ST. PAUL, Minn. - The state's plan for creating an online health insurance marketplace, a key element of the federal health care law, was facing an important vote Thursday in the Minnesota House that could open a contentious debate about abortion. A House-Senate conference committee approved the legislation late Wednesday, but in combining both chambers' versions of the bill, a House provision was removed that would have barred any insurance plans that covered abortions. Although Democrats control both chambers and have supported the plan, a dozen House Democrats supported that provision, which would be enough votes to block the bill if Republicans also vote against it.
WASHINGTON -- Pricey robotic surgery shouldn't be the first or even second choice for most women who need a hysterectomy, says advice issued Thursday to doctors who help those women decide. The preferred method: Operate through the vagina, using standard tools rather than a robot, said Dr. James Breeden, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Increasingly, women are seeing ads that say a robot could help their doctor perform a hysterectomy more easily. And Breeden said doctors are reporting patients who demand that approach or say they'll take their business elsewhere.
A state judge has overturned the decision to close Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn. Justice Johnny Baynes says the Board of Trustees of SUNY -- which acquired the hospital in 2011 as part of the Downstate system -- violated open meeting laws. In his 10-page ruling, Baynes wrote that a crucial committee meeting had taken place behind closed doors to shield the purpose of the meetings from the general public.
Can it be that the number of "likes" on a hospital's Facebook page has something to do with the quality of the hospital? Could be, say researchers at the Healthcare Innovation and Techology Lab, a New York think tank. They state in a recently published analysis that they found a "strong negative, statistically significant relationship" between the number of "likes" on the Facebook pages of 40 New York-area hospitals and the hospitals' 30-day heart attack death rates. The higher the number of likes, in other words, the greater the chance that a hospital had a lower mortality rate. "These findings have implications for researchers and hospitals looking for a quick and widely available measure" of hospital quality, the team stated in their study, which was published online in the "American Journal of Medical Quality."
Some Americans could see their insurance bills double next year as the health care overhaul law expands coverage to millions of people.
The nation's big health insurers say they expect premiums - or the cost for insurance coverage - to rise from 20 to 100 percent for millions of people due to changes that will occur when key provisions of the Affordable Care Act roll out in January 2014. Mark Bertolini, CEO of Aetna Inc., one of the nation's largest insurers, calls the price hikes "premium rate shock." "We've done all the math, we've shared it with all the regulators, we've shared it with all the people in Washington that need to see it, and I think it's a big concern," Bertolini said during the company's annual meeting with investors in December.
If you want to get an ankle MRI at one doctor's office in downtown Washington, the procedure will run you $400. Head about two miles Northwest to another's doctor office, and the price more than quadruples to $1,861. Head out to the Virginia suburbs and the price jumps another $300. This would reflect the kind of price variation that we see in other markets," says John Driscoll, president of Castlight Health, which created the map above. "I know we've definitely seen worse than this in a way that's really out of control." Castlight is a relatively new company that works in the business of health price transparency. They sell software to employers, whose workers can then compare the costs of various health-care providers.