Health Providers Partner on Strategy to Improve Cancer Care, 12-7-12, Triangle Business Journal
Catherine Carlock reports that High Point Regional Health System and Cornerstone Health Care are partnering on a new service-line model for cancer care, including sharing staff members, aligning two separate computer and electronic records systems and sharing funds. (This story requires a subscription to the Triangle Business Journal to read the entire document.)
Obesity in Young Is Seen as Falling in Several Cities, 12-10-12, New York Times
Sabrina Tavernise reports that after decades of rising childhood obesity rates, several American cities are reporting their first declines. The trend has emerged in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, as well as smaller places like Anchorage, Alaska, and Kearney, Neb. The state of Mississippi has also registered a drop, but only among white students.
Obama Approves Health Insurance Marketplace in 6 States, 12-10-12, New York Times
Robert Pear reports the Obama administration gave conditional approval on Monday to health insurance marketplaces being set up by six states led by Democratic governors eager to carry out President Obama’s health care overhaul. The six are Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington.
Employers Grumble about ‘Sleeper’ Fee to Stabilize Insurance Market in Obama’s Health Overhaul, 12-10-12, Washington Post
The Associated Press reports the new fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed on to workers. An employee benefits lawyer calls it a “sleeper issue” with significant financial consequences, particularly for large employers.
States Pressed to Guarantee Medicaid Expansion, 12-11-12, LA Times
Noam N. Levey reports the Obama administration stepped up pressure on states Monday to guarantee insurance for all their low-income residents in 2014 under the new healthcare law, warning governors that the federal government would not pick up the total cost of partially expanding coverage.
Is It Better To See a Young Doctor or an Older Doctor?, 12-11-12, Slate Magazine
Brian Palmer reports on how forty-two percent of U.S. physicians are older than 55, and 21 percent are senior citizens. As doctors get older, some are calling for periodic screening for dementia or loss of competence. Are older doctors really worse than their young colleagues?
New Tests Could Hamper Food Outbreak Detection, 12-11-12, Yahoo
Mary Clare Jalonick and Lauran Neergaard report that new tests that promise to speed up diagnosis of food poisoning pose an unexpected problem: They could make it more difficult to identify dangerous outbreaks.
