Health junction

Wrangling Over Proposed Insurance Exchanges and Standard Health Care Benefits Takes a Nasty Turn Barely recovering from the last congressional gaffe about redefining the rape of a woman in a transparent attempt to get out from under the federal Hyde Amendment criteria for Medicaid payments, the �powers-that-be� have made another mind blowing error in public engagement. In a nutshell and yes, I do mean all of these puns, here is the latest blunder by the Republicans controlling the house. In a public hearing for testimony on the federal health insurance exchanges and standardized benefits for primary health care, which includes birth control options as benign as birth control pills, no women were allowed to testify at the hearing . It certainly is curious that those who are actually capable of pregnancy are excluded from the hearing. This refusal was despite vigorous opposition by female congresswomen. I actually listened to the hearing in order to believe it. And the woman they refus...

Impact of the Vatican's Universal Translation of Faith, Catholic Owned Health Care Facilities and State Legislation on Health Care for Women The triad of the new stricter Vatican rules for interpretation of Catholic protocols, the trend toward Catholic organizations purchasing non-Catholic hospitals, and the furor over the proposed women's health standards for the 2014 health insurance exchanges have made this a topic which must be revisited. In order of appearance here are the players:the Vatican, Swedish Health Services, and the State of Mississippi. Vatican Rules on a Universal Translation for Catholics Beginning November 27, 2011, the Vatican has issued another edict which attempts to tighten the interpretation of the Catholic faith, by mandating a single universal translation of the faith. The church hopes to reign in the more liberal interpretation which is prevalent in the United States and other western countries. Though one might think this only affects Catholics, n...

Suggestions for Amending the 2010 Health Care Reforms Now that the teeth gnashing is on-going over proposed changes to the health care reforms of 2010, this article addresses some areas for potential modifications. If any of you are under the delusion that everything will be repealed, wake-up, because the Medicare changes are essential to management of that costly federal entitlement program. I am speaking of the pay-for-performance initiatives where Medicare (Center for Medicare Services) pays more money to organizations which have fewer medical errors and re-admissions for patient procedures. I am referring to the Accountable Care Act will have a major impact on how medical care is organized, models for disease interventions, and the reporting of performance metrics(I wrote about this last fall). So, that stays, but the rest of this article addresses some of the things that could go or at least be modified. Federal Insurance Purchasing Subsidies for Mandated Health Insurance A few mo...

State Reactions to 2010 Health Care Reforms A virtual firestorm has ensued with state reactions to some of the federal government mandates under the health care reforms of 2010, from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Public Health Services Act, and the Affordable Health Care Act for America. This article reviews two of these bones of contention, including the consumer protection aspects, which impact the Office of Insurance Commissioners and the reproductive rights provisions. Consumer Protections under Federal Mandates The federal government has awarded thirty million dollars in grants to the states to shore up their consumer protection services for health insurance policy holders. Since the insurance commissioners of each state are already charged with this duty, are staffed for it, and are funded by a tax on the insurance premiums for each insurer, I struggle with the necessity of this award. The insurance commissioner�s office for each state are very well funded a...