Under national health care reform, insurance policies in Maryland will be required to cover acupuncture for pain management and chiropractic care in certain cases.

The plans won't cover acupuncture for other treatments, such as infertility or stress, and will limit home health care to 120 visits per year and physical therapy for ailments such as sports injuries to 50 days a year.

The state panel charged with implementing health care reform in Maryland voted Thursday to include these services among those insurers will be required to cover once reform is fully implemented in 2014.

The Affordable Care Act requires that insurers cover certain "essential benefits" but leaves the details up to the states, which must choose from 10 insurance options already sold within their borders. Plans could look different from state to state. Some may cover chiropractors, while others may not.

The Maryland Health Care Reform Coordinating Council chose to model insurance policies under reform after the plans currently offered to the state's employees. The 16-member panel reviewed 10 insurance options before choosing the state plan.

The state plan didn't offer the best coverage in all areas, the group said, but it struck a good balance between offering comprehensive coverage and not driving up costs for consumers.

Panel members said the plan must not be so costly that it dissuades people from opting in. People can choose not to buy insurance, but will have to pay a penalty. In order for reform to work, a balanced share of healthy and sickly people need to be enrolled to share in the costs.

"This plan will give meaningful coverage, but it will still be affordable," said Carolyn A. Quattrocki, the coordinating council's executive director.

Insurance companies don't have to model their plans exactly after the state plan, but they must offer similar options. Open enrollment on the health exchange, the marketplace where those without employee-sponsored insurance will be able to buy policies, will begin in October 2013. Reform will be instituted three months later.

"This gives a green light for insurers to start designing plans for January 2014," said state Health Secretary Joshua Sharfstein, who co-chairs the coordinating council with Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown.

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Md. picks model for essential health insurance benefits

OTTAWA A new report from a federal spending watchdog concludes the Conservative governments changes to health funding will ultimately download billions of dollars in medical costs annually to the provinces, something premiers and opposition parties say will erode public health care and provincial finances.

The office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer released a report Thursday highlighting the extent to which provincial governments will increasingly struggle to balance their books and pay for health care in the coming years, partly due to the federal Conservative governments decision to trim the growth in health transfers to the provinces.

The Harper governments reforms over the past year to the Canada Health Transfer and Old Age Security, along with its ongoing savings in operating spending, mean the federal governments finances are sustainable over the long term, the report says. The Canada and Quebec pension plans are also in good shape over the long run, it says.

But these changes especially slicing the growth in health transfers in the coming years will leave the provinces with a significant fiscal gap that will force them to either increase taxes or cut programs, the report says.

They (federal government) totally transferred the problem to the provinces, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page said Thursday in an interview.

If I were a province, Id be under significant stress, he said. People are going to start asking questions: Have the feds ante-ed up enough to support a national health-care program?

Indeed, the countrys premiers warned in a recent report that the new federal health accord will gut nearly $36 billion in funding from the provinces over the 10-year deal, compared to the current arrangements, and will erode public health services to all Canadians.

Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, the current chairman of the Council of the Federation of premiers, said Thursday that provinces will struggle to pay for health care with the funding changes announced by Ottawa late last year.

This will bring the federal share of health-care costs to less than 20 per cent, compared to about 50 per cent originally,Dexter said in a statement to Postmedia News.

In many parts of the country, including Nova Scotia, there is an aging population, which is going to substantially increase the cost of health care.These costs will consume an increasing share of provincial budgets.

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Changes to federal health spending will hit provincial governments hard, budget officer says

Like most college students, Eric Kamler is young and healthy. He suffers from the occasional cold, but by and large, hes rarely had to use the University Health Center.

But the University of Nebraska-Lincoln student body president likes to know its there and that he can count on it. Thats why hes watching closely a plan to privatize health center operations.

I think the biggest concern that students have that weve heard at student senate and in our offices is maintaining the same quality of health care and services, he said.

At his Sept. 11 state of the university address, UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman announced plans to hire a private health care provider to build and operate a new health center. To ensure participation from various stakeholders, the university has created an advisory board that will review the bids and make a recommendation to Perlman.

That board is made up of university staff, faculty and students, including James Guest, director of the University Health Center. Since Sept. 11, Guest has spent much of his spare time researching the successes and failures of other universities at privatization.

He has looked at schools like the University of Northern Colorado, which ended its contract with a large hospital in 2006 after its privatized health center failed to generate enough profits, and Radford University in Virginia, which successfully outsourced its health center to a large healthcare provider after an initial contract with another provider collapsed in 2001.

Its a mixed bag, Guest said.

With virtually flat state funding for the past five years, UNL is looking to take advantage of scale in purchasing and improve regulation compliance by connecting the health center to a larger health care organization. Perlman has said privatization also could reduce the cost of medical care to students and allow the university to avoid increasing student fees to pay to replace the 1957-built health center.

Chris Jackson, vice chancellor for business and finance at UNL, said a failed 2009 student referendum that would have increased student fees to pay for a new health center also prompted the university to begin considering privatization.

Costs, as we are very aware, continue to rise, she said. We are continually looking at ways we might more expeditiously provide services to our students.

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University health privatization a 'mixed bag'

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., Sept. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Driven by changes under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), most employers are reevaluating their retiree health care strategy and are considering implementing strategies that open access to the individual Medicare plan market through health care exchanges, according to a new survey by Aon Hewitt, the global human resources solutions business of Aon plc. (AON).

According to Aon Hewitt's 2012 survey of almost 450 private and public plan sponsors representing 5.8 million retirees, 6 in 10 employers have reviewed or are currently reviewing their retiree health care strategies and are considering alternatives in order to leverage opportunities created by the PPACA.

Of those employers planning changes,63 percent are currently implementing or are considering moving towards an individual market strategy, where they would leverage a health exchange partnership. Aon Hewitt estimates that approximately two-thirds of Medicare-eligible retirees in the U.S. are already enrolled in a Medicare plan through the individual market.

"With the Supreme Court ruling largely upholding the PPACA, plan sponsors have the opportunity to reassess their role as a provider of retiree health care benefits and consider changes that will better position their retiree health care programs for the future," said John Grosso, health care actuary and leader of the Aon Hewitt Retiree Health Care sub-practice. ""The combination of changes to the Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage programs, along with the choice, competition and generally favorable rating rules, have made the individual market very cost-effective compared to the group insurance program. We expect that there will be a similar opportunity for pre-Medicare retirees beginning in 2014."

Aon Hewitt's survey found that 65 percent of plan sponsors said they will at least consider leveraging an exchange strategy for their pre-Medicare retirees some time after 2013, with or without a subsidy, in order to take advantage of the opportunities created through new state-sponsored health care exchanges and additional PPACA market reforms.

In addition to an individual market strategy, Aon Hewitt's survey shows that employers are currently pursuing two other general retiree health care strategies in response to provisions under the PPACA:

Medicare Part D StrategiesPrompted by the elimination of the tax-favored status of the Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) under the PPACA, a majority of employers (61 percent) expect to change either their Medicare Part D or broader strategy for Medicare-eligible retirees. Of those plan sponsors, 17 percent made changes in 2011 or 2012, another 11 percent will make changes for 2013, and nearly three quarters (72 percent) are currently exploring what actions to take and when.

Of the employers who have already decided to make changes to their retiree drug program, 62 percent are moving forward with a group-based Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan (PDP/EGWP). Thirty-two percent are leveraging the individual Medicare-eligible health insurance market in some manner.

"Changes to the tax-favored status of the RDS, in conjunction with improvements to the Medicare Part D program over time, are driving significant change in the employer-sponsored retiree health care market," explained Grosso. "These enhancements allow for cost savings for both plan sponsors and retirees, while still preserving retiree benefits."

Excise Tax Mitigation StrategiesTo mitigate the cost of the excise tax on high-cost health plans in 2018, Aon Hewitt's research shows that 29 percent of plan sponsors anticipate changing plan features such as deductibles, copayments and coinsurance. Twenty-two percent would favor sourcing coverage through the state exchanges, and 18 percent favor changing retiree premium cost-sharing in some manner.

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Aon Hewitt Survey Shows Most Employers Considering Move Towards Exchange-Based Individual Market Strategies for ...

By NBC's Garrett Haake

TOLEDO, OH -- Mitt Romney on Wednesday pointed to the health care reform law he enacted as governor of Massachusetts as proof of his empathy and care for the American people.

In an interview with NBC News, Romney referenced an element of his record he almost never invokes on the campaign trail to answer a question about how he can better connect with Americans and prove he understands the lives and trials of middle class Americans.

"I think throughout this campaign as well, we talked about my record in Massachusetts, don't forget -- I got everybody in my state insured," Romney told NBC's Ron Allen in an interview before his rally here tonight. "One hundred percent of the kids in our state had health insurance. I don't think there's anything that shows more empathy and care about the people of this country than that kind of record."

Romney's health care law in Massachusetts has long been a lightning rod issue for conservatives, who unfavorably compare it to President Barack Obama's own federal law and as a damning reflection on Romney's conservative bonafides.

The former Massachusetts governor also touched on another portion of his biography that he seldom discusses to connect with average Americans: his time as a Mormon pastor.

"I think people have the chance, who watched our Republican convention, to see the lives that I've had a chance to touch during my life, to understand that as I served as a pastor of a congregation with people of all different backgrounds and economic circumstances that I care very deeply about the American people, people of different socio-economic circumstances," Romney told Allen.

Taking the stage for the final rally of his two-day Ohio bus tour moments later, Romney also spoke about the importance of compassion in his speech and said his interactions with Americans from all lots in life have shown him the greatness of America -- and that everyone has challenges of their own.

"You look around, you see everybody, they look happy, and you think everybody else is doing just fine, and you're the only one with problems. But the truth is, most people that you see have some real challenges in their life of one kind or another. I understand that," Romney said. "And I've seen that inside the heart of the American people, despite our challenges, is a conviction that this nation is the greatest nation in the history of the earth."

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Romney: Massachusetts health care law is proof of empathy

NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Health Care Equipment & Supplies: Global Industry Guide

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0138978/Health-Care-Equipment--Supplies-Global-Industry-Guide.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Caring_Services

Health Care Equipment & Supplies: Global Industry Guide is an essential resource for top-level data and analysis covering the Health Care Equipment & Supplies industry. It includes detailed data on market size and segmentation, textual analysis of the key trends and competitive landscape, and profiles of the leading companies. This incisive report provides expert analysis on a global, regional and country basis.

Scope of the Report

* Contains an executive summary and data on value, volume and segmentation

* Provides textual analysis of the industry's prospects, competitive landscape and profiles of the leading companies

* Incorporates in-depth five forces competitive environment analysis and scorecards

* Covers the Global, European and Asia-Pacific markets as well as individual chapters on 5 major markets (France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US).

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Health Care Equipment & Supplies: Global Industry Guide

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Employers will soon be offering workers their yearly opportunity to make changes to their health care benefits. All too often this open-enrollment period has required combing through pages and pages of confusing insurance terms.

But this year workers will receive help translating that jargon thanks to a new requirement that insurers provide a user-friendly coverage summary of all health plans. Combined with innovative wellness plans that reward employees for staying health, experts say millions of workers should be able to make smarter benefit decision and save money in the process.

"There's a $5 or $10 bill just sitting there," says Jody Dietel, chief compliance officer with WageWorks. "They have to do a little bit of homework, but that $5 or $10 is theirs for the taking."

More than 55 percent of insured workers estimate they waste up to $750 each year because of mistakes during open enrollment, according to a recent survey by insurance provider Aflac. Those wasted dollars are more crucial than ever. Even three years after the recession ended, 62 percent of middle class Americans tell the Pew Research Center they have been forced to cut back on spending in the past year.

Here are ways to make sure you're getting every dollar's worth from your health benefits:

MAKE TIME

"I think people spend less than an hour on (open enrollment) not because they don't want to but because they feel it's overwhelming and complicated," says Rebecca Madsen, a senior vice president with UnitedHealth Group. Open enrollment generally starts in October or November for plans that begin Jan. 1.

Many insurers are trying to present benefit information in interesting, more user-friendly ways. UnitedHealth runs the website http://www.healthcarelane.com , which lets visitors explore a virtual town, where each person they encounter offers information and advice about a different health plan offering. The Department of Health and Human Services offers a more straightforward website designed to demystify health care topics: http://www.healthcare.gov .

This year's open enrollment should be easier to navigate even for those who get their information from paper and ink sources. Starting this month insurers are required to provide standardized 8-page summaries that explain key terms and cost details of their plans. The rule was passed as part of the Obama administration's health care overhaul and is intended to make it easier to compare policies and the costs and benefits of various plans.

STAY FIT, SAVE MONEY

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Saving money with smart open enrollment changes

President Barack Obama signs the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in March 2010. (Photo by Charles Dharapak, The Associated Press)

It still divides us, but most Americans think President Barack Obama's health care law is here to stay. More than 7 in 10 say the law will fully go into effect with some changes, ranging from minor to major alterations, a new Associated Press-GfK poll finds. Only 12 percent expect the Affordable Care Act "Obamacare" to dismissive opponents to be repealed completely.

The law covering 30 million uninsured, requiring virtually every legal U.S. resident to carry health insurance and forbidding insurers from turning away the sick remains as contentious as the day it passed more than two years ago. There's still more than another year before its major provisions go into effect on Jan. 1, 2014.

Although the overhaul survived a Supreme Court challenge in June, the November election appears likely to settle its fate. Republican Mitt Romney vows to begin repealing it on Day One while Obama pledges to carry it out faithfully.

But the poll found that Americans are converging on the idea that the overhaul will be part of their lives, although probably not down to its last comma. They don't totally buy what either candidate is saying.

"People are sort of averaging out the candidates' positions," said Harvard School of Public Health professor Robert Blendon, who tracks polling on health care issues.

Forty-one percent said they expect the law to be fully implemented with minor changes, while 31 percent said they expect to see it take effect with major changes. Only 11 percent said they think it will be implemented as passed.

Americans also prefer that states have a strong say in carrying out the overhaul.

Sixty-three percent want states to run new health insurance markets called "exchanges." Open for business in 2014, exchanges would sign up individuals and small businesses for taxpayer-subsidized private coverage. With GOP governors still on the sidelines, the federal government may wind up operating the exchanges in half or more of the states, an outcome only 32 percent of Americans want to see, according to the poll.

Developed with researchers from Stanford University and the University of Michigan, the poll also found an enduring generation gap, with people 65 and older most likely to oppose the bill and those younger than 45 less likely to be against it.

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Health care law will be implemented, most say in poll

25-09-2012 17:04 Health care has been changing in New Jersey with new laws, an aging population and talk of a potential doctor shortage. One of the factors for health care in New Jersey is the state's college merger, which includes UMDNJ. Dr. Thomas Cavalieri, dean of the UMDNJ School of Osteopathic Medicine, told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that he's optimistic about the merger and believes it will improve health care in the state. For more New Jersey news, visit NJ Today online at

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UMDNJ Dean Hopeful Merger Will Make School Stronger - Video

On 9/27/12, Health Care REIT Inc.'s 6.50% Series J Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (NYSE: HCN.PRJ) will trade ex-dividend, for its quarterly dividend of $0.4062, payable on 10/15/12. As a percentage of HCN.PRJ's recent share price of $27.04, this dividend works out to approximately 1.50%, so look for shares of HCN.PRJ to trade 1.50% lower ? all else being equal ? when HCN.PRJ shares open ...

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Health Care REIT's Series J Preferred Stock Goes Ex-Dividend Soon

President Barack Obama's health care overhaul has never been popular in Arkansas, a state where even most Democrats regard the law as politically toxic.

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Arkansas governor changes course on health care

Group health care spending in the United States accelerated last year, according to a new analysis.For those covered by employer plans, spending on health care services increased by 4.6% to $4,547 per plan enrollee. By contrast, in 2010, costs rose an average of 3.8%, according to the Health Care

Originally posted here:

Group health care spending up in 2011: Analysis

By Robert Weisman, Globe Staff

UMass Memorial Health Care is stepping up its restructuring efforts, telling employees Tuesday that it plans to pare another 140 full-time jobs at its flagship hospital in Worcester.

In a letter to the systems 13,200 employees, chief executive John G. OBrien blamed declines in health insurance payments and the number of patients it treats. He said the latest cuts will come on top of about the 150 positions that have been eliminated at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester since February. The system also operates four community hospitals in central Massachusetts.

OBrien said UMass Memorial Health Care has completed the sale of its home health and hospice division to VNA Care Network & Hospice for an undisclosed price, shedding another 144 jobs from the systems payroll in the process. UMass Memorial has also put its hospital labs unit up for sale.

Despite the steps to reduce expenses, OBrien warned that cost challenges remain.

While significant expense savings and revenue enhancement efforts were implemented in February, significant volume declines in our inpatient services such as cardiology medicine and womens services -- coupled with declining reimbursements -- continue to threaten our ability to end this fiscal year with an operating margin that breaks even, he wrote.

Other hospitals also have disclosed plans recently to trim staffing in the face of rising cost pressures. Last week, Boston Childrens Hospital said a plan to eliminate 255 positions would include 45 layoffs. Jordan Hospital in Plymouth last month said it was doing away with more than 60 jobs.

In an interview, OBrien said in-patient volume at UMass hospitals had dropped 4 percent from a year ago, partly because more health care procedures can be done on an outpatient basis. He also said health insurers are channeling members to lower-cost treatment facilities, making it harder for teaching and safety-net hospitals such as UMass Memorial Medical Center to compete. The hospital is affiliated with the adjoining University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Some of what were doing right now is looking to the future, said OBrien, who is retiring in January. Because when payment reform is implemented in Massachusetts, its going to be very challenging to the academic medical centers. With the tremendous pressure across the country to get health care costs down, I see this pressure for the foreseeable future.

UMass Memorial, --which also operates Clinton Hospital, Health Alliance Hospital in Fitchburg and Leominster, Marlborough Hospital --and Wing Memorial Hospital in Palmer, posted a $56.1 million profit for the 2011 fiscal year, according to data from the state Division of Health Care Finance and Policy. OBrien said much of that profit stemmed from investment income.

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UMass Memorial Medical Center to do away with another 140 full-time jobs

Freshmen interested in medicine were challenged Tuesday night to learn more about the American health care system and work for change in the future.

Dr. Bill Roper, dean of the School of Medicine and CEO of the UNC Health Care system, presented The Future of Medicine as part of the First Year Fellows lecture series.

Roper emphasized the need for medical students to understand government policy in order to excel in the field of medicine.

I hope that those of you interested in medicine are not perturbed (by these issues), Roper said.

Rather, I hope you see this as an opportunity to pursue medicine and get involved in these wider issues of national and public policy that are so important.

Roper said a false perception about American health care is that people eventually get all of the care they need.

He said individuals without health insurance are slower in seeking care and are ultimately worse off when they receive treatment.

Given these problems, Roper said that it is the substantial changes the way the system is organized, doctors are paid and services are rendered that need to be focused on.

We are not going to have sweeping change in health care, he said.

Rather, we are going to have incremental changes year after year that I hope will take us in the right direction in order to fix the problems I am trying to highlight.

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UNC School of Medicine Dean Bill Roper stresses medical policy

They may not like it, but they don't see it going away. About 7 in 10 Americans think President Barack Obama's health care law will go fully into effect with some changes, ranging from minor to major alterations, an Associated Press-GfK poll finds.

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AP-GfK Poll: Most see health law being implemented

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Patients want more meaningful discussions with their care providers when making health care decisions, according to a new discussion paper released today by the Institute of Medicine. The survey found that 8 in 10 people want their health care provider to listen to them, but just 6 in 10 reported that it actually happens, and fewer than 4 in 10 say their provider clearly explains the latest medical evidence. Additionally, less than half of people surveyed reported that their provider asks about their goals and concerns for their health and health care.

"Simply stated, engaging patients in their own medical decisions leads to better health outcomes," concluded the authors, participants in the IOM's Evidence Communication Innovation Collaborative on behalf of its Roundtable on Value & Science-Driven Health Care. The paper is based on fresh qualitative and quantitative research, as well as an extensive review of relevant research on evidence- and medical-decision making, all commissioned by the collaborative.

Several authors discuss the research further in a just-released "Viewpoint" in the Journal of the American Medical Association, "Recognizing an Opinion: Findings from the IOM Evidence Communication Innovation Collaborative."

"The gap between what people want and what they are getting leads to poor medical decision-making, but it also represents an opportunity to do better," said George Halvorson, chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Permanente and co-chair of the IOM collaborative. "We know how to get it right; with shared decision-making between patients and clinicians that produces informed decisions."

The authors say there are three essential elements to an informed decision based on shared decision-making. First, people must have timely access to the best available medical evidence. Second, providers must provide sound, unbiased counsel based on their clinical expertise. Third, patients' and families' goals and concerns must be actively elicited and fully honored.

In the context of shared decision-making, the public does not view evidence as an indicator of cook-book medicine. Rather, a survey of 1,068 patients conducted by Consumer Reports National Research Center in the spring of 2012 for the IOM collaborative found that patients view evidence about what works for their condition as more important than either their provider's opinion or their personal goals and values.

"Doctors take note: People want and deserve meaningful engagement in conversations about their care, and they value it when rating their experience of care," said contributor John Santa, MD, director of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center. "They do not want their practitioner to make decisions for them or offer only some of the options."

The collaborative's goal is to accelerate the routine use of the best available evidence in medical decision-making. Bill Novelli, a professor in the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, former CEO of AARP and co-chair of the collaborative said the call to action is clear for the people who pay for care and provide care. "We need to make it easy to do the right thing by encouraging, empowering and motivating clinicians to facilitate informed medical decisions whenever and wherever they practice. Policy can foster this by changing the way we pay for care, by promoting high-quality tools to help clinicians inform patients, and by educating clinicians about best practices for communicating with patients."

The Evidence Communication Innovation Collaborative (ECIC) of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Value & Science-Driven Health Care seeks to improve public understanding, appreciation, and evidence-based discussion of the nature and use of evidence to guide clinical choices. The collaborative includes communication experts, decision scientists, patient advocates, health system leaders and providers.

This research was led and conducted by MSL Washington, GYMR Public Relations, Lake Research and Consumer Reports National Research Center on behalf of the collaborative.

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Options and Evidence: It's What Patients Want

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. Produced by NewsOK.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

I paid two medical bills last week: $306 toward an ultrasound and $126 for lab tests.

First, I called my health insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, to make sure I owed that much. The bills seemed steep, given that I have medical insurance. What's more, the ultrasound and labs were ordered in conjunction with my annual women's health screening, which I understood with the passage of health care reform should carry no co-payments or deductibles because it's recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

The phone rep told me the extended tests weren't coded by my doctor as preventive. I accepted that. But when I asked about the percentage I owed, I got confused. I assumed 20 percent, after my $500 deductible was met. But I learned my responsibility was 30 to 40 percent, depending on the federal tax ID of providers and whether they fell in the Blue Choice, Blue Preferred or Blue whatever networks. I have Blue Options, but it doesn't feel like I have options. Surely, there's a simpler way.

A new Oklahoma City-based startup aspires to offer physician, specialty and surgical care on a prepaid, monthly retainer basis. Meanwhile, even the state's SoonerCare Medicaid state-federal system which provides health care to largely low-income women and children moved from managed care to fee-for-service years ago to more efficiently provide care.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, David Rothwell, a primary care physician and partner in the new company Salerno Health (salernohealth.com), told me last week. When it fully takes effect in January 2014, the legislation mandates health care for more uninsured Americans, but Rothwell said the nation is short some 225,000 doctors to care for the influx of patients. Moreover, he said, the act does nothing to control skyrocketing medical costs.

Insurance was meant to cover major medical and not preventive care, he said. Asking health insurance to cover X-rays, most blood tests, routine procedures and physician visits is equivalent to asking your car insurance to pay for a portion of new windshield wipers or an oil change, he said.

Launched June 1 with a dozen investors and six primary care providers in the greater Oklahoma City area, Salerno for $49 a month provides 85 percent of the health services the average person needs, Rothwell said. My ultrasound or an MRI or colonoscopy would have cost me $50 over their retainer, he said. For an additional $69 a month, or $118 total, people starting Oct. 1 can have specialty and surgical care, including cardiology and orthopedics.

View the photos.

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Health care choices lack simple answers

24-09-2012 19:13 http VICTORIA -- Vancouver Island's 'Penny Girl' is frustrated with the health care system. After being told by doctors that an upcoming back operation will likely leave her paralyzed -- Jeneece Edroff wants a second opinion. The Mayo Clinic in Minnesota has specialists in her condition and may be able to provide a surgery that won't rob her of her ability to walk. The problem is, the government won't pay for her to go to the Mayo Clinic, not for the second opinion, and most certainly not for treatment. The health minister says she is asking her staff to reach out to Jeneece to see if they can help, but says the province generally doesn't fund out of province treatments that can be done here. Not even if having it done in BC could mean she won't walk again. Follow Stephanie Sherlock on Twitter:

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Island Hero Needs Help with Surgery - Video

EAST LANSING, Mich., Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHIN), the state level designated entity to improve health care quality, cost, efficiency, and patient safety through electronic exchange of health information, today announced an agreement with HT Systems, a healthcare technology leader that provides the latest innovation in patient identity management, to provide the PatientSecure biometric identification solution for healthcare providers in Michigan as part of MiHIN's growing Health Information Technology (HIT) Cyber Security Program. The agreement reduces the barrier for healthcare providers in Michigan to receive the lowest price available for PatientSecure and sets the stage for integration with the Statewide Health Provider Directory and planned Patient Directory Services.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120919/FL77026)

PatientSecure scans a patient's palm vein pattern and links the patient to their unique medical record, providing accurate identification of every patient, preventing fraud and human errors, and reducing administrative cost of healthcare providers

MiHIN's evolving HIT Cyber Security program currently consists of the ability to conduct vulnerability assessments and continuous threat monitoring for health care networks. The offering allows organizations pursing the top level of vigilance when sharing data electronically to have high confidence their systems are achieving best practice levels of performance.

"As MiHIN continues to develop a robust HIT Cyber Security Program aligned with our mission as the State of Michigan designated entity, it is clear that solutions designed to raise everyone's confidence that individuals doing business over the network are who we think they are is increasingly essential," said Tim Pletcher, Executive Director of MiHIN. "As more organizations in Michigan adopt the PatientSecure solutions by HT Systems our state will see similar benefits in decreased medical and administrative errors related to identity as those major health systems in other states have already."

HT Systems' flagship solution PatientSecure is a biometric patient identification management system that captures an image of palm vein patterns and automatically links patients to their unique medical record providing accurate identification of every patient, improving patient safety, guarding against medical identity theft and insurance card fraud, reducing human errors and reducing cost associated with registration issues such as duplicate medical records and overlays. PatientSecure is currently adopted by over 160 hospitals and hundreds of affiliated clinics and physician's practices across the country. 5,000,000+ patients are currently enrolled in the PatientSecure system and tens of thousands of those same patients are successfully authenticated on a daily basis on return visits.

"The PatientSecure technology provides Michigan healthcare providers with an extremely accurate way to identify patients as they move within and between healthcare systems. It is non-invasive, easy to use and universally accepted with a 99% patient adoption across the country," said Carl Bertrams, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at HT Systems/PatientSecure. "We are extremely enthusiastic about the MiHIN-HT Systems agreement because it takes the technology to a whole new level, placing Michigan at the national forefront of positive patient identification across disparate healthcare organizations".

MiHIN announced the agreement when participating at the HIMSS Michigan Chapter Fall Conference - HITECH Status in Michigan Navigating for the Future of Electronic Health Records, September 25-26 at Detroit-Novi Crown Plaza, Novi, Michigan.

About Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services (MiHINSS) (www.mihin.org) MiHIN is dedicated to improving the healthcare experience, increasing quality and decreasing cost for Michigan's people by supporting the statewide exchange of health information and making accurate and timely health care data available at the point of care. MiHIN is the official state designated entity for health information exchange across Michigan and the future integration with the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN). MiHIN is a Michigan nonprofit entity, functioning as a public and private collaboration between the State of Michigan, sub-state Health Information Exchanges, payers, providers, and patients.

About HT SystemsHT Systems, LLCis a healthcare technology leader, providing the latest innovation in patient identity management.PatientSecure, the company's flagship Biometric Patient Identification Management System, links the biometric palm vein pattern of the patient to their medical record in any HIS registration, EMPI or EMR system. HT Systems is the first to successfully implement a large scale biometric patient identification system in the nation. PatientSecureis currently adopted by over160 hospitals and hundreds of affiliated clinics and physician practices across the country. With over 5 million patients enrolled, our clients report a 99%+ patient adoption rate of our technology. With over 30 years of healthcare and healthcare technology experience, HT Systems partners with healthcare providers to develop solutions specific to the client's environment. For more information please visit: http://www.patientsecure.com.

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Mitt Romney talks with 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley.

Mitt Romney talks with 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley.

It's not so much what Mitt Romney said about whether the government should guarantee people health care in his interview on CBS's 60 Minutes Sunday that has health care policy types buzzing. It's how that compares to what he has said before.

To back up a bit, Scott Pelley asked the former Massachusetts governor if he thinks "the government has a responsibility to provide health care to the 50 million Americans who don't have it today?"

Romney responded:

"Well, we do provide care for people who don't have insurance ... if someone has a heart attack, they don't sit in their apartment and and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital and give them care. And different states have different ways of providing for that care."

That was basically Romney's way of saying that people who don't have insurance can always go to the hospital emergency room.

Yet in 2010, in an appearance on MSNBC, Romney said almost exactly the opposite: "It doesn't make a lot of sense for us to have millions and millions of people who have no health insurance and yet who can go to the emergency room and get entirely free care for which they have no responsibility," he said at the time.

That's because back then, Romney was defending the Massachusetts law he signed as governor. It's the one that requires most people to either have health insurance or pay a fine just like the federal law he now vows to repeal.

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