Monthly Archives: October 2006

Private Market Merger Commission Meeting Cancelled

Posted on October 25, 2006 by

The Special Commission studying the merger of the non-group and small group insurance markets will not meet this week. The next meeting is scheduled for next Thursday, November 2 from 10 am to noon at the offices of the Division … Continue reading →

Posted in Health Care Market, MA Health Reform | Leave a comment

MEGA (Life) Worries

Posted on October 24, 2006 by

More MEGA Life concerns were raised by a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s office yesterday. Here is today’s Boston Globe article by Chris Rowland about MEGA Life’s alleged illegal practices, including failure to offer mandated benefits, unfair denials of … Continue reading →

Posted in Health Care Market, MA Health Reform | 61 Comments

Health Reform on the Ground in Northern Berkshire County

Posted on October 24, 2006 by

Nice piece in last Friday’s North Adams Transcript on health reform implementation in Northern Berkshire County. Nice photo of Chip Joffe Halpern, Executive Director of Ecu-Care, board president at Health Care For All, and a member of the board of … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Health Reform | Leave a comment

So Much Happening … Let’s Mix It Up a Bit Folks…

Posted on October 23, 2006 by

Regular readers of Healthy Blog know you’re a quiet bunch. Our stats tell us we have between 400-600 unique visitors a day — insiders, outsiders, and betweeners. A good sized readership, yet comments are infrequent. We would like to change … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Health Reform | 2 Comments

Mass. Health Council Honors Steve Rosenfeld

Posted on October 22, 2006 by

Monday evening, the Mass. Health Council will honor Steve Rosenfeld with their annual award. Permit us to take a moment to offer our own congrats to Steve who has made a remarkable contribution to improving health care in Massachusetts. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

New Report Documents MA Dental Providers Shortage

Posted on October 21, 2006 by

New report released this past Monday by the MA Oral Health Collaborative and the Catalyst Institute: Massachusetts Oral Health Report — Mapping Access to Oral Health Care in Massachusetts. Click here for the full report. Here are the major findings: … Continue reading →

Posted in Health Care Quality | 1 Comment

Thursday’s Debate: The Health Care Question

Posted on October 20, 2006 by

Transcript from last night’s debate, courtesy of Boston.com’s blog: Allison King (NECN): Ms. Ross under the new state health care law, starting in July thousands of families with no health insurance will be in for a shock when they realize … Continue reading →

Posted in Health Care Politics, MA Health Reform | Leave a comment

Market Merger Commission Meets with Kingsdale — We Watch

Posted on October 20, 2006 by

The Market Merger Commission met Thursday with Jon Kingsdale and Bob Carey of the Connector to discuss decisions the Connector may make affecting the Commission’s study. There were more folks in attendance this week, 15 spectators, and anticipation at what … Continue reading →

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Legislature Enacts Technical Corrections Bill

Posted on October 20, 2006 by

Yesterday the House and Senate sent to the Governor their health reform “Technical Corrections” legislation. The bill, 82 sections and 33 pages, mainly changes effective dates and references. It also clarifies the staggered terms for Connector and Quality and Cost … Continue reading →

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Illinois Counts Cost of Workers on Public Coverage

Posted on October 19, 2006 by

Massachusetts released its report on private employer workers on public coverage last February. The cost in Massachusetts was over $240 million. Now Illinois has done the same study for their state. Just like Massachusetts, #1 and #2 — Walmart and … Continue reading →

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