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HOUSE PASSES MENTAL HEALTH PARITY BILL

(Washington) - The House has set the stage for potentially tough congressional negotiations on mental health parity by adopting broader legislation than the Senate. The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007, which the House passed 268-148 on March 5, would strengthen existing law by requiring insurers to provide out-of-network mental health coverage if insurers offer out-of-network physical health benefits. Among other provisions, it also would require companies offering mental health benefits to cover illnesses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (More)

RENDELL PROMOTES HEALTH PLAN

Gov. Ed Rendell is urging the state Senate to move forward on a plan to provide state-subsidized health insurance. He said he hopes it could be passed by April. Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, said he would hold public hearings on the plan, but has no timetable. On Monday, the Democratic-controlled state House approved a plan to provide coverage for 273,000 uninsured adults within five years. It moves to the Senate, where Republicans have a 29-21 majority. Rendell urged Senate Republicans to put aside partisan politics and approve the bill. (More)

PA LAUNCHES HOSPITAL QUALITY WEB SITE

Beginning today, patients and their families in Pennsylvania can go to a single Web site to learn about the quality of local hospitals. The Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Alliance - a coalition of the state's four Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurers as well as its hospitals, doctors and government health agencies - developed the site so that patients can learn about hospital quality from a range of sources in four key areas: Heart attacks. Heart failure. Pneumonia. Hospital-associated infections. (More)

HEALTH CARE MYTHS CAN'T STAND UP TO FACTS

Regardless of how educated or erudite someone may be, everyone falls for the occasional urban legend. Folklorists say we're susceptible to urban legends because -- despite evidence to the contrary -- they provide narratives we need to believe in. Ever since I wrote a column two weeks ago about the need for universal health care in our state and country, I've been deluged with correspondence from locals who fell for one popular urban legend. "People in countries with socialized medicine are all sick or dying," most of the letters began. (More)

CAPPELLI, EVERETT AGAINST STATE HOUSE HEALTH PLAN

Local lawmakers voted against a recently House-passed health coverage initiative, claiming it's an iffy proposition at best, given questions over funding. "Everybody agrees it's going to be very expensive," state Rep. Garth Everett, R-Muncy, said. "We just think there are better ways to go." Everett voted against the bill aimed at providing coverage to about 270,000 uninsured state residents. He said the bill was hastily introduced and rammed through the House before many members had much of a chance to consider it. "We had one day to see it. One day to debate it. So. That was my basic complaint." (More)

MEDPAC REPORT ADDS MOMENTUM TO PUSH FOR 2009 MEDICARE PAY HIKE

(Washington) - Congress' Medicare advisers recommended a 1.1% physician reimbursement increase for next year and a reduction in payments to Medicare private health plans. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's annual March report assumes that lawmakers again will act to prevent physician pay cuts triggered by the sustainable growth rate formula. Existing law calls for a 10.6% reduction to take effect July 1 and an additional cut of about 5% in 2009. Physician organizations, including the American Medical Association, welcomed MedPAC's continued support for a positive update. (More)

Marathoner Ryan Shay poses at a New York City Marathon news conference, in New York, in this Nov. 3, 2005 file photo. Shay collapsed and died during the U.S. men's Olympic marathon trials on Nov. 3, 2007, in New York. He was 28. According to the New York City medical examiner, Shay died of an irregular heartbeat due to an enlarged heart. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Sins of the Son

Lincolniana

Say What You Will...Freedom

Smoking Guns and Mushroom Clouds

Mailer Made America His Subject

Office of Health Care Reform

Department of Aging

PA General Assembly Website

Pa.'s Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan

Pew Finds Support for Terror Wanes Among Muslim Publics

Tobacco Settlement Investment Board

Medical Malpractice Liability Reform Plan

BioCentury

"Sunshine Week" Recognizes Every Citizen's "Right To Know"

OBAMA Events Already Rolling in Central PA

Nauman Smith Attorney Named Capital Tax Collection Bureau Solicitor

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