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Universal Health Care in Illinois
Universal health care coverage will be available to children in the state of Illinois next year. Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich (D) recently signed the “All Kids” plan into law, which makes comprehensive health insurance available to all children—regardless of family income—with parents paying monthly premiums and co-payments for physician's visits and prescription drugs at affordable rates. The coverage also includes inpatient care, vision care, dental care, and medical devices such as inhalers. The plan specifically targets uninsured children that come from working and middle-class families—those whose parents earn too much to qualify for public programs like KidCare, but still can't afford private insurance. “This plan makes Illinois the first state in the country to provide comprehensive health care coverage to uninsured children,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, in a statement. “This enormous breakthrough may set an example for other states and the federal government to extend help to the parents of uninsured children all across the country,” he said. The plan goes into effect on July 1.
Autism and Genetics
Five institutes at the National Institutes of Health and three private organizations have formed a consortium to identify genes that may contribute to the development of autism and autism spectrum disorders. The consortium has funded five grants totaling $10.8 million, to be given out over a 5-year period. “This initiative seeks to expand our knowledge of the genetic factors involved in this disorder that affects so many families,” said Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, one of the consortium members. The other members from NIH are the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The private organizations are the National Alliance for Autism Research, Cure Autism Now, and the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center.
AMA Addresses Medicaid Reform
Delegates to the American Medical Association's interim meeting tackled the issues of Medicaid reform and the uninsured, opposing Medicaid reform legislation—now pending in the U.S. House of Representatives—that would mandate premiums and copayments for acute care services and pharmaceuticals for children who live at or below 133% of the federal poverty level. In addition, they adopted a report that would place a high priority on expanding health insurance coverage for “all Americans,” including the uninsured, and also called on the AMA to pursue bipartisan support for federally funded tax credits as a preferred long-term solution for covering all patients. A resolution calling for the AMA to endorse health savings accounts for Medicaid patients ended up getting referred back to the AMA's Board of Trustees.
Smoking Ban in Public Places
Applying a hard-line approach to kicking the habit, AMA delegates voted to actively support national, state, and local legislation and pursue regulations banning smoking in all workplaces. In addition, the AMA should work to ensure that federal legislation banning smoking in all workplaces does not prohibit or weaken existing and stricter state or local regulations. The AMA should also actively pursue national legislation banning smoking in all cafeterias, restaurants, cafes, supermarkets, and other venues where food or drink is consumed on the premises. The language initially just called for a ban in restaurants, “but we recognized that there was no reason to limit it to eating establishments,” said AMA Trustee Robert Wah, M.D. “The public workplace needed to be protected as well.”
Improving Uncompensated Care
Hospitals have established more generous uncompensated-care guidelines for uninsured patients after a torrent of publicity about aggressive hospital billing and collection practices and a series of lawsuits alleging that hospitals overcharge these patients, the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) reported. The study is based on HSC's 2005 site visits to 12 nationally representative communities. “In every HSC community, most hospitals have either recently changed their pricing, billing, and collection policies or tried to improve the clarity of the information provided to patients,” said HSC research analyst Andrea B. Staiti, coauthor of the study. For example, it is now common for hospitals in the 12 surveyed communities to provide uncompensated care to uninsured patients with incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level, and to offer sliding-scale discounts for patients with incomes up to 400% or 500% of the poverty level.
Universal Health Care in Illinois
Universal health care coverage will be available to children in the state of Illinois next year. Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich (D) recently signed the “All Kids” plan into law, which makes comprehensive health insurance available to all children—regardless of family income—with parents paying monthly premiums and co-payments for physician's visits and prescription drugs at affordable rates. The coverage also includes inpatient care, vision care, dental care, and medical devices such as inhalers. The plan specifically targets uninsured children that come from working and middle-class families—those whose parents earn too much to qualify for public programs like KidCare, but still can't afford private insurance. “This plan makes Illinois the first state in the country to provide comprehensive health care coverage to uninsured children,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, in a statement. “This enormous breakthrough may set an example for other states and the federal government to extend help to the parents of uninsured children all across the country,” he said. The plan goes into effect on July 1.
Autism and Genetics
Five institutes at the National Institutes of Health and three private organizations have formed a consortium to identify genes that may contribute to the development of autism and autism spectrum disorders. The consortium has funded five grants totaling $10.8 million, to be given out over a 5-year period. “This initiative seeks to expand our knowledge of the genetic factors involved in this disorder that affects so many families,” said Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, one of the consortium members. The other members from NIH are the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The private organizations are the National Alliance for Autism Research, Cure Autism Now, and the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center.
AMA Addresses Medicaid Reform
Delegates to the American Medical Association's interim meeting tackled the issues of Medicaid reform and the uninsured, opposing Medicaid reform legislation—now pending in the U.S. House of Representatives—that would mandate premiums and copayments for acute care services and pharmaceuticals for children who live at or below 133% of the federal poverty level. In addition, they adopted a report that would place a high priority on expanding health insurance coverage for “all Americans,” including the uninsured, and also called on the AMA to pursue bipartisan support for federally funded tax credits as a preferred long-term solution for covering all patients. A resolution calling for the AMA to endorse health savings accounts for Medicaid patients ended up getting referred back to the AMA's Board of Trustees.
Smoking Ban in Public Places
Applying a hard-line approach to kicking the habit, AMA delegates voted to actively support national, state, and local legislation and pursue regulations banning smoking in all workplaces. In addition, the AMA should work to ensure that federal legislation banning smoking in all workplaces does not prohibit or weaken existing and stricter state or local regulations. The AMA should also actively pursue national legislation banning smoking in all cafeterias, restaurants, cafes, supermarkets, and other venues where food or drink is consumed on the premises. The language initially just called for a ban in restaurants, “but we recognized that there was no reason to limit it to eating establishments,” said AMA Trustee Robert Wah, M.D. “The public workplace needed to be protected as well.”
Improving Uncompensated Care
Hospitals have established more generous uncompensated-care guidelines for uninsured patients after a torrent of publicity about aggressive hospital billing and collection practices and a series of lawsuits alleging that hospitals overcharge these patients, the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) reported. The study is based on HSC's 2005 site visits to 12 nationally representative communities. “In every HSC community, most hospitals have either recently changed their pricing, billing, and collection policies or tried to improve the clarity of the information provided to patients,” said HSC research analyst Andrea B. Staiti, coauthor of the study. For example, it is now common for hospitals in the 12 surveyed communities to provide uncompensated care to uninsured patients with incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level, and to offer sliding-scale discounts for patients with incomes up to 400% or 500% of the poverty level.
Universal Health Care in Illinois
Universal health care coverage will be available to children in the state of Illinois next year. Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich (D) recently signed the “All Kids” plan into law, which makes comprehensive health insurance available to all children—regardless of family income—with parents paying monthly premiums and co-payments for physician's visits and prescription drugs at affordable rates. The coverage also includes inpatient care, vision care, dental care, and medical devices such as inhalers. The plan specifically targets uninsured children that come from working and middle-class families—those whose parents earn too much to qualify for public programs like KidCare, but still can't afford private insurance. “This plan makes Illinois the first state in the country to provide comprehensive health care coverage to uninsured children,” said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, in a statement. “This enormous breakthrough may set an example for other states and the federal government to extend help to the parents of uninsured children all across the country,” he said. The plan goes into effect on July 1.
Autism and Genetics
Five institutes at the National Institutes of Health and three private organizations have formed a consortium to identify genes that may contribute to the development of autism and autism spectrum disorders. The consortium has funded five grants totaling $10.8 million, to be given out over a 5-year period. “This initiative seeks to expand our knowledge of the genetic factors involved in this disorder that affects so many families,” said Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, one of the consortium members. The other members from NIH are the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The private organizations are the National Alliance for Autism Research, Cure Autism Now, and the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center.
AMA Addresses Medicaid Reform
Delegates to the American Medical Association's interim meeting tackled the issues of Medicaid reform and the uninsured, opposing Medicaid reform legislation—now pending in the U.S. House of Representatives—that would mandate premiums and copayments for acute care services and pharmaceuticals for children who live at or below 133% of the federal poverty level. In addition, they adopted a report that would place a high priority on expanding health insurance coverage for “all Americans,” including the uninsured, and also called on the AMA to pursue bipartisan support for federally funded tax credits as a preferred long-term solution for covering all patients. A resolution calling for the AMA to endorse health savings accounts for Medicaid patients ended up getting referred back to the AMA's Board of Trustees.
Smoking Ban in Public Places
Applying a hard-line approach to kicking the habit, AMA delegates voted to actively support national, state, and local legislation and pursue regulations banning smoking in all workplaces. In addition, the AMA should work to ensure that federal legislation banning smoking in all workplaces does not prohibit or weaken existing and stricter state or local regulations. The AMA should also actively pursue national legislation banning smoking in all cafeterias, restaurants, cafes, supermarkets, and other venues where food or drink is consumed on the premises. The language initially just called for a ban in restaurants, “but we recognized that there was no reason to limit it to eating establishments,” said AMA Trustee Robert Wah, M.D. “The public workplace needed to be protected as well.”
Improving Uncompensated Care
Hospitals have established more generous uncompensated-care guidelines for uninsured patients after a torrent of publicity about aggressive hospital billing and collection practices and a series of lawsuits alleging that hospitals overcharge these patients, the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) reported. The study is based on HSC's 2005 site visits to 12 nationally representative communities. “In every HSC community, most hospitals have either recently changed their pricing, billing, and collection policies or tried to improve the clarity of the information provided to patients,” said HSC research analyst Andrea B. Staiti, coauthor of the study. For example, it is now common for hospitals in the 12 surveyed communities to provide uncompensated care to uninsured patients with incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level, and to offer sliding-scale discounts for patients with incomes up to 400% or 500% of the poverty level.