Obama Plan May Give Doctors Leverage to Press for Liability Protection
from The Dallas Morning News, May 12, 2009
 The push to attack rising health care costs by cutting wasteful medical procedures could open the door to a divisive issue that has made headway in Texas but flopped in Congress: medical tort reform. For years, the American Medical Association has promoted legislation to cap non-economic damages in malpractice lawsuits. Such legislation passed the Republican-controlled House in 2005 but failed in the Senate. More
Advertisement
AMA Prez-Elect: What Docs Want In Exchange for Curbing Costs
from The Wall Street Journal Health Blog, May 11, 2009
The Health Blog had a quick chat with AMA President-elect Jim Rohack, one of the health-industry big shots who was on hand at the White House to talk about health reform. The AMA was one of several players (along with groups representing insurers, drug and device makers, hospitals and unionized workers) who jointly pledged to slow the rise of health costs. What would docs do toward that end? More
Recession Drains Social Security and Medicare
from The New York Times, May 12, 2009
Even as Congress hunted for ways to finance a major expansion of health insurance coverage, the Obama administration reported Tuesday that the financial condition of the two largest federal benefit programs, Medicare and Social Security, had deteriorated, in part because of the recession. More
Critics Try to Undo Futile Care Law
from The Houston Chronicle, May 10, 2009
Those who want to extend the time some hospital patients may live before their life support is cut off are worried their proposal is running into a wall - and the clock - at the Capitol. Legislation by Rep. Bryan Hughes and pushed by Texas Right to Life, best known for its anti-abortion views, requires life-sustaining treatment to continue for patients deemed futile by doctors until a transfer to another medical facility can be arranged, if their family requests it. The Texas Medical Association, Texas Hospital Association and a number of individual hospitals oppose Hughes' bill. More
 |
Product Showcase:
OCuSOFT® Lid Scrub™ PLUS
 Unique “Leave-On” formula prolongs eyelid contact thus maximizing bacterial time kill rate
Eradicates seven different strains of bacteria common to the eyelids
In a recent study*, OCuSOFT® Lid Scrub ™ PLUS has been demonstrated to effectively kill Demodex Mites
Click here for FREE samples and more information.
*Yee, M.D., Richard. Efficacy of OCuSOFT® Lid Scrub ™ PLUS on Eradication of Ocular Demodex, 2008, July. Study on File
|
TMA Introduces New Leaders
from The Fort Worth Business Press, May 11, 2009
The Texas Medical Association, the largest state medical society in the nation, represents nearly 44,000 physician and medical student members. At TexMed 2009, its annual meeting, it also introduced new leaders. Dr. William H. Fleming III, a Houston neurologist, was elected as the association’s 144th president. From Tarrant County, Doris Johnson, a social worker and volunteer, was named president-elect for the Texas Medical Association Alliance, the volunteer service organization of TMA physicians and physicians’ spouses. More
More on the Medicaid Projections
from The Texas Monthly Burkablog, May 6, 2009
Dewhurst and the Senate are manufacturing a budget crisis that does not exist. Medicaid caseload assumptions are part of the budgeting process. House and Senate budget writers get updated estimates at the beginning of the process, at markup, and in conference committee. Typically, there are three scenarios (low, middle, high). Conferees traditionally go with the low estimate. This creates a hole in the Medicaid budget, or, if you prefer, a structural deficit. More
Tobacco Firms' 40 Lobbyists Put Popular Proposals At Risk
from The Dallas Morning News, May 11, 2009
Where there's smoke, there's hires. In this year's legislative session, tobacco interests have retained 40 lobbyists - including seven former lawmakers - to influence proposals to limit cigarettes and change taxes on smokeless tobacco. More
Advertisement
Taxing Those With Insurance to Pay for Those Without
from The New York Times, May 7, 2009
It is an alluring way to pay for the ambitious plan to expand health coverage to the nearly 50 million people who are now uninsured. Simply put, the government would tax the people who already have the most expensive health benefits, as provided by their employers. More
Opinion: Hypocritical or Not, Ban Smoking Statewide
from The Victoria Advocate, May 12, 2009
The author once challenged the secondhand smoke haters to show definitive proof from an unbiased scientific study that secondhand smoke harmed anybody. Today, more and more proof is being offered. Then, three and a half years ago, he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. More
Video: Children’s Medicaid Bill Would be 'Huge' for Border Region, Says Lawmaker
from The Rio Grande Guardian, May 12, 2009
The border region would benefit enormously if continuous eligibility for Children’s Medicaid was extended from six months to 12 months, says a state lawmaker. “It would be huge, bearing in mind we are talking about the poorest of our children who don’t have health care coverage or who are getting it on a delayed basis,” said state Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) in a video interview with the Guardian. More
How Widespread Is Swine Flu?
from KPRC Houston, May 12, 2009
The Houston Health Department said it has received more than 6,300 samples from 17 counties. Of those, about 2,300 were tested. Fifty-two came back from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention positive for swine flu. By our calculations, about 4,000 specimens are still sitting there waiting to be tested. That's quite a backlog -- enough for the health department to add a third shift of lab workers starting Tuesday to get through them all. More
|
Advertisement
Advertisement
|
