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Category Archives: Health Care

Boehner on House Bills to Address Energy Costs & Provide Fairness Under POTUS’ Health Care Law – Video

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Boehner on House Bills to Address Energy Costs Provide Fairness Under POTUS #39; Health Care Law
At a press briefing with Republican leaders today, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) highlighted this week #39;s House action to help hardworking families by add...

By: John Boehner

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Boehner on House Bills to Address Energy Costs & Provide Fairness Under POTUS' Health Care Law - Video

Federal Health Care Reform; The impact on Americans and their employers part 3 of 4.mpeg4 – Video

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Federal Health Care Reform; The impact on Americans and their employers part 3 of 4.mpeg4
Todd Glass, addresses the Affordable Care Act. What small businesses can expect from the new law. How it effects everyday Americans and businesses.

By: Library Director

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Federal Health Care Reform; The impact on Americans and their employers part 3 of 4.mpeg4 - Video

Flip the Clinic: Changing the Nature of Patient-Provider Interaction – Video

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Flip the Clinic: Changing the Nature of Patient-Provider Interaction
How can we transform the doctor visit in a way that empowers patients and improves care? Flip the Clinic aims to put patients in the driver #39;s seat, fundamen...

By: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

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Flip the Clinic: Changing the Nature of Patient-Provider Interaction - Video

Beyond Cellblocks: Reducing Criminalization, Promoting Health Care Access & Racial Justice – Video

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Beyond Cellblocks: Reducing Criminalization, Promoting Health Care Access Racial Justice
This is the first in a series of webinars on ending criminalization of everyday life that will be offered by the Alliance for a Just Society. The Alliance is...

By: Alliance For a Just Society

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Beyond Cellblocks: Reducing Criminalization, Promoting Health Care Access & Racial Justice - Video

Health Care Providers: The New Mobile Workforce

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Health care providers are using tablets to work more efficiently. According to a new survey by HIMSS Analytics, mobile devices are becoming more prevalent in the workforce, and this trend is changing the way IT professionals enforce security policies.

Enhancing Care

Featured in InformationWeek, the HIMSS survey found that, of the 170 health care and IT professionals surveyed, nearly 60 percent have already integrated mobile technology solutions in the workplace, and almost 30 percent are planning to address mobility integration soon.

As more physicians and health care providers deliver patient care via their mobile devices, IT professionals must deal with the management and security of those devices. A majority of organizations 95 percent use at least one security tool to protect data. However, that means 5 percent have yet to employ security measures, which leaves sensitive patient information at risk. That risk is in violation of HIPAA regulations and can breach patient trust.

The study further suggests that solutions that balance simple access with government mandates, industry best practices and organizational requirements for securing data will perform best. Something as simple as reducing the complexity of user passwords across different devices and applications can save precious time. That time can amount to up to 20 minutes per day that could be better spent with patients.

Midsize Use

Health care companies often fall into the category of midsize firms as well. On top of stretching time and resources, the IT professionals at these organizations also have to consider various regulations and government policies that must be strictly followed. Tablets and other mobile devices are finding their place within various industries to help workers become more productive. Securing them is the new challenge in the face of growing cyber crime threats. Health care organizations and midsize firms alike are constantly seeking the latest IT solutions to help them innovate and save money.

To reach their productivity and business goals, midsize firms turn to experienced vendors to help them ensure that they are implementing the right software and hardware to connect the mobile workplace. Security and policy are intertwined; smaller firms have neither the time nor the budget to commit errors when implementing a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) security plan. Even one small error in implementation might lead to a data breach that could cost a firm more money than it would to have invested in the proper tools and counsel in the first place.

Experienced vendors have a grasp on the new solutions in the market that are best suited to a growing firm. Mobile device management, encryption, cloud computing and big data analytics are a few game-changing technologies that can be implemented to securely optimize the new mobile workforce.

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

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Health Care Providers: The New Mobile Workforce

Health care reform hitting some diners

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A French restaurant in Los Angeles and a chain of casual eateries in Florida have stirred yet another tempest in the Affordable Care Act teapot by adding health care surcharges to customers' bills.

Proprietors of both restaurants have levied one to three per cent fees to ready themselves for new health care costs on the horizon. By January 2016, small businesses with 50 to 99 employees will have to cover 95 per cent of their full-time employees with health insurance or pay a fine, under the Affordable Care Act. Businesses of that size were expected to comply this year until the mandate was delayed.

Republique in Los Angeles has added a thee per cent fee it calls "Surcharge Healthy LA". Not long after, eight locations of Gator's Dockside in central Florida followed suit with a one per cent "ACA" fee.

The fees have drawn a lot of attention, good and bad, through social media and now have the attention of other restaurateurs.

Some eateries would be reluctant to pass on such a fee to diners, said Russ Bendel Jr, president of the Orange County chapter of the California Restaurant Association.

"I do think, on a personal level, it might be a little tacky," said Bendel, who owns the Vine in San Clemente, California. "I personally wouldn't want to put that on a check (bill) and leave that impression on a guest."

One Republique customer on the review website Yelp agreed in a January 21 post on her dining experience.

"Something about this strikes me as tacky," said Lisa T of Los Angeles. "Sure, I could take this three per cent out of my 20 per cent tip, but why put me in that position to begin with? A bit silly for such an otherwise upscale experience."

Passing the added health care costs on to customers is a necessity for some operations, whether or not it shows up on the bill as a surcharge.

Orange County, California, restaurant operator Mario Marovic says the Affordable Care Act is another government mandate that erodes razor-thin profits in an industry facing a slow post-recession recovery and rising commodity costs.

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Health care reform hitting some diners

Renacci Floor Speech: All Hardworking Americans Deserve Relief From The President’s Health Care Law – Video

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Renacci Floor Speech: All Hardworking Americans Deserve Relief From The President #39;s Health Care Law
Floor Speech Text: "Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4118, the Simple Fairness Act. "According to a recent Gallup poll, 51 percent of Amer...

By: RepJimRenacci

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Renacci Floor Speech: All Hardworking Americans Deserve Relief From The President's Health Care Law - Video

Obama to Latinos: Last call for health care signup

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By JOSH LEDERMAN/Associated Press/March 6, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) Issuing a last call for health care, President Barack Obama assured Latinos on Thursday that signing up for new insurance exchanges wont lead to deportation for any relatives in the U.S. illegally.

Facing fresh skepticism from one of his traditionally most loyal constituencies, Obama pushed back on the notion of some critics that hes become Americas deporter in chief, insisting that Latinos know that I've got their back. In a virtual town hall meeting with Spanish-language media outlets, Obama disputed that his credibility had been undermined by the chaotic health care rollout and his failure to secure legal status for millions of Latinos in the U.S. illegally.

The main point that I have for everybody watching right now is, you dont punish me by not signing up for health care, Obama said. Youre punishing yourself or your family if in fact theres affordable health care to be had.

Obamas push to boost enrollment comes as the end-of-March deadline to enroll is rapidly approaching and with it, renewed concerns that if the Obama administration misses its target, the insurance pool could become unsustainable and undermine the broader laws success. The federal government has provided millions of dollars for advertising campaigns geared toward the Latino community, and top officials have been fanning out to spread the word, with first lady Michelle Obama appearing Wednesday in a predominantly minority neighborhood in Miami.

Enrolling Latinos, who are disproportionately uninsured in the U.S., has been a major priority, but the effort has been complicated by a cascade of obstacles including problems with the Spanish-language website. Californias state-based exchange, which co-hosted Obamas event, has come under heavy criticism for lackluster efforts to sign up Latinos.

People in the U.S. illegally arent eligible to sign up, Obama said, but those with a legal presence in the country such as legal residents can enroll. Obama sought to pre-empt concerns that information collected in the process of signing up could be used to identify and deport the relatives of citizens or legal residents.

So for everybody out there who is in a mixed family, there is no sharing of the data from the health care plan into immigration services, Obama said. They should feel confident.

Those assurances came from a president who has found himself squeezed this year between Latinos frustrated by the pace of progress on immigration and Republicans who say they distrust Obamas commitment to enforcing the law. Those competing forces have complicated Obamas push to secure an immigration overhaul in Congress a task that will only become more difficult as the midterm elections grow nearer.

While some Republicans criticize Obama for unilaterally halting deportations for young people brought into the U.S. illegally by their parents, immigration activists have said Obama didnt go far enough and should halt all deportations. But Obama said his move to protect so-called Dreamers already stretched my administrative capacity very far.

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Obama to Latinos: Last call for health care signup

Money Pours Into Health-Care ETFs Spurred by New Drugs

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Money is flooding into exchange-traded funds focused on health care at the fastest rate in at least six years, driven by booming biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors bringing new products to market.

In 2014, 51 percent of money flowing into U.S. sector-focused ETFs, or $4.06 billion through Feb. 28, was for health-care funds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Thats more than two-thirds of the total deposits the funds attracted in all of 2013, and a greater share of total ETF contributions than any time since at least 2008.

People thought drug development was dead and all there was was a patent cliff, Doug Foreman, chief investment officer at Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management in Los Angeles whose firm oversees about $9 billion, said referring to the loss of exclusivity for top-selling brand-name medicines. There isnt a day that goes by that some company doesnt report positive results from a trial and the stock is up 100 percent.

Exchange-traded funds are securities that track an index or basket of stocks or bonds in a given market or industry sector. They can be easily traded and come with low costs. Inflows to U.S. ETFs more than tripled to $183 billion last year from 2004, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

This year also is the health-care sector's highest share of exchange-traded funds ... Read More

This year also is the health-care sector's highest share of exchange-traded funds inflows since President Barack Obama took office and debate began in 2009 over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obama's signature health-care overhaul. Close

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This year also is the health-care sector's highest share of exchange-traded funds inflows since President Barack Obama took office and debate began in 2009 over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obama's signature health-care overhaul.

This year also is the health-care sectors highest share of ETF inflows since President Barack Obama took office and debate began in 2009 over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obamas signature health-care overhaul. After the law was signed in 2010, health-care ETFs saw $944.9 million leave, and health was the worst performing of 12 ETF sectors.

Concern that the law known as Obamacare would damage the sector -- which helped drive down health stocks in 2010 -- is largely over, said Les Funtleyder, a longtime heath-sector investor and analyst who is a consulting partner at Bluecloud Healthcare. The firm doesnt have an health-care ETF investments.

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Money Pours Into Health-Care ETFs Spurred by New Drugs

Obama talks about health care, immigration

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President Obama told a Hispanic audience Thursday that he has no choice but to deport immigrants who are in the United States illegally because that's what the law demands.

"Congress has said you have to enforce these laws," Obama said during a virtual town hall otherwise devoted to health care. "I cannot ignore these laws."

Obama used the event, co-sponsored by Spanish-language media outlets, to encourage Hispanics to sign up for health care coverage ahead of a key deadline at the end of this month.

In addition to discussing health care, Obama found himself defending record-setting deportation numbers that have drawn the ire of Hispanic organizations nationwide. Earlier this week, Janet Murguia - president of the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Latino advocacy organization - described Obama as "deporter-in-chief."

Asked repeatedly about the issue, Obama said he has told immigration authorities to focus deportations on people who have criminal records or a history of gang activity, not young people who are in school.

Obama also reminded the audience that he has asked Congress to pass new legislation that can help clarify the immigration system, including a path to citizenship for people who are already here illegally.

"Until Congress passes a new law, I am constrained as to what I can do," Obama said.

The town hall was designed to encourage Hispanics to sign up for insurance coverage through exchanges created by the health care law.

Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for health care benefits, Obama said in response to one question, and he told the crowd that private health care information will not be shared with immigration authorities.

The virtual town hall took place a day after the Obama administration announced another delay in parts of the law, including one that will give people more time to hold insurance policies that do not have all the new legal requirements.

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Obama talks about health care, immigration


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