Milliman Survey Indicates Lower Health Insurance Rate Increases

Thursday 31 July 2008 at 2:27 pm SEATTLE, July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Preliminary results from Milliman's 2008 Group Health Insurance Survey indicate premium rate increases continue to exceed the government's official rate of inflation but are lower than premium increases in recent years. The 2009 estimated January renewal increases of 8.5% for Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and 9.4% for Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) continue a trend toward lower increases since peaking at 16.1% in 2002. This marks the sixteenth year that Milliman has conducted the survey.

The Milliman survey is unique in that it asks HMOs and PPOs to respond regarding a given set of benefits and demographics. The survey removes three important factors that can skew the results of other health cost surveys: differences in benefit design, cost sharing levels and member demographics. (more)

Court ruled against injunction to stop a 10 percent medical-cuts of doctor's fees

Thursday 31 July 2008 at 2:15 pm Court won't halt Medi-Cal cuts
Injunction to stop 10% reduction in fees to providers denied by state judge
By Victoria Colliver - San Francisco Chronicle

While acknowledging cuts to the state's Medi-Cal program will make it harder for the poor to get care, a state court refused to stop a 10 percent reduction in the program's fees to doctors, dentists and other health care professionals that went into effect July 1.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge late Tuesday ruled against a preliminary injunction sought by a group of health care providers to halt the fee cuts. (more)

Utah's underused health insurance programs could hurt the people it purports to help

Wednesday 30 July 2008 at 12:33 pm Low-income advocates: Revamping health plan a painful move
By Lisa Rosetta - The Salt Lake Tribune

Retooling one of Utah's underused health insurance programs could hurt the people it purports to help, low income advocates argued at a public hearing Tuesday.

The Utah Department of Health is seeking a federal waiver that would allow it to make significant changes to Utah's Premium Partnership for Health Insurance - UPP. (more)

Senators Grassley & Dingell call for overhauling FDA giving it broad powers to levy fines

Wednesday 30 July 2008 at 12:22 pm Grassley, Dingell Lead Calls For Overhauling FDA
By ALICIA MUNDY

WASHINGTON -- Powerful members of Congress want to remake the Food and Drug Administration by giving it broad powers to levy fines, order drug recalls and restrict drug-industry advertising.

Leading the drive are Rep. John Dingell (D., Mich.) and his longtime friend in Congress, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa). A series of crises during the past year, including deaths linked to tainted Chinese-made blood thinners and cases of salmonella linked to jalapeño peppers, have given ammunition to the lawmakers, both longtime critics of the FDA. (more)

Health care reform is becoming a political priority

Tuesday 29 July 2008 at 11:57 am The Implications of Health-Care Reform
The U.S. health-care system faces many problems, which are widely publicized: the stress of an aging population and rising costs, tremendous inefficiencies, and imperfect quality
By Wendy Diller - BusinessWeek

With the U.S. presidential election coming this November, health care reform is becoming a political priority in a way it hasn't since the Clinton Administration in the early 1990s. What are the implications for health care companies payers, providers, and manufacturers? While it's too early to say for sure, most of the solutions presented so far share underlying principles that we think enable realistic discussion. (more)

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Western New York announced that it would begin offering spousal health insurance benefits to same-sex couples that have been legally married

Tuesday 29 July 2008 at 11:52 am Insurance Company to Offer Same-Sex Health Benefits
By John Borsa - WKBS.COM

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Western New York announced on Monday that it would immediately begin offering spousal health insurance benefits to same-sex couples that have been legally married.

The change in policy comes three weeks after the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Buffalo-based health insurance carrier on behalf of a Cheektowaga Central School District employee and her same-sex spouse. (more)

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) has signed a bill giving uninsured Floridians more choice of affordable health insurance plans

Monday 28 July 2008 at 12:23 pm Florida Now Allowing More Health Insurance Choice

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) has signed a bill allowing uninsured Floridians to purchase affordable health insurance plans largely free of expensive, superfluous mandated health insurance coverages.

Experts are lauding the new legislation, the Cover Florida Health Access Act, as a positive step toward affordable health insurance and a model program for other states. (more)

Aetna begun selling new Aetna BodyGuard Plans to individuals

Monday 28 July 2008 at 12:16 pm For Your Protection: Aetna Introduces BodyGuard Plans for Young Adults Because 'Stuff Happens'
-- New Plans Give Individuals More Affordable Options That Provide Health and Financial Security --

HARTFORD, Conn., Jul 28, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- According to the latest U.S. Census report on health insurance,(1) young adults are by far the most likely age group to be uninsured. More than 8 million individuals (29 percent) between the ages of 18 and 24 fall into this category, as do nearly 11 million individuals (27 percent) between 25 and 34.
Unfortunately, too often 'stuff happens' to people in this age group, and they face huge financial liabilities from unexpected health events like accidents, illnesses or diseases. (more)

Can Massachusetts Mandatory Health Insurance survive the rising cost of health care?

Friday 25 July 2008 at 12:07 pm Massachusetts Touts Success of Mandatory Health Insurance as Critics Decry Costs
By Molly Line - Fox News

BOSTON — When then-governor Mitt Romney signed a landmark law in 2006 mandating health coverage for all Massachusetts citizens, it was viewed as a potential model nationwide. But even as the state touts its program's success, critics are clamoring over its enormous cost.

Roughly 350,000 previously uninsured people obeyed the mandate, signing up for some form of health coverage to avoid a tax penalty threatened in the legislation. (more)

Medicare Part D pays more than other government programs for the same medicines, per House Committee report

Friday 25 July 2008 at 11:50 am Medicare Part D a boon for drug companies, House report says
Taxpayers pay up to 30% more for prescriptions under the privately administered program than under Medicaid, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform finds.
By Nicole Gaouette, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- U.S. drug manufacturers are reaping a windfall from taxpayers because Medicare's privately administered prescription drug benefit program pays more than other government programs for the same medicines, a House committee charged in a report Thursday. (more)

Experimental cancer drug shrank prostate tumors dramatically, study finds

Thursday 24 July 2008 at 12:57 pm Cancer drug dramatically shrinks prostate tumors, study finds
The survival rate more than doubles among most of the men with aggressive cancers. A second, wider test shows similar results. 'Spectacularly effective,' a researcher says.
By Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

An experimental cancer drug shrank prostate tumors dramatically and more than doubled survival in 70% to 80% of patients with aggressive cancers, British researchers reported Tuesday.

Although the study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology covered only 21 patients, the drug is now being tested in more than 250 men with what appears to be similar results, experts said. (more)

U.S. House Small Business Committee introduced a bill that would allow small businesses to form cooperatives to purchase health insurance

Thursday 24 July 2008 at 12:50 pm Small businesses could gain insurance options
BY ANDI ATWATER - The Wichita Eagle

The U.S. House Small Business Committee on Wednesday introduced what it calls a landmark bill that would allow small businesses to form cooperatives to purchase health insurance.

Called the Small Business Cooperative for Healthcare Options to Improve Coverage for Employees Act of 2008, the bill helps small businesses offer health insurance to employees through health insurance pools and a refundable tax credit of 65 percent. (more)

Both Presidential Candidates Pursue Proactive and Preventive Approach to Health Care

Wednesday 23 July 2008 at 11:49 am America’s Future: Candidates Pursue Proactive and Preventive Approach to Health Care
by James Rosen - FOXNews.com

Though neither candidate is a physician, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama each present strikingly similar diagnoses of the ailing American health care system: Some 47 million Americans lack health insurance at any given time; the system is too reactive, instead of proactive; and the average American’s insurance premiums are too high.

But how each candidate would address these systemic problems as the nation’s next president offers one of their sharpest philosophical clashes. (more)

Senate to reauthorize a federal program for community health centers

Wednesday 23 July 2008 at 11:40 am Senate passes bill to help community health centers

The Senate on Monday passed a bill by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., to reauthorize a federal program for community health centers to help low-income people.
"These centers provide affordable and quality care to at-risk Americans who otherwise might have to do without," Hatch said. (more)

West Virginia State Run Rx Program is Growoing

Tuesday 22 July 2008 at 7:15 pm State-run prescription program growing
In the three months since it filled its first prescription, the state-managed central-fill pharmacy is on pace to enroll 10,000 patients in its first year - patients who otherwise could not afford their prescriptions, according to the program's director.
By Phil Kabler

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- In the three months since it filled its first prescription, the state-managed central-fill pharmacy is on pace to enroll 10,000 patients in its first year - patients who otherwise could not afford their prescriptions, according to the program's director. (more)

Electronic Prescribing is Expected to save U.S. Taxpayers About $156 Million Over the Next Five Years and Save Lives

Tuesday 22 July 2008 at 6:46 pm Health officials back move away from handwritten doctors' prescriptions
By KEVIN FREKING | Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Those hard-to-read scribbled prescriptions from doctors could soon become a rarity. Beginning Jan. 1, the federal government will boost Medicare's payments to doctors that send prescriptions electronically to a pharmacy rather than writing them out on paper and handing them to the patient.

The widespread adoption of electronic prescribing is expected to save taxpayers as much as $156 million over the next five years and save lives, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said Monday. (more)

Save Money on Health Care by Eliminating the Middle Man?

Monday 21 July 2008 at 1:43 pm Abolishing the Middlemen Won’t Make Health Care a Free Lunch
By TYLER COWEN - The New York Times

Proponents of single-payer national health insurance note that private health insurance has overhead costs of 10 to 25 percent of expenditures. Medicare, by contrast, has overhead costs of about 2 to 3 percent, and socialized European health care systems generally have low overhead costs as well. That is why single-payer supporters claim that we can save money by substituting government for private insurance. But this would shift overhead costs, not reduce them.

The monitoring, marketing and overhead costs of private insurance are what allow more expensive medical treatments through the door. It is precisely because competing insurance companies spend money evaluating the appropriateness of claims that they are willing to pay for so many heart bypasses, extra tests, private hospital rooms and CT scans. (more)

Save on health care costs by paying doctors more?

Monday 21 July 2008 at 1:11 pm Trying to Save by Increasing Doctors’ Fees
By MILT FREUDENHEIM

Cutting health costs by paying doctors more?

That is the premise of experiments under way by federal and state government agencies and many insurers around the country. The idea is that by paying family physicians, internists and pediatricians to devote more time and attention to their patients, insurers and patients can save thousands of dollars downstream on unnecessary tests, visits to expensive specialists and avoidable trips to the hospital. (more)

Report Finds Disease Prevention Saves Millions for States

Friday 18 July 2008 at 12:41 pm Disease Prevention Called a Better Bet
Wellness Programs Yield Greater Returns, Report Finds
By Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Staff Writer

An ounce of prevention in community health programs could save states hundreds of millions in health-care costs, a new study has found.

The report from the Trust for America's Health, a nonprofit health advocacy group, found that programs encouraging physical activity, healthy eating and no smoking were a better investment than those concentrating primarily on treatment. (more)

A Congressional Committee Will Investigate Health Insurers' Practice of Illigal Policy Rescissions

Friday 18 July 2008 at 12:36 pm Congressional committee will probe health insurers that cancel sick members' coverage
By Lisa Girion, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

A congressional committee will investigate health insurers' practice of canceling coverage when policyholders get sick, its chairman said Thursday.

The problem first came to light in California, but witnesses testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee suggested that it was more widespread.

The problem affects the individual insurance market, in which 14 million Americans, including nearly 3 million Californians, purchase medical benefits on their own. (more)

Los Angeles City Attorney Sues Blue Shield of California for illegally rescinding Health Insurance Coverage

Thursday 17 July 2008 at 1:25 pm L.A. city attorney's suit contends Blue Shield of California has illegally rescinded the coverage of more than 850 policyholders since 2002.
By Lisa Girion, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

When Blue Shield of California learned that Ana Maria Simoes needed emergency surgery to remove her gall bladder, the company OKd the operation but also turned the case over to its investigative unit, according to corporate records disclosed Wednesday.

A Blue Shield investigator scrutinized Ana Maria's medical records and compared them to the application she filled out for coverage, the investigator's notes show. Ultimately, the investigator scribbled "unable to prove" in her notes, and then opened an investigation into Ana Maria's husband, Augustine. (more)

United States spends more than twice as much on each person for health care as most other industrialized countries

Thursday 17 July 2008 at 1:03 pm While the U.S. Spends Heavily on Health Care, a Study Faults the Quality
By REED ABELSON - The New York Times

American medical care may be the most expensive in the world, but that does not mean it is worth every penny. A study to be released Thursday highlights the stark contrast between what the United States spends on its health system and the quality of care it delivers, especially when compared with many other industrialized nations. (more)

The measure to Toughen the State's Power to Fine Insurers for Failing to Pay Medical Bills Goes to Gov. Schwarzenegger

Wednesday 16 July 2008 at 12:29 pm Bill would toughen state regulators' hand with insurers over doctors' pay
The measure now goes to Gov. Schwarzenegger, who is under pressure by HMOs to veto it.
By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

SACRAMENTO -- California doctors won a victory against health insurers in Sacramento on Monday when the Assembly approved a bill to toughen the state's power to fine insurers for failing to pay medical bills.

But the measure now goes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is coming under pressure from HMOs and his own regulators to issue a veto. (more)

Congress Overides President's Veto of Medicare Bill

Wednesday 16 July 2008 at 12:19 pm Congress Easily Overrides Medicare Veto
By Michael Abramowitz and Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writers

President Bush sought to block a bill yesterday aimed at forestalling an 11 percent cut in payments to doctors taking care of Medicare patients, but Congress quickly overrode his veto.

The House voted 383 to 41 to override the veto, while the Senate voted 70 to 26, in both cases far more than the two-thirds necessary to block the president's action. (more)

Buying Private Health Insurance - Per Fox Business

Tuesday 15 July 2008 at 2:04 pm Think shopping home and auto policies is fun? Try buying your own health insurance.

As companies cut corners and more entrepreneurs strike out on their own, the individual health insurance market is growing.

"There's been a precipitous drop in the number of businesses offering coverage," says Sam Gibbs, senior vice president of eHealthInsurance.com, an online insurance broker. (To compare insurance policies and quotes, visit Insureme.com, a Bankrate company.)

These days, the same people who traded company pension plans for self-managed 401(k)s are being asked to take on one more chore that used to be handled by human resources: shopping, selecting and purchasing health coverage. And it can be daunting. Check out some of our readers' experiences. (more)

Cases of Abuse by Home Aids Providers Calls for Regulation - Per Wall Street Journal Report

Tuesday 15 July 2008 at 1:59 pm Cases of Abuse By Home Aides Draw Scrutiny
Thefts, Neglect, Even Killings Underscore Lack of Regulation; Addicts, Criminals on Payroll
By PHILIP SHISHKIN

In late 2006, 85-year-old Priscilla Stovall, a bedridden survivor of three heart attacks, was killed in her Clovis, Calif., home. Her killer: the aide hired to help her around the house.

Earlier this year, Kelly Jones was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison for the death of Ms. Stovall. The state says Ms. Jones, who had a prior criminal record, was on drugs when she gave Ms. Stovall a lethal overdose of morphine and methadone and ransacked her house. (more)

Health Insurance Life Time Limits that seemed large quickly max out as health care costs soar

Monday 14 July 2008 at 2:31 pm Low health insurance caps leave patients stranded
By TOM MURPHY - ASSOCIATE PRESS

Mary Wusterbarth thought her toddler was struggling with an ear infection when she seemed sluggish. Instead, a virus had attacked the little girl's heart, damaging it beyond repair. Brea needed a transplant.

Within three weeks of a 2007 doctor visit, the 20-month-old had exhausted the $1 million lifetime maximum on her health insurance. Her parents have scrambled ever since for ways to cover thousands of dollars in monthly medical costs. (more)

Obama Proposes Tax Breaks for Small Businesses that Offer Health Insurance to Their Employees

Monday 14 July 2008 at 2:14 pm Obama Borrows Page From Clinton
By JEFF ZELENY

SAN DIEGO — Senator Barack Obama on Sunday proposed offering tax breaks to small businesses as an incentive to provide health care to their employees, borrowing an idea from a former rival in the Democratic presidential race.

"I'm announcing my plan to provide real relief for small business owners crushed by rising costs, an idea championed by my friend Hillary Clinton, who's been leading the way in our battle to insure every American," Mr. Obama told the National Council of La Raza, a Latino group, at their annual conference here. (more)

White House Renewes Veto Threats to Medicare Bill That Would Avert Fee Cuts to Doctors

Friday 11 July 2008 at 11:46 am White House vows veto of Medicare bill
The legislation, passed this week in the Senate, would avert fee cuts to doctors who treat patients under the federal program.
By Nicole Gaouette, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- The White House on Thursday renewed a vow to veto popular legislation that would avert imminent fee cuts to doctors who treat patients under the federal Medicare program.

The threat came even as Democratic leaders confidently predicted that enough Republicans would side with them to ensure that the bill, which affects 44 million seniors and an additional 9 million military personnel, will become law. (more)

States looking for ways to help small business offer health benefits, per New York Times report

Thursday 10 July 2008 at 1:57 pm Small Business Is Latest Focus in Health Fight
By REED ABELSON

As the number of people without health insurance continues to rise, many states and Congress have begun to focus on one of the biggest causes: the growing number of small business owners and their workers who are unable to afford coverage.

The states are taking a variety of approaches. To help ease the burden of insurance premiums that have roughly doubled since 2000, some, like Arizona, are extending tax credits to small employers that provide medical coverage. (more)

Sen. Kennedy helps to pass Medicare bill that would halt Medicare physician payment cut

Thursday 10 July 2008 at 1:36 pm With Nudge By Kennedy, Medicare Bill Passes
By Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writer

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) made a dramatic return to the Capitol yesterday to help the Senate pass legislation that would rescind a sharp cut in Medicare payments to physicians.

Kennedy, who underwent surgery June 2 to remove a life-threatening brain tumor, appeared on the Senate floor at 4:15 p.m., the first time in more than seven weeks. He brought the chamber's proceedings to a halt and prompted a standing ovation that lasted several minutes. (more)

Medicare paid as much as $92 million to Medical Suppliers since 2000 prescribed by Dead Physicians, per Washington Post report

Wednesday 09 July 2008 at 2:21 pm Billings Used Dead Doctors' Names
By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer

Medicare has paid as much as $92 million since 2000 to medical suppliers who billed the government for wheelchairs and other home equipment purportedly prescribed by physicians who, according to records, were dead at the time, congressional investigators said yesterday.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) honored about 500,000 such claims despite pledging six years ago to correct the problem, which was identified by the Health and Human Services Department's inspector general in 2001. (more)

McCain' Plan to help state's high-risk health insurance pools can be costly, per New York Times report

Wednesday 09 July 2008 at 2:13 pm McCain Plan to Aid States on Health Could Be Costly
By KEVIN SACK - The New York Times

PIKESVILLE, Md. - If Senator John McCain's radical plan for remaking American health care is to work, he will have to find a way to cover people like Chaim Benamor, 52, a self-employed renovator in this Baltimore suburb. Mr. Benamor never found it necessary to buy insurance before having a mild heart attack last year and now, 13 years shy of Medicare, has little hope of doing so.

The heart attack left Mr. Benamor with a $17,000 hospital bill, $400 in monthly prescription costs and a desperate need for insurance. After being rejected by a number of commercial carriers, he turned to the Maryland Health Insurance Plan, one of 35 state programs for high-risk applicants whom no private company is willing to insure. (more)

WellPoint agreed to pay $11.8 million to settle claims from about 480 California hospitals

Tuesday 08 July 2008 at 12:01 pm WellPoint settles with California hospitals over rescissions
Facilities sought payment, they say, for providing care to patients whose policies were later terminated.
By Lisa Girion, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Anthem Blue Cross parent WellPoint Inc. agreed Monday to pay $11.8 million to settle claims from about 480 California hospitals that it failed to cover the bills of patients it dropped after they were treated -- a controversial practice known as rescission.

The hospitals sued after scores of their patients contended in their own lawsuits that Blue Cross had illegally dropped them. (more)

McCain pledges as President he would balnce the budget by 2013 in part by Overhauling Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security

Tuesday 08 July 2008 at 11:56 am McCain Says He Would Balance Budget by 2013

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer

Sen. John McCain pledged yesterday that he would balance the federal budget by 2013, the end of what would be his first term in office, returning to a promise he had strayed from as he sought to emphasize his concern about the plight of the U.S. economy. (more)

health insurance is not top priority for many young Americans

Monday 07 July 2008 at 2:10 pm Many young adults forgo health insurance, hope for best
Haley Shaffer hopes to pin down a job with good benefits when she graduates from West Virginia State University in a couple of years.
By Davin White

Haley Shaffer hopes to pin down a job with good benefits when she graduates from West Virginia State University in a couple of years.

But if she faces some lag time between graduation and her new job, Shaffer says she probably won't pay for short-term health insurance.

"I would probably chance it because when you get out of college and you don't have a job, expenses are really tight," she said. "You just hope you don't get sick." (more)

McCain proposes Indidividual and Family Health Insurance Tax Credits

Monday 07 July 2008 at 2:03 pm Would McCain plan hurt employer health coverage?
Analysts doubt it would 'shred' system, but predict healthier people would drop out

By KEVIN FREKING and NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — There's a great unknown about Sen. John McCain's health plan: How many employers would drop insurance coverage for their workers because of his tax policies? (more)

Massachusetts increases cigarete Tax by $1 per pack to fund state's landmark health care law

Thursday 03 July 2008 at 12:10 pm Mass. cigarette tax jumps $1 per pack
By Steve Leblanc
Associated Press Writer

BOSTON—The tax on a pack of cigarettes in Massachusetts will jump by a dollar under a bill signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick.

The tax, one of the highest in the nation, goes into effect immediately.

Patrick signed the bill Tuesday, a day after House and Senate lawmakers rushed to approve the bill by the start of the new fiscal year. (more)

UnitedHealth Group Inc. agreed to settle options suits

Thursday 03 July 2008 at 12:04 pm From Chicago Tribune news services

UnitedHealth Group Inc. agreed to the biggest settlement of lawsuits involving backdated stock options and said it would trim 4,000 jobs, about 5 percent of its workforce, as part of a restructuring.

The large U.S. health insurer said Wednesday that it would pay about $900 million to end two class-action cases over grants of stock options to executives.

The Minnetonka, Minn.-based company last year restated earnings dating to 1994 because of a backdating probe that cost former Chief Executive William McGuire his job in 2006. (more)

Let's Not Hide Health Costs

Wednesday 02 July 2008 at 1:51 pm By Robert J. Samuelson | Newsweek Web Exclusive

We are awash in health-care proposals. President Bush has one. So does California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden has a plan, as does a coalition led by Families USA (a liberal advocacy group) and America's Health Insurance Plans (a trade group). To some extent, all these plans and others aim to provide insurance to the estimated 47 million Americans who lack it--a situation widely deplored as a national disgrace. But the real significance of all these proposals, I submit, lies elsewhere.

For decades, Americans have treated health care as if it exists in a separate economic and political world: when people need care, they should get it; costs should remain out of sight. About 60 percent of Americans receive insurance through their employers; to most workers, the full costs are unknown. The 65-and-older population and many poor people receive government insurance. Except for modest Medicare premiums and payroll taxes, costs are largely buried in federal and state budgets. (more)

Senator Edward Kennedy working towards bypartisan support for Universal Health care plan

Wednesday 02 July 2008 at 1:33 pm Kennedy leads renewed effort on universal healthcare
Presses for bipartisan support before new president takes office
By Lisa Wangsness - The Boston Globe

Senator Edward M. Kennedy's office has begun convening a series of meetings involving a wide array of healthcare specialists to begin laying the groundwork for a new attempt to provide universal healthcare, according to participants.

The discussions signal that Kennedy, who instructed aides to begin holding the meetings while he is in Massachusetts undergoing treatment for brain cancer, intends to work vigorously to build bipartisan support for a major healthcare initiative when he returns to Washington in the fall. (more)

Link between cellphone use and cancer?

Tuesday 01 July 2008 at 3:19 pm Cancer risk from cellphone use is still a matter for study
Eric Boyd, Los Angeles Times
RISKY? It's open to debate.
By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIANS who use hands-free cellular devices while driving may be doing themselves a favor in the long run.

That's because scientists still can't say with certainty that placing a cellphone against the head is completely safe, especially for heavy users and people who began using the devices as children. They point to lingering questions over the potential health effects from the energy emitted by the phones, specifically the long-debated risk of developing brain cancer. (more)

Connecticut Launches Health Plan For Uninsured

Tuesday 01 July 2008 at 2:50 pm By ANN MARIE SOMMA | Courant Staff Writer

ROCKY HILL — - Andrea Bryant, a 57-year old waitress from Manchester, became the first person in the state to apply for Connecticut's new, affordable health care plan.

Bryant filled out an application Monday morning for coverage under the Charter Oak Health Plan at the Town Line Diner, where state officials had gathered to launch the plan. It is open to those who don't qualify for existing state programs and aren't insured through an employer. Individual premiums will range from $75 a month to as high as $259 a month. (more)