Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Health Insurance / Medical Insurance News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/health_insurance/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156252.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156252.php A study in the July 1 issue of the journal SLEEP demonstrates that levels of inflammatory markers varied significantly with self-reported sleep duration in women but not men. The study found that both interleukin-6 (IL-6) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels varied with sleep duration in women following multiple adjustments for a number of confounding factors. Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156312.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156312.php President Barack Obama pitched his health reform proposal Wednesday at a town hall meeting in Annandale, Va., asking the public and Congress to deliver on health care reform. The Associated Press reports that Obama put "a human face" on health care reform by hugging a cancer patient, but gave few new details on his health care reform plans. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156314.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156314.php Democrats on a key Senate committee are readying a plan that has a government-run insurance option and a $750-per-worker annual fee on larger companies that do not offer coverage to its employees, The Associated Press reports. "In a letter outlining the details, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156319.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156319.php While CNN reports that the American Medical Association's new president, J. James Rohack, is open to a government-funded health insurance option, others report that the system the AMA now endorses is not a public plan, but the heavily managed private plan that federal employees participate in. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156313.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156313.php Before taking her job as the White House health reform director, Nancy-Ann DeParle earned more than $6 million serving on the boards of major health care corporations, some of which were accused of fraud, mismanagement and regulatory violations during her tenure, the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University reports on Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156318.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156318.php "As Congress prepares to do battle over health reform, a parallel dispute is shaping up among small-business groups that are staking out opposing positions on a key element of reform proposals: whether Uncle Sam will take on a bigger role in offering insurance coverage or leave the field to the private market," CNN Money reports. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156331.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156331.php The Patients Doctors Don't Know The New York Times All medical students are required to have clinical experiences in pediatrics and obstetrics, even though after they graduate most will never treat a child or deliver a baby. Medical Students / Training Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156317.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156317.php Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the key Senate Finance Committee and advocate for a government-run health insurance plan, said yesterday he would abandon all other possible compromises in favor of immediately creating a public plan that "would operate on 'a level playing field' with private insurers," CongressDaily reports. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156326.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156326.php The percentage of Americans with private health insurance is at its lowest level in 50 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156330.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156330.php Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156281.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156281.php Panel physicians are increasingly offering individual health services (IHS) to patients with statutory health insurance. This is documented by Susanne Richter et al. of the Department of Social Medicine, Lubeck University, in the new edition of Deutsches Arzteblatt (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106(26): 433-9). IHS include medical health services which are not reimbursed by the health insurance funds and which the patient has to pay for himself. Primary Care / General Practice Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156283.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156283.php Mental stress causes carotid artery dilation and increases brain blood flow. A series of ultrasound experiments, described in BioMed Central's open access journal Cardiovascular Ultrasound, also found that this dilatory reflex was absent in people with high blood pressure. Cardiovascular / Cardiology Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156151.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156151.php "In a major break with most other large companies, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Tuesday told the White House that it supports requiring employers to provide health insurance to workers, a centerpiece of President Barack Obama's effort to provide near-universal coverage to Americans," The Wall Street Journal reports. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156157.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156157.php Health care is increasingly expensive, including for the insured, and many insurance plans offer only limited benefits and a false sense of security. The New York Times reports that "an estimated three-quarters of people who are pushed into personal bankruptcy by medical problems actually had insurance when they got sick or were injured. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156150.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156150.php A new poll conducted by CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation released Wednesday says that 51 percent of people favor the president's health reform plan while 45 percent oppose it, CNN reports. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156156.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156156.php Two doctors with over 30 years of experience spoke with National Public Radio about how medicine has changed over their careers, and what they expect to see come out of the current health reform debate. Dr. Greg Darrow, a family physician from New Mexico who favors a single-payer system, said the demands of the business-side of his group practice often interfere with the quality of his care. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156149.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156149.php Three Republican senators took their case against Democrats' health reform to a Texas Medical Center gathering Tuesday, warning that a government insurance option is a "gateway to a single-payer system," The Houston Chronicle reports. Sens. John Cornyn, Texas, John McCain, Ariz. and Mitch McConnell, Ky. met at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156155.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156155.php "Labor unions are showing their increasing displeasure over [health reform] financing proposals that target their healthcare benefits by launching attack ads against key lawmakers, causing the Senate's leading advocate of taxing such benefits to seek an end to one especially aggressive campaign," Congress Daily reports. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156148.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156148.php As the White House declines direct comment on pending health care reform bills in Congress, President Obama is readying his message ahead of his second town hall meeting in as many weeks, Roll Call reports. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156152.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156152.php "As details emerge of the pharmaceutical industry's agreement to kick in $80 billion to help pay for health care reform, the deal is facing increasing skepticism from inside and outside the health care industry," Politico reports. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156158.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156158.php The drug industry began ramping up its lobbying efforts in 2003, when Medicare Part D began, and now is targeting Democrats. CQ Politics reports: "The industry is increasingly employing Democratic lobbyists with ties to the Obama administration and congressional leaders such as Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156054.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156054.php Wal-Mart Stores Inc has stunned other big employers by revealing it had broken ranks to openly support the White House plan to mandate employers to provide health insurance to employees; the central plank of President Barack Obama's proposal to increase coverage to include Americans. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155967.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155967.php NPR interviewed Robert Reich, professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, on the steps President Barack Obama needs to take to successfully reform health care. Recently, Reich sent Obama a memo "outlining six things the president must to do save universal health care. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156026.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156026.php Local laws, insurance reimbursement and public misperceptions impede emergency medical services (EMS) workers from using best resuscitation practices, according to a study reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Cardiovascular / Cardiology Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155966.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155966.php Obama budget chief Peter Orszag sat with Slate.com last week to talk about health reform. In his answers, Orszag talked about personal choices affecting health care costs, the role of MedPAC and the Congressional Budget Office. Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP