New Jersey Governor Signs Health Reform
Legislation
On July 8, New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine signed into
law a health reform bill which legislative sponsors describe
as the first phase in guaranteeing health coverage for all
New Jersey
residents.
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New Hampshire Enacts Legislation to
Assist Small Employers
New Hampshire Governor John Lynch recently signed
legislation to enact HealthFirst, a program designed
to make coverage more affordable to small businesses by
emphasizing wellness, prevention, and chronic disease
management.
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Maryland Begins Implementation of
Reforms
On July 7, Governor Martin O’Malley was in
Baltimore to
celebrate the July 1 effective date of a Maryland Medicaid
expansion called the Medical Assistance to Families program
under the Working Families and Small Business Health Coverage
Act.
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Ohio Health Reform
Recommendations
On July 23, 2008 an advisory group appointed by Governor
Strickland produced a comprehensive report that included
recommendations for meeting two goals set by the governor —to
reduce the number of uninsured Ohioans by half and to increase
the number of small businesses able to offer coverage to their
workers.
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Federal Medicaid Regulations
Delayed
On June 30, President Bush signed into law a supplemental
appropriations bill that will delay implementation of six
Medicaid regulations that were issued by the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
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Regulating the Reserves of
Non-Profit Insurance Plans
Both Colorado and the
District of Columbia have been
grappling with the issue of insurance carrier reserves in
recent months.
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New SCI Issue Brief on Provider
Taxes
A new SCI publication, "Can a Sales Tax on Medical Services
Help Fund State Coverage Expansions?" by Elliot K. Wicks,
Ph.D., is now available online. This brief encourages states
to consider a medical sales tax—or provider tax—as one
financing mechanism for expanding coverage.
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Profile in Coverage: Healthy Indiana
Plan
The State Coverage Initiatives (SCI) program recently spoke
with Mitchell Roob, Jr., secretary of the Indiana Family and
Social Services Administration about the Indiana Check-Up
Plan. The centerpiece of the plan is the Healthy Indiana Plan
(HIP). His insights on the program are outlined in a new SCI
report, “Profiles in Coverage: Indiana Check-Up Plan", now
available online.
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New SCI Resources Available on
Section 125 Plans
The State Coverage Initiatives program—along with the
National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices
(NGA) and the
National
Academy for State
Health Policy—hosted two technical assistance meetings for
state health policy leaders focused on policy and
implementation issues related to Section 125
plans.
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AcademyHealth's 25th Annual Research
Meeting Highlights
More than 2,300 health services researchers, policymakers,
and practitioners convened June 8-10 in
Washington,
D.C. to showcase their
latest research findings, debate health policy issues, and
network with colleagues.
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AHRQ Quality Indicators Learning
Institute
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is
undertaking a new initiative called the AHRQ Quality
Indicators Learning Institute to provide a forum for
discussing and facilitating the use of the AHRQ Quality
Indicators in statewide and regional programs that report
hospital quality measures to the public.
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News from
AcademyHealth
New information on the AcademyHealth Health Policy
Orientation and Health Services Research Impact
Award.
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Reports of Interest
Reports of interest from the Alliance for Health Reform,
the Center for Studying Health System Change, Health
Affairs, the National Health Policy Forum, and
others.
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article]
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