacted, the Ryan plan would represent a windfall of unprecedented proportions for insurance corporations and other businesses.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendel..._b_851903.html

[poochee]

Report: US on track to have smoke-free areas in all 50 states by 2020
By Julian Pecquet - 04/21/11 03:58 PM ET

All 50 states could have smoke-free worksites, restaurants and bars by 2020 if current trends continue, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new report.

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch...states-by-2020

[poochee]

Clinton: Supreme Court could rule against healthcare law
By Daniel Strauss - 04/30/11 11:33 AM ET

There's a chance that the Supreme Court could rule the so-called "individual mandate" in the healthcare reform law unconstitutional, but on the whole the bill will stay in tact, former President Bill Clinton said.

"But I think on the whole, the bill will be kept," Clinton continued.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...healthcare-law

[poochee]

Posted on Wednesday, May 4, 2011I
Insurers: Lots of young adults joining parents' health plans
By Phil Galewitz | Kaiser Health News

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of young adults are taking advantage of the 2010 health care law provision that allows people younger than 26 to remain on their parents' health plans, some of the nation's largest insurers are reporting. That pace appears to be faster than the government expected.

WellPoint, the nation's largest publicly traded health insurer, with 34 million customers, said the provision on dependents was responsible for adding 280,000 members. That was about one-third of its total enrollment growth in the first three months of this year.

Aetna, for example, added fewer than 100,000; Kaiser Permanente, about 90,000; Highmark Inc., about 72,000; Health Care Service Corp., about 82,000; Blue Shield of California, about 22,000; and United Healthcare, about 13,000.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/0...k=omni_popular

[poochee]

Health Insurers Making Record Profits as Many Postpone Care
By REED ABELSON
Published: May 13, 2011

The UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest commercial insurers, told analysts that so far this year, insured hospital stays actually decreased in some instances. In reporting its earnings last week, Cigna, another insurer, talked about the “low level” of medical use.

Yet the companies continue to press for higher premiums, even though their reserve coffers are flush with profits and shareholders have been rewarded with new dividends. Many defend proposed double-digit increases in the rates they charge, citing a need for protection against any sudden uptick in demand once people have more money to spend on their health, as well as the rising price of care.

Even with a halting economic recovery, doctors and others say many people are still extremely budget-conscious, signaling the possibility of a fundamental change in Americans’ appetite for health care.

“I am noticing my patients with insurance are more interested in costs,” said Dr. Jim King, a family practice physician in rural Tennessee. “Gas prices are going up, food prices are going up. They are deciding to put some of their health care off.” A patient might decide not to drive the 50 miles necessary to see a specialist because of the cost of gas, he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/14/bu...alth.html?_r=2

[eggplant43]

Any discussion of waiting times must begin with the observation that France, Germany, Switzerland and many other developed nations manage to combine universal access to care with rapid access to care. It’s an unfortunate quirk of international health-care policy that Canada and England, the two countries that do struggle with waiting times, happen to be the two nearby, English-speaking countries in the sample, and so our impressions of government-run health-care systems are disproportionately influenced by their experiences.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...rss=ezra-klein

[poochee]

Rocky Clark, Paralyzed Athlete, Fights To Survive With No Health Insurance
A long sad story.
By SHARON COHEN 05/14/11 10:02 AM ET AP

ROBBINS, Ill. -- Rocky Clark sometimes dreams he's running track, racing around the oval as he once did, his heart pumping fast and his long legs a blur as he crossed the finish line.

Just thinking about it makes him smile.

Some nights, though, he has another recurring dream, this one pure fantasy. He sees himself in white shorts and track shoes, running again, then stopping, kneeling in prayer before a church door, somehow unable to make it inside.

When he awakens, Rocky Clark inhabits a world largely confined to four walls. Surrounding him are glass-encased autographed footballs and cherished memories of his glory days: Blue-and-gold ribbons. Trophies. And giant varsity letters from Eisenhower High School, his alma mater.

Clark can do little but swivel his head. He can't move his arms or legs. More than a decade ago, he was paralyzed from the neck down after being tackled in a high school football game. After nine months in rehab and a hospital bill approaching $1 million, he went home.

As a quadriplegic, his long-term prospects were slim. And over the years, there have been regular hospital stays and health scares – no surprise, considering Clark's fragile condition. He has just one working lung. His right lung is partially paralyzed; certain infections could kill him.

And yet Clark has endured. His doctor credits top-notch, round-the-clock home health care paid for by the school district's $5 million catastrophic health insurance policy. But that's run out, so the nurses and money are gone, replaced by his mother, growing financial pressures and a new sense of foreboding.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_861996.html

[poochee]

Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2011
Health insurers' rate increases to be scrutinized more closely
By Julie Appleby | Kaiser Health News

WASHINGTON — Health insurers seeking rate increases of 10 percent or more will face increased scrutiny starting in September under rules the Obama administration finalized Thursday.

States — or in some cases the federal government — will review the premium increases and insurers will have to justify increases deemed unreasonable. The law doesn't give the federal government the power to reject increases, but many state regulators have it.

"Recently, insurers have posted some of their highest profits in years ... and (yet) they continue to raise rates, often without any explanation or justification," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a conference call. "The framework of the Affordable Care Act is beginning to change this."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/1...increases.html

[lotuseclat79]

Why America’s Healthcare is Broken [Infographic].



-- Tom