SAMHSA’s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition

Table of Contents

National News 

• Senate Votes to Begin Debate on the Patients Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009
• Update: Senate Confirms Hyde as SAMHSA Administrator
• House Passes Medicare “Doc Fix” Legislation
• Senate Approves $134 Billion Veterans Budget, Increases Health Funding 9 Percent
• Sen. Grassley Introduced Legislation to Allow Longer Medicare Payment Delays in Dubious Cases
• Rep. Adler Sponsors Bill to Increase Oversight at VA Clinics
• OMB Reports $98 Billion in Improper Government Payments; Medicare and Medicaid Account for Over $50 Billion
• GINA to Take Effect, Prevent Employers and Insurers from Genetic Discrimination
• Pharmaceutical Companies Increased Drug Prices 9 Percent Since Last Year; Congressmen Seek Audits
• CCHIT Seeks Comment on Behavioral Health EHR Certification Criteria
• Polls Find Deep Divisions on Health Care Reform
• Army Suicides Rise; Study Finds Mental Health Staff Lacking in Afghanistan, Army to Send More
• Nabi, GlaxoSmithKline Sign Deal Over Nicotine Addiction Vaccine

Studies Released                               

• CMS Report Finds House Health Care Reform Bill Would Increase Health Care Costs
• CMS Pays Out More for Quality Physician Reporting in 2009
• Business Roundtable Report Praises Some Health Care Reforms, Criticizes Others
• Mercer Releases 2009 Employer Health Plan Survey Highlights
• RWJF Report Analyzes Massachusetts’s Health Care Reform, Outlines Lessons for the National Effort
• KFF Releases Health Care Reform Analyses of Racial/Ethnic Disparities and State-Level Variations
• U.S News & World Report Releases Health Plan Rankings
• Study Finds Little Benefit to Hospital EHR Implementation
• Study Find Uninsurance Associated with Higher Mortality After Trauma

Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing        

PLEASE NOTE: SAMHSA’s Weekly Financing News Pulse will not be produced over Thanksgiving; the next National Edition will be distributed on Monday, December 7th.

Download SAMHSA's Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition here: Weekly Financing News Pulse National Edition final 20091123.pdf (382.48 kb)

SAMHSA’s Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition

Table of Contents

• Alabama
• California
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

PLEASE NOTE: SAMHSA’s Weekly Financing News Pulse will not be produced over Thanksgiving; the next State and Local edition will be distributed on Wednesday, December 2nd.

Download SAMHSA's Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition here: Weekly Financing News Pulse State and Local Edition final 20091118.pdf (324.13 kb)

SAMHSA’s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition

Table of Contents

National News 

• Senate Democrats Await CBO Scores, Adjust Health Reform Timeline, and Consider New Taxes
• Legislators Plan to Attach Cost Saving Commission Provision to Debt Ceiling Legislation
• Democrats Strike Deal With Sen. Coburn Clearing Way for Veterans Health Bill
• House Clears Way for Vote on Medicare “Doc Fix” Bill
• Sen. Bayh Requests CBO Estimate of Health Reform’s Impact on Employer-Sponsored Insurance
• Secretary Sibelius Appoints 7 Members to AHRQ National Advisory Council
• FTC Investigating CVS Caremark

Studies Released                               

• NCCBH Survey Finds Veterans Face Barriers to Behavioral Health Care
• CBPP Report Outlines How Medicaid ARRA Funding Expiration Will Affect States, Calls for Additional Federal Relief
• Thomson Reuters Study Finds Hospitals Have Recovered to Pre-Recession Levels
• Survey Finds Physicians Favor Tort Reform Over Other Health Care Reforms
• Report Estimates ACO’s Effect on Health Care Cost and Quality
• KFF Releases Summaries of HR 3962 Provisions
• KFF Examines Express Lane Eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP
• KFF Releases Resources Examining 2010 Medicare Offerings
• RAND Examines Multiple Approaches to Controlling Health Care Spending
• Study Attributes Increasing Medicaid Cost to Enrollment, Examines Cost Containment Strategies
• Some Cost Saving Innovations May Improve Outcomes Even When Slightly Less Effective Than Other Options
• Study Examines Adverse Selection in Medicare “Part D”
• Study Finds Primary Care Visit Duration and Quality Increased from 1997 to 2005

Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing

• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health: H1N1 Preparedness
  November 18, 10:00 a.m., 2123 Rayburn
• Senate Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health: Project HERO
  November 19, 10:00 a.m., 334 Cannon

Download SAMHSA's Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition here: Weekly Financing News Pulse National Edition final 20091113.pdf (344.64 kb)

SAMHSA’s Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition

Table of Contents                               

SAMHSA’s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition

Table of Contents

National News 

• House Passes Democrat’s Health Care Reform Bill; Rejects GOP Proposal
• Sens. Brown and Casey Propose Legislation Extending ARRA COBRA Subsidy
• Sen. Harkin Requests Rate-Setting Information from Insurers
• Senate Commerce Committee Analysis Suggests Insurers Overstated Their Medical Expenses
• CMS Letter Provides CHIPRA M/SU Parity Implementation Guidance
• CMS Eases Planned Medicare Rate Cuts for Some Specialists, Still Increases Primary Care Reimbursements
• DOJ Settles Medicaid False Claims Suit for $112 Million
• 15 States Sue Amgen for Medicaid Fraud
• Update: WellPoint to Resume Enrolling Medicare Part D and MA Beneficiaries
• Update: Aetna Completes Acquisition of Horizon Behavioral Health

Studies Released                               

• Drug Policy Alliance Brief Advocates Changes to Veterans’ Substance Abuse Treatment
• Health Care Leaders Think Medicare Provides Easy Access to Care, Ineffective Cost Controls
• RWJF Report Considers Lessons for Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus Coverage Expansion
• KFF Brief Examines the CLASS Act
• NPAF Whitepaper Examines Health Care Reform’s Effect on Access to Care
• Polling Analysis Finds Current Attitudes Towards Health Care Reform Similar to 1994 Attitudes
• Study Links Child Uninsurance and Mortality
• Research Finds Gaps in Public Health Insurance Coverage
• Uninsurance and Public Insurance Associated with Greater Mortality After Trauma in Children

Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing

• Senate HELP Committee: Increasing Small Business Health Care Costs
  November 3, 2:30 p.m., 430 Dirksen
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: H1N1 Influenza Pandemic
  November 4, 10:00 a.m., 2359 Rayburn
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health: H1N1 Preparedness
  November 4, 2:00 p.m., 2322 Rayburn
• Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee: Commerce and HHS Nominations
  November 5, 10:00 a.m., 538 Dirksen
• Senate Veterans Affairs Committee: VA-Indian Health Service Cooperation
  November 5, 10:00 a.m., 418 Russell
• Senate Judiciary Committee: Reducing Recidivism at the Local Level
  November 5, 2:00 p.m., 226 Dirksen
• Senate Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health: Project HERO
  November 19, 10:00 a.m., 334 Cannon

Although general coverage for this issue ended November 6, it was published November 9 to allow for coverage of the House’s Affordable Health Care for America Act vote on November 7. 

Download SAMHSA's Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition here: Weekly Financing News Pulse National Edition final 20091109.pdf (351.76 kb)

SAMHSA’s Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition

Table of Contents

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado  
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• New York
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• Utah
• Virginia
• Washington
• Washington D.C.
• West Virginia

Download SAMHSA's Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition here: Weekly Financing News Pulse State and Local Edition final 200911004.pdf (370.39 kb)