Bay State seeks fair shake in health bill
Boston Globe, March 12, 2010
Washington - President Obama's demand to delete "special deals" in the health care package would eliminate $500 million in extra Medicaid cash for Massachusetts, but Bay State lawmakers say they are confident the state would recoup that and probably more once negotiations are complete.
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As costs soar, Mass. foresees change in health insurance rules
Boston Globe, March 12, 2010
State regulators said yesterday that they will probably change the complex formula they use to determine how many Massachusetts residents face a tax penalty for not having health insurance, because spiraling costs are making coverage unaffordable for too many people.
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Angiograms ordered too often, study says
Boston Globe, March 12, 2010
New York - Doctors might be sending patients too quickly for elective angiograms to detect heart disease, exposing them to radiation and driving up US health care costs, a study suggests.
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Book clubs connect doctors with humanity behind the job
Boston Globe, March 12, 2010
Columbia, Mo. - Doctors, nurses, and other health care workers are tapping into their inner Tolstoys to better connect with patients.
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State joins antipsychotic drugs suit
Boston Globe, March 11, 2010
Attorney General Martha Coakley's office joined a federal lawsuit yesterday that contends that Johnson & Johnson paid tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks to get its drugs, especially the powerful antipsychotic Risperdal, prescribed in nursing homes.
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On health, Obama has roadblocks in own party
Boston Globe, March 11, 2010
Washington - President Obama slammed the health insurance industry and Republicans yesterday as the enemies of health care overhaul. But the president's immediate roadblocks to achieving his top domestic priority are within his own Democratic Party, as congressional lawmakers remain unable to find a procedural and political path to final passage.
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Pricey imaging pushes up health costs
Boston Globe, March 11, 2010
In just two years, spending on MRIs, mammograms, and other imaging tests climbed by at least $214 million in Massachusetts, helping to fuel a dramatic rise in the cost of outpatient hospital care.
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Framingham Community Health Center scraps $24M expansion plan
MetroWest Daily News, March 10, 2010
Framingham - The Framingham Community Health Center is changing its plans to expand its services, a switch that could have significant ramifications for downtown.
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Mayors want health costs on ballot
Boston Globe, March 10, 2010
A group of Massachusetts mayors, fed up with what they say is legislative inaction on skyrocketing municipal health care costs, has launched a ballot initiative for 2012 aimed at giving cities and towns more flexibility in reducing expensive benefits for employees, retirees, and elected officials.
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Brown calls his election 'a message' against health bill
Boston Globe, March 10, 2010
Washington - Senator Scott Brown railed yesterday against President Obama and congressional Democrats for continuing their quest to pass a comprehensive health care bill, saying the majority party in Washington has failed to heed the lessons of his own surprise victory in January.
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Sustain a lifesaver
Boston Herald letter to the editor (Jon Kingsdale), March 9, 2010
While Michael Graham concludes that Massachusetts health care reform is a dud, the newly insured who are now being treated for cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic conditions see it as a lifesaver.
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Obama turns up the heat for health care bill
Boston Globe, March 9, 2010
Philadelphia - President Obama challenged wavering members of his party yesterday not to give in to political fears about supporting health care legislation, asserting that the urgency of getting a bill through Congress should trump any concern about the consequences for Democrats in November.
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Insurance doesn't ensure a doctor
Washington Post, March 9, 2010
It seemed like a relatively simple process: When you get sick, first call your primary-care doctor.
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Obama attacks insurers
Washington Post, March 9, 2010
The White House is mounting a stinging, sustained broadside against health insurance rate increases as President Obama and his aides enter what they hope will be the final stretch of a year-long political war over health-care reform.
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The emotion of reform
New York Times column, March 9, 2010
We all have our emotional hot and cold spots.
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The source of Obama's trouble
New York Times column, March 9, 2010
The Obama administration and Democrats in general are in trouble because they are not urgently and effectively addressing the issue that most Americans want them to: the frightening economic insecurity that has put a chokehold on millions of American families.
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FEATURE STORY - CHCs meet with MA congressional delegation; Voice support for national health reform
Mass League Feature Story, March 9, 2010
Washington, DC - Community health center patients and advocates from across the state met in February with members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation to provide an update on state health reform efforts and to voice support for passage of national reform.
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FEATURE STORY - Lynn Community Health Center dentist hailed as hero
Mass League Feature Story, March 9, 2010
State House, Boston - Herlivi Linares, DDS, Associate Dental Director at Lynn Community Health Center, was named a 2010 Oral Health Hero by Massachusetts-based Watch Your Mouth, a coalition of advocates, health professionals and community members dedicated to promoting the importance of access to oral health care for all Massachusetts residents.
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Obama appeals for public support on health care
Boston Globe, March 8, 2010
Washington - President Barack Obama ratcheted up his attacks against insurance companies Monday in a last-ditch attempt to get a reluctant public and skittish Democrats behind his health overhaul legislation.
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Virginia: Va. health bill could foil Obama proposal
Boston Globe, March 8, 2010
Richmond - Here in the former capital of the Old Confederacy, where resistance to the supremacy of federal law has a long and tortuous history, a new battle is being waged over a question that could undercut a key part of President Obama's health care proposal: whether Washington can require that most Americans have health insurance.
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Nursing home drug use puts many at risk
Boston Globe, March 8, 2010
Nearly 2,500 nursing home residents in Massachusetts were given powerful antipsychotic drugs last year that were not intended or recommended for their medical condition, a practice that is more common here than in most other states, according to a Globe analysis of federal data.
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What happens next in MA?
Running a Hospital Blog, March 7, 2010
What happens next in Massachusetts with insurance reimbursement rates now that many of the facts and figures have been made public?
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Late-stage Obama push on health care
Boston Globe, March 7, 2010
Washington - President Obama is trying to persuade a weary public and wavering Democrats to get behind his late-stage push on health care, while Republicans dig in and demand starting from scratch after a year's worth of work.
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If reform fails
New York Times editorial, March 7, 2010
As the fierce debate on President Obama's plan for health care reform comes to a head, Americans should be thinking carefully about what happens if Congress fails to enact legislation.
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Health insurers seeking rate hike
Boston Globe, March 6, 2010
Three weeks after Governor Deval Patrick warned that his administration might turn down health insurance premium increases it deemed excessive for individuals and small businesses, insurers have asked the state to approve rate hikes of 8 to 32 percent for April 1.
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Medicare program cites Mass. General for serious problems
Boston Globe, March 6, 2010
The federal Medicare program has cited Massachusetts General Hospital for serious problems found during a routine inspection last month, according to a letter sent to the hospital's president yesterday.
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The cost control hearings begin
CommonHealth Blog, March 5, 2010
Beginning on March 16, the State Division of Health Care Finance and Policy will hold legally-mandated hearings on how to control rising health care costs in the Commonwealth.
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Businesses should switch to state health insurance
South Coast Today letter to the editor, March 5, 2010
I read with some consternation the article, "Small business owners vent about heath costs" in The Standard Times, Tuesday, March 2.
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Healthcare reform making small businesses less fit
Barnstable Patriot, March 5, 2010
Ron Anderson, owner of Pro Event Inc. of East Harwich, wants to provide his 10 employees with health insurance, and admits to breaking the law to do it.
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'Crisis mode' for municipal health plans
Boston Globe columnist, March 5, 2010
A budgetary iceberg looms ahead, a peril identified by fiscal experts but given insufficient attention by those guiding the ship of state, who fear a dramatic course correction will cause their union passengers to mutiny.
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David Barrett retiring after 10 years as Lahey Clinic CEO
Boston Business Journal, March 5, 2010
David M. Barrett will step down as president and CEO of the Lahey Clinic in January.
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Obama presses 16 Democrats wavering on health care
Boston Globe, March 5, 2010
Support from his own party in doubt, President Obama summoned more than a dozen House Democrats to the White House yesterday, pleading that they put aside their qualms, seize a historic moment, and vote for his massive health care overhaul.
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Obamacare lives
Washington Post syndicated column, March 5, 2010
So the yearlong production, set to close after Massachusetts's devastatingly negative Jan. 19 review, saw the curtain raised one last time. Obamacare lives.
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Coming soon: Part-time NHSC loan repayment option
HRSA NHSC, March 4, 2010
In March 2010, clinicians working part-time (20 to 39 hours each week, at least 45 weeks each year) at NHSC-approved facilities will be eligible to apply to the National Health Service Corps demonstration program for the Part-time Loan Repayment.
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Obama steps up health care pressure
Boston Globe, March 4, 2010
Washington - President Obama increased the pressure on Congress yesterday to take an up-or-down vote on his health care package, calling on Senate Democrats to bypass a Senate filibuster and revive the stalled legislation over the objections of Republicans.
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President calls for reconciliation plan
Washington Post, March 4, 2010
President Obama's endorsement Wednesday of a risky legislative maneuver to complete health-care legislation sent Democratic leaders scrambling to settle policy disputes and assemble the votes necessary for passage in the coming weeks.
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A health insurance mandate with a choice
New York Times op-ed, March 4, 2010
Despite President Obama's letter on Tuesday offering to consider several Republican health-care provisions, hope for bipartisan progress on the issue has quickly faded.
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The Democrats' choice
New York Times editorial, March 4, 2010
Republicans' lock-step opposition to comprehensive health care reform seems to be as much a matter of politics as principle.
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Romneycare model a dud
Boston Herald columnist, March 4, 2010
So this is what it looks like when a mild-mannered, liberal community activist goes "nuclear."
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The utility of trouble: Leveling the playing field: Giving municipal officials the tools to moderate health insurance costs
The Boston Foundation, March 3, 2010
An 'Understanding Boston' Report: The first in a series of occasional reports about bringing systemic change to scale in an era of limited resources.
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Obama demands 'up-or-down' vote on health care
Boston Globe, March 3, 2010
President Barack Obama, accompanied by registered nurse Barbara Crane, speaks about health care reform, Wednesday, March 3, 2010, in the East Room of the White House in Washington.
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Coverage switch urged for localities
Boston Globe, March 3, 2010
Cities and towns would save tens of millions of dollars in health care costs for employees, retirees, and elected officials by joining the state's much larger, more flexible health care system, according to a new report by the Boston Foundation.
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Obama open to adding Republican elements to health bill
Boston Globe, March 3, 2010
Washington - President Obama said yesterday that he was open to four new Republican proposals on health care legislation, in a gesture of bipartisanship meant to jump-start his drive to overhaul the system.
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Soaring municipal health costs cry out for a state overhaul
Boston Globe editorial, March 2, 2010
Municipal health care costs in Massachusetts are unjustified and unsustainable. Curbing their excesses is an essential mission for the governor and Legislature.
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Small business owners decry health costs
South Coast Today, March 2, 2010
Barnstable - Last year, Richard Egan got a letter from his insurance company informing him that the price of the health coverage he provides to his 10 employees would be increasing by at least 14 percent.
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Unhealthy policy
Cape Cod Times editorial, March 2, 2010
Health insurance premiums are killing small businesses across the commonwealth.
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Realizing Haitians' other needs
Boston Globe, March 2, 2010
In the days after the Haiti earthquake, Gemima St. Louis was engulfed in a sense of powerlessness.
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No more concessions on health reform
Boston Globe columnist, March 2, 2010
There has been no discussion of single payer. The public option has been ditched. President Obama received no Republican support at his nationally-televised health care forum last week. In response, the Democrats must not concede any more in the final lurch toward health reform. Even then, reform is already so watered down that it is likely to fall apart over the next decade. Democrats would be wise to view this moment not with finality, but as the beginning of the journey toward the sanity of single payer, toward what most of Europe and Canada have.
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Some House foes consider 'yes' on health care
Boston Globe, March 2, 2010
Nine House Democrats indicated yesterday they have not ruled out switching their "no" votes to "yes" on President Obama's health care overhaul, brightening the party's hopes in the face of unyielding Republican opposition.
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State seeks federal money to aid hospitals
Boston Globe, March 2, 2010
The state appealed to the federal government yesterday to help Massachusetts hospitals that care for disproportionately high numbers of lower-income patients who receive state-sponsored health insurance.
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Law requires parity for mental health care
Washington Post, March 2, 2010
Denise Camp was resigned to the double standard that had long applied to her medical bills, forcing her to skimp on other expenses so she could pay for mental health treatment.
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Clinical Research Communication Grants RFP available for health centers - Deadline 3/29
Community Engagement Program of the Harvard Catalyst Clinical and Translational Science Center, March 1, 2010
The Community Engagement Program of the Harvard Catalyst Clinical and Translational Science Center is currently requesting proposals from community health centers across Massachusetts to be involved in addressing and improving communication about clinical research. The Center expects to make up to four awards at approximately $25,000 per grantee.
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Minority children face more obesity risks
Boston Globe, March 1, 2010
Chicago - The odds of obesity appear stacked against black and Hispanic children starting even before birth, provocative new research suggests.
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Democrats ready to go it alone on health bill
Boston Globe, March 1, 2010
Washington - Raising the prospect of a "simple up-or-down vote" on the health care bill, White House adviser Nancy-Ann DeParle said yesterday she thinks Democrats will secure enough yes votes and signaled that the administration could be moving toward trying to pass the bill along party lines.
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Special Report, Part 2: Unions safeguard health benefits
Boston Globe, March 1, 2010
It was the spring of 2009, and Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, staring at a $1 million shortfall for her city, had an idea: What if she could get employees to pay more for their health care?
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Obama says he'd compromise with GOP
Boston Globe, March 1, 2010
Washington - President Obama said yesterday that he is ready to compromise with Republicans on health care if they are serious about it, but that an overhaul must go forward. "Let's get this done," he said.
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Obama says he'd compromise with GOP
Boston Globe, March 1, 2010
Washington - President Obama said yesterday that he is ready to compromise with Republicans on health care if they are serious about it, but that an overhaul must go forward. "Let's get this done," he said.
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Why towns face staggering health care costs
Boston Globe, March 1, 2010
Over the past decade, health care has consumed an increasing portion of municipal budgets...
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