NewsRack: flenvcenter/Environmental-Health_Regional/Policy

Health care profiteers - Salt Lake Tribune

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Published May 23, 2013 01:01AM MDT In “The limits of Medicaid” (Opinion, May 11), M. Royce Van Tassel criticizes Obamacare (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) for not improving health, though he agrees that it “nearly eliminated catastrophic out of pocket medical expenditures.” But this is a precise description of what an effective health insurance plan should do. Some people believe the propaganda of insurance companies that they make us healthier, but this is nonsense. They provide zero value to health (as the stu... ...

Technical problems plague launch of Colorado health insurance website - Denver Post: News: Local

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Technical problems plague launch of Colorado health insurance website

Some Republicans see new scandal in Sebelius fundraising - Denver Post: All Political News

By David Morgan, Reuters — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With the White House already reeling from three major controversies, some Republican lawmakers are zeroing in on what they perceive is another possible scandal tied to

Obamacare, Part 2 - Salt Lake Tribune

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

by Xxxxxx The Salt Lake Tribune Published May 21, 2013 01:01AM MDT The following editorial appeared in Monday’s Washington Post: Thought you had seen the last of the fighting over the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare? Since its passage in 2010, after all, it has survived Supreme Court review, innumerable challenges from House Republicans and Mitt Romney’s unsuccessful campaign to evict its author from the White House. Nonetheless, with the heart of the reform set to take effect next year, its most contentious days may lie ahead. The law will affect... ...

Vermont passes law allowing doctor-assisted suicide - Denver Post: National News Headlines

By Jason McLure, Reuters — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Vermont on Monday became the fourth U.S. state to end legal penalties for doctors who prescribe medication to terminally ill patients seeking to end their own lives.

Needing Medicaid - Salt Lake Tribune

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Published May 19, 2013 05:27PM MDT Medicaid provides health care for families and individuals with low income and resources. Many across the country wouldn’t otherwise have health care. Yet some say they don’t want to pay for others’ health care because people are too lazy to pay for it themselves. But Medicaid actually goes to those who really need it. When he was a year old, my little brother was adopted by my parents through Utah Foster Care. He came with many drug-related problems due to his birth mother’s addiction. In his ... ...

GOP hopes IRS scandal will snag health care law - Salt Lake Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

by Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar The Associated Press Published May 18, 2013 10:59AM MDT Washington • Political scandals have strange ways of causing collateral damage, and Republicans are hoping the furor over federal tax enforcers singling out conservative groups will ensnare their biggest target: President Barack Obama’s health care law. There is a link, but it may only be coincidence. No one appears to have connected the dots factually, and it’s unclear whether they will. The Internal Revenue Service has a major role in carrying out the health care law, because financial assista... ...

Medicaid nonsense - Salt Lake Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Published May 18, 2013 01:01AM MDT M. Royce Van Tassell’s op-ed, “Medicaid access doesn’t improve health” (Opinion, May 12), makes no sense at all. If that title were the case, why does anyone need insurance, including Van Tassell? He cites studies that say people without health insurance don’t have worse health than those who do. Does a person who has diabetes and doesn’t know it have the same health as a person with insurance who goes to the doctor, discovers the diabetes and sets up a treatment plan? I am 80 years old and hav... ...

GOP hopes IRS scandal will snag health care law - Denver Post: National News Headlines

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON—Political scandals have strange ways of causing collateral damage, and Republicans are hoping the furor over federal tax enforcers singling out conservative groups will ensnare their biggest target: President Barack Obama's health care law.

Hilman headed to new health insurance cooperative - Salt Lake Tribune

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

the Salt Lake Tribune Published May 17, 2013 03:44PM MDT Longtime health care policy advocate Judi Hilman will leave her post as director of the Utah Health Policy Project in July to join a new nonprofit health insurance cooperative. Hilman helped found UHPP nearly eight years ago. Her departure was announced Friday. She is planning to move to Arches Health Plan to serve as vice president of consumer engagement and strategic partnerships. Arches is Utah’s first health insurance cooperative formed under the federal Affordable Care Act. Hilman will r... ...

Theater attack prompts new Colo. mental-health law - Durango Herald

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

DENVER x2013 Days after a gunman entered a suburban Denver movie theater, killing 12 moviegoers and injuring 70 others, Gov. John Hickenlooper and Colorado health officials began talking about revamping a state mental-health system that had been devastated by budget cuts.On Thursday, the Democratic governor signed into law an...

Hatch calls for probe of Obamacare funding - Salt Lake Tribune

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

by Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune Published May 16, 2013 03:16PM MDT Washington • Congressional Republicans claim Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is trying to skirt federal law by fundraising for a non-profit promoting the Affordable Care Act. They argue the move is a way to bypass the financial restrictions that Congress has imposed on the agency and they want the Government Accountability Office to investigate, according to a letter sent Thursday signed by five top Republicans, including Sen. Orrin Hatch, the ranking member of the Senate F... ...

Only abortion clinic in Miss. fights to stay open - Denver Post: National News Headlines

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

JACKSON, Miss.—It can't meet the mandates of a 2012 state law and the governor wants to shut it down, but Mississippi's only abortion clinic is not about to quietly retreat.

AP Exclusive: Health reforms penalize some Indians - Denver Post: National News Headlines

By GARANCE BURKE Associated Press — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO—When Liz DeRouen needs any kind of health care services, from diabetes counseling to a dental cleaning, she checks into a government-funded clinic in Northern California's wine country that covers all her medical needs.

Misleading on Medicaid - Salt Lake Tribune

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Published May 14, 2013 01:01AM MDT If one can define the terms of the debate, one probably will win. This observation came to mind when I read M. Royce Van Tassell’s “Medicaid access doesn’t improve health” (Opinion, May 12), ironically, on Mother’s Day. He claimed that a study comparing Medicaid-covered individuals versus uninsured individuals showed no difference in overall health. He asserted that Medicaid-covered people are leaching off the poor taxpayer. Van Tassell failed to mention the cost of expensive emergency room c... ...

Facility fees inflate hospital prices for common services - Headlines: All Headlines

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The first time Jeff Shellan got a cardiac stress test for his troubled heart, the retail price was $2,166. His insurance company agreed to a discounted price of $885, of which Shellan paid $364. When his doctor suggested a retest a year later, the charge was $8,078, the discounted rate was $3,755, and Shellan's share was $968.

Utah Indian tribe breaks into the health care business - Salt Lake Tribune

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

by Kirsten Stewart The Salt Lake Tribune Published May 13, 2013 09:53AM MDT A group of doctors is working with the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute to open a family health clinic in downtown Salt Lake City. Sacred Circle Health Care will be the first tribe-owned clinic located outside a reservation in Utah, say its founders. But that’s not all that sets it apart. The clinic is designed to be a moneymaker for the tribe — with the profits used to improve tribal members’ access to health care no matter where they reside. “Any money made by the Goshutes has to go to healt... ...

Medicare drug program lacks oversight; seniors, disabled at risk - Denver Post: National News Headlines

By Tracy Weber, Charles Ornstein and Jennifer LaFleur, ProPublica — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Ten years ago, a sharply divided Congress decided to pour billions of dollars into subsidizing the purchase of drugs by elderly and disabled Americans.

Health charges - Durango Herald

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

While the Affordable Health Care Act that will begin to be implemented at the beginning of 2014 is producing plenty of criticism about what is known and unknown about its mandated insurance coverage, a topic that is certain to loom large soon after has been with this country for decades wildly disparate hospital charges with no transparency or...

The limits of Medicaid - Salt Lake Tribune

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

by M. Royce Van Tassell Published May 11, 2013 01:01AM MDT By m. royce van tassell In promoting Obamacare to Congress and the American public, President Barack Obama and other backers of universal insurance coverage frequently said that people lacking health insurance have worse health than those who have health insurance. As it turns out, the first meaningful study of that claim says there’s little difference. The New England Journal of Medicine has published a study by a group of Harvard and MIT researchers evaluating the physical and mental healt... ...

Obama steps up push to promote health care overhaul - Denver Post: All Political News

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday stepped up the sales pitch on his health care overhaul as the final elements of his top domestic achievement go into effect.

Obama declares health care law ‘is here to stay’ - Salt Lake Tribune

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

the Associated Press Published May 10, 2013 10:35PM MDT Washington • Caught between nervous Democrats and emboldened Republicans, President Barack Obama on Friday stepped up the sales pitch on his health care overhaul as the final elements of his top domestic achievement go into effect. With his legacy and the law’s success at stake, Obama said: “The law is here to stay.” Behind the scenes, the White House readied a campaign-style effort to get healthy young people to sign up for the insurance “exchanges” in order to keep premium costs from skyrocke... ...

Pretend insurance - Salt Lake Tribune

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Published May 10, 2013 05:17PM MDT For Mother’s Day weekend, a maternal analogy for an important policy question: Picture U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as the mom, a very busy woman with thousands of things to deal with. Picture Utah Gov. Gary Herbert as one of her children, a basically good kid who, like many young people, wants his own way with a lot of things, even if it really isn’t good for him, or anybody else. In order to keep little Gary occupied and out of her hair, mom places him in a child... ...

Obama declared health care law 'is here to stay' - Denver Post: All Political News

By JULIE PACE and JIM KUHNHENN Associated Press — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

WASHINGTON—Caught between nervous Democrats and emboldened Republicans, President Barack Obama on Friday stepped up the sales pitch on his health care overhaul as the final elements of his top domestic achievement go into effect.

Utah’s Herbert thanks feds for health exchange split - Salt Lake Tribune

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

by Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune Published May 10, 2013 01:39PM MDT Washington • Utah Gov. Gary Herbert expressed his gratitude Friday to federal officials who agreed to split the responsibilities for offering insurance through health-care exchanges, and he suggested other states may want to follow this new Utah model. The deal, which the Department of Health and Human Services agreed to Friday, allows the state to operate its small-business exchange, known as Avenue H, while avoiding some of the more politically contentious portions of the Affordable Care Act. ... ...