Health

This morning, the Connector Board voted on the 2010 Affordability Schedule. The vote was a compromise between various positions and interests amongst Board members. Health Care For All and the ACT!! Coalition argued strongly for 0% increase, and we are concerned for middle-income Bay Staters who have trouble affording their increasing health care [...]

The Consumer Health Quality Council, HCFA’s quality improvement coalition, is pleased to announce the debut of a new website: www.assertivepatient.org. Members of the Consumer Council who had difficult health care experiences have said that following the occurrence of an adverse medical event, it was very difficult to determine where they could go for assistance and [...]

[Note: Today's guest blogger is Marc Hymovitz, Director of Government Relations & Advocacy American Cancer Society, New England Division] While Massachusetts health reform has been successful in reducing the number of uninsured residents and ensuring a minimum, adequate level of coverage, barriers to care still remain. Passage of meaningful health care reform at the federal level [...]

Author Rosemarie Gibson with members of HCFA’s Consumer Health Quality Council Rosemary Gibson, a nationally-known expert on health care quality issues, spoke yesterday at Health Care For All about her new book, “The Treatment Trap,” which focuses on overuse of medical care. Both this new book and Ms. Gibson’s first book, “Wall of Silence,” seek to [...]

Since moving from Texas – the state where I was born and raised – to Boston late last year, I began conducting a small social experiment: I casually engage New England natives in conversations regarding their impressions of Texas as a state, population and, perhaps most significant if not delightfully intriguing, as perceived of having [...]

[Note: today's guest blog is by Deborah Banda, State Director, AARP Massachusetts] At AARP, we hear countless heartbreaking stories from our members who can’t get affordable health care coverage or who can’t afford their prescription drugs. We know that health care is among the most important and personal economic issues they face. AARP is fighting for [...]

The Public Health Council is meeting on Wednesday, March 10 from 9-12 a.m. at their usual location, 250 Washington Street, Boston, 2nd Floor (meeting agenda (pdf)). Included on the agenda are a summary of H1N1 activities and an update on Limited Service Clinics in Massachusetts. When limited service clinics (like CVS’s MinuteClinics) were [...]

This is National Patient Safety Week, being observed by health care providers, advocates, and others across the country. To mark the week, Rosemary Gibson, an expert on health care quality issues, is speaking tomorrow (Tuesday, March 9) at HCFA on her new book, “The Treatment Trap,” which looks at overuse of medical care and the [...]

Today, Health Care For All is releasing a powerful video in support of national health care reform. Massachusetts patients, doctors, students, consumer advocates, and representatives of small business and labor come together and talk about why we need national health reform and why it is good for the Commonwealth. You can view the video above, [...]

Massachusetts has been a national leader in expanding affordable coverage to children. Chapter 58 expanded MassHealth coverage to kids in families with income up to 3 times the poverty level, and the Children’s Medical Security Plan provides basic care to all children ineligible for other coverage at any income level. Our aggressive outreach programs have [...]

Following a longstanding A Healthy Blog convention, we tag posts dealing with former Governor Romney’s spin cycle attempts to deal with the Massachusetts reform law under the health care humor category; besides, this gave me a good laugh. Timothy Noah of Slate posted a quiz yesterday that juxtaposes a number of Obama and Romney statements on [...]

Massachusetts has long been a leader in health reform, and oral health advocates have worked to ensure that oral health is a part of this important work. National health reform will be good for Massachusetts, because it will strengthen oral health in the Commonwealth. Oral health is an essential part of overall health. Dental decay is [...]

More information has come out on the DHCFP Chapter 305 Cost Trends hearings, to be held on March 16th, 18th and 19th. First, the hearings have been moved to the Joseph P. Healey Library University Club, 11th floor, University of Massachusetts Boston. The hearings start at 9am each of the three days. [...]

Last year, the Special Commission on Payment Reform unanimously approved a transition from fee-for-service to global payment (see our blog report). Since then, there has been a lot of discussion about global payment and how to get there. A recent paper published by the Commonwealth Fund, The Potential of Global Payment: Insights [...]

National health reform will strengthen protections for Massachusetts consumers by eliminating lifetime caps, financial restrictions on how much an insurance company will pay for care. Under current Connector regulations, insurers may cap benefits for students and young people, and they may impose lifetime limits on benefits for “non-core services.” This will be reversed under national [...]

As a doctor, a patient, policy-maker and administrator of the state’s health care programs, Dr. JudyAnn Bigby is in one of the best positions to comment on why national health reform will be good for Massachusetts. So don’t just take our word for it – listen to hers. In an op/ed in yesterday’s Standard-Times, the [...]

Remember the MassHealth waiver? Didn’t think so. After refreshing your knowledge with the superb Mass Medicaid Policy Institute summary, come back for a brief discussion of today’s news. [short summary: waiver= permission by federal government allowing state to claim federal Medicaid reimbursement funds for health reform spending] Today the state filed with the federal government a request [...]

Over 200 parents and young children “strollered in” to the State House today to lobby against the cuts that Governor Patrick has asked for regarding Early Intervention Programs. Early Intervention needs an estimated $2 million by April 1st to maintain the services that are currently provided. Otherwise, the percentage delay that a child [...]

Health Care For All is hosting a talk next week by Rosemary Gibson, author of a new book titled “The Treatment Trap.” The focus of the book and her talk will be on the overuse of medical care and how it is harming consumers as well as the health care system. The event is free and [...]