Monthly Archives: November 2007

Oral Health Legislation Moves to Next Stage

Great news from the Oral Health Advocacy Taskforce: In late October, our bill — An Act improving, promoting and protecting the oral health of the Commonwealth (H2085/ S1217) — was heard before the Joint Committee on Public Health. This bill … Continue reading

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Consequences of Lifetime Caps and Quality of Care Issues

Today’s Wall Street Journal chronicles the story of a California man’s struggle with a staph infection, which was riddled with quality of care issues and resulted in astronomical amounts of medical debt. Worth a look. Mr. Dawson’s infection went undiagnosed … Continue reading

Posted in Health Care Market, Health Care Quality | 1 Comment

Exchange over Rising Premiums at WBUR Blog

Today I blogged at WBUR’s CommonHealth website on rising health insurance premiums in Massachusetts — click here. Jon Hurst, head of the Retailers Association and Charlie Baker, CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, weigh in, last time we checked. Worth … Continue reading

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US HHS Sect. Leavitt in Town — Talks Waiver

Could be a lot worse. This in today’s State House News Service by Catherine Williams and Michael Norton: The Bush administration’s top health and human services official said he has “great optimism” for a Massachusetts waiver that is due to … Continue reading

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Patrick Administration Takes Public Action on Racial/Ethnic Disparities

HCFA and the Disparities Action Network (DAN) applaud the release of $1 million in disparities reduction grants from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health . The grants were announced today at the Greater Lawrence Community Health Center. The Health Center … Continue reading

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Major Disparities Announcements Tomorrow

Massachusetts will be taking a major step tomorrow to address racial and ethnic health disparities. HHS Secretary Bigby, and DPH Commissioner Auerbach will announce $1 million in grants to 36 agencies throughout the state to fund new efforts to eliminate … Continue reading

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Confessions of a Drug Rep (II): Data Mining in Action

Another clip from the compelling New York Times Magazine article from yesterday, Dr. Drug Rep by Dr. Daniel Carlat — click here. This involves the practice of “data mining” by pharmaceutical companies to learn the precise prescribing practices of individual … Continue reading

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The MA Individual Mandate and National Politics

Also in today’s NYT, don’t miss the article — click here – exploring the implementation of the individual mandate and the implications of our work for national policy and politics. Ann F. McEachern, 33, a waitress and student who lives … Continue reading

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Confessions of a Drug Rep

Not to be missed from today’s Sunday reading is the article, “Dr. Drug Rep,” in today’s NYT Mag — click here. It’s a first person account by Dr. Daniel Carlat, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Tufts School of … Continue reading

Posted in Health Care Market, US health policy | 3 Comments

Health Affairs 25th — I: New Perspective on the Higher Income/Uninsured

Perusing Health Affairs 25th Anniversary Issue, a couple of articles stand out. Here’s one: Higher Income And Uninsured: Common Or Rare? By Hanns Kuttner and Matthew S. Rutledge. Click here – but subscription required. One of the accepted truisms in … Continue reading

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