A fight in Georgia over the state's healthcare regulations has erupted again this week. The standoff largely pits Gov. Sonny Perdue, who backs an overhaul of state healthcare regulations, against House leaders. The fight also renews the long-running legal and lobbyist battle between hospitals and general surgeons over the right to open surgery facilities.
High-cost and high-volume conditions helped drive the national hospital bill up 7 percent in 2005, to $873 billion. The record high nearly doubled 1997 spending when adjusted for inflation, according to a report from the federal Agency for Health Care Research and Quality.
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine proposed an expansion Wednesday of the state's effort to subsidize healthcare for the uninsured, but a tight budget forecast kept the governor from expanding the proposal to hundreds of thousands of residents who lack coverage.
For the second time, President Bush has vetoed a bipartisan effort in Congress to expand government-provided health insurance for children. Bush said the bill was unacceptable because it allows adults into the program, would cover people in families with incomes above the U.S. median and raises taxes.
Beginning in 2008, Maryland will become the first state to give consumers independent evaluations of Preferred Provider Organization health plans offered by four of the state's largest healthcare providers. The report card will help consumers make informed decisions, say representatives from the Maryland Center for Health Care Financing and Policy.
A national insurance expert testified at a consumer hearing that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan used flawed, inappropriate methods to determine proposed rate hikes at issue in a consumer challenge.