Table of Contents

National Health Financing News

• CBO Releases Health Reform Cost Estimates, Senate Plans Delayed; House Leaders Offer Outlines
• Ex-Legislators Release Health Care Reform Proposal
• President Obama Announces Plans to Cut More from Medicare and Medicaid
• Senators Introduce Bill to Improve Medicare Transitional Care
• Survey Finds Health Care Entities Believe Pay-For-Performance Will Improve Outcomes and Increase Cost
• State Budget Cuts Affect Children’s Health Care
• Urban Institute Brief Examines Potential Effects of Health Care Reform on Children Enrolled in Medicaid and SCHIP
• Insurers Refuse to Stop Cancelling Policies for Certain Sick Enrollees
• GE Offers Interest Free Loans to Purchase its EHR System
• VA Expands Coverage to Veterans in Priority 8
• Mathematica Examines AHRQ’s National Health Plan Collaborate
• UC-Berkeley Researchers Issue Reports Calling for Employer-Based Health Reform
• Poll Finds Americans Want Substance Abuse Treatment Included In Health Care Reform
• Polls Find Stable Support For Health Reform, Attitudes Still Movable
• PricewaterhouseCoopers Report Says Health Care Costs to Rise in 2010
• More Medical Schools Improve Conflict of Interest Policies

Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing

• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations: Terminations of Individual Health Policies
  10:00 a.m. June 16, 2123 Rayburn
• Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee: Health Care Overhaul
  2:30 p.m. June 16, 325 Russell
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health: Medical Devices: Are Current Regulations Doing Enough for Patients?
  9:30 a.m. June 18, 2322 Rayburn
• House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health: Veterans’ Health Bills
  10:00 a.m. June 18, 334 Cannon
• House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health: VA Claim Backlog
  2:00 p.m. June 18, 334 Cannon
• House Budget Committee: Statutory PAYGO
  10:30 a.m. June 18, 210 Cannon
• House Budget Committee: Economic Case for Health Overhaul
  10:00 a.m. June 19, 210 Cannon
• Senate Finance Committee: Health Care Overhaul
  TBA June 23, 213 Dirksen
• House Natural Resources Committee: Indian Health Care Improvement Act
  10:00 a.m. June 25, 1324 Longworth

Around the States: State and Local Behavioral Health Financing News

Download SAMHSA's Financing News Pulse: Weekly Financing News Pulse final 200900622.pdf (547.66 kb)

Table of Contents

National Health Financing News

• Senate HELP Committee and House Democrats Release Health Care Reform Plans; Other Lawmakers Debate Health Reform
• Taxing Health Benefits May Streamline Health Care
• Frieden Takes Over as Director of the CDC
• Legislators Propose Medicare Reimbursement Changes
• Legislators Introduce Bills to Increase Returning Soldiers’ Access to Mental Health Care
• HHS Report Highlights Health Disparities, Focuses on Low-Income Americans and Minorities
• Legislature Approves Bill Allowing FDA to Regulate Tobacco Products
• Legislators Urge DOL to Extend Federal Wage and Hour Laws to Health Care Workers
• VA to Allow Researchers Access to Data From Medical Records
• Study Finds Small Business May Benefit From an Employer Health Insurance Mandate
• Drug Price Cases to Reduce Wholesale Prices for Many Drugs
• FTC Report Says 12 to 14 Years is Too Much Protection for Biotech Drugs
• AHA Specialist Says 9 in 10 Hospitals Have Made Cutbacks
• Urban Institute Report Analyzes the Prospects of Equity in Capping a Potential Tax-Exclusion for Employer-Sponsored Health Care
• Health Affairs Publishes Six Papers on the Nursing Workforce, Find Nursing Shortage Reduced
• KFF Analyzes Changes in Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Since 2006
• Survey Finds Disease Prevention is Top Priority for Health Reform
• Q1Medicare Provides Analysis of Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Standard Benefit Parameters, 2006-2010

Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing

• House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health: VA’s Health Infrastructure
  10:00 a.m. June 9, 334 Cannon 
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
  2:30 p.m. June 9, 124 Dirksen
• House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions: Single Payer Health Care Option
  10:30 a.m. June 10, 2175 Rayburn
• Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee: HELP Nominations Vote
  June 10, TBA, TBA
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health: Biologic Drug Competition
  10:00 a.m. June 11, 2123 Rayburn
• Senate Indian Affairs Committee: Indian Health Care
  2:15 p.m. June 11, 628 Dirksen
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health: Medical Devices: Are Current Regulations Doing Enough for Patients?
  9:30 a.m. June 18, 2322 Rayburn

Around the States: State and Local Behavioral Health Financing News

Download SAMHSA's Weekly Financing News Pulse: Weekly Financing News Pulse final 200900615.pdf (549.54 kb)

Table of Contents

National Health Financing News

• Lawmakers Consider Public Plan, Health Benefits Tax, and Health Care Mandate as Part of the Health Reform Debate
• Update: Health Care Industry Groups Offered Detailed Plans to Cut Health Care Costs
• Council of Economic Advisors Report Says Health Reform Will Have Positive Economic Impact
• President Obama Proposes Allowing MedPAC to Set Medicare Policy, Sen. Hoyer Opposed
• President Requests Additional Swine Flu Funding, Including Funds from the ARRA
• Senator Proposes Long-Term Care Insurance Protections
• CMS Takes Steps Improve Quality of Care in Nursing Homes
• CMS Announces Timeline for Medicare Competitive Bidding for Durable Medical Equipment
• CMS Proposes Delaying Medicaid Provider Tax Rule
• Cindy Mann Appointed Director of CMSO
• HHS Releases $30 million to Help Medicare Beneficiaries Access Benefits
• Report Finds State Fiscal Conditions Continue to Decline
• Study Finds Out-of-Pocket Costs Rising Under Employer-Sponsored Health Care
• Dominion Donates $1 Million to Free Health Clinics
• Report Finds Physician Wait Times Increasing
• Study Finds Medical Bills Underlie Most Bankruptcies
• Report Finds Public Employers Modifying Health Benefits
• Report Finds Mental Health Care Overlooked in Rural AreasVA Study Finds Pay-for-Performance Does Not Hurt Patient Care
• KFF Releases Policy Brief Examining Long-Term Care Insurance

Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing

• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
  2:00 p.m. June 2, 2359 Rayburn
  2:00 p.m. June 3, 2359 Rayburn
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
  9:30 a.m. June 3, 124 Dirksen
• House Small Business Committee: Small Business Views on Health Overhaul
  1:00 p.m. June 3, 2360 Rayburn

Around the States: State and Local Behavioral Health Financing News

Download SAMHSA's Weekly Financing News Pulse: Weekly Financing News Pulse final 200900608.pdf (592.22 kb)

Table of Contents

National Health Financing News

• Senator Kennedy Circulates Draft of Health Reform Legislation
• Health Care Industry Groups Efforts to Reduce Health Care Costs Could Violate Antitrust Laws
• UnitedHealth Group Offers Recommendations to Reduce Federal Health Spending by $540 Billion Over 10 Years
• Rep. Wolf Says Entitlement Programs May Affect U.S. Bond Rating
• Sanofi-Aventis Settles Medicaid Charges
• CBO Report Details Budgetary Treatment of Health Reform
• At Least Six States Consider Reducing Aid for Medicare Drug Benefit
• Study Estimates Cost Paid Insured Residents to Cover Uncompensated Care
• Study Projects Number of Uninsured Residents to Rise by 2010
• NBGH Survey Finds One in Four Employees Ignore Medical Care to Cut Costs
• Study Finds Few Retail Health Clinics in Low-Income Areas
• Study Ranks Insurers by Speed of Claim Payment and Rate of Claim Denials
• Report Finds Many Hospitals Fail to Report Disciplinary Actions Against Physicians
• Study Finds No Link Between Cost and Quality of Care in Elderly Patients
• Urban Institute Report Analyzes Massachusetts Health Reform
• Report Finds Governments Spent $468 Billion on Drugs; Most Spending Health Care Related
• FDA Issues Proposed Advertising Guidelines for Product Risk Information
• KFF Publishes Issue Brief Examining Social Security Cost of Living Increases and the Effects on Medicare Part B
• Update: UAW to Accept Up to 20 Percent of GM Stock; Agrees to Retiree Health Care Concessions
• MSNBC Creates Tool to Display State Budget Developments

Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing

Congress is not in session.  The Senate reconvenes June 1 at 12:00 p.m. and the House reconvenes June 2 at 2:00 p.m.

Around the States: State and Local Behavioral Health Financing News

Download SAMHSA's Financing News Pulse: Weekly Financing News Pulse final 200900601.pdf (541.82 kb)

Table of Contents

National Health Financing News

• Senate Finance Committee Releases Health Reform Funding Options; Senator Baucus Discusses Health Care Reform
• Republicans Introduce Health Care Reform Plans
• Other Democratic Legislators Progress Towards Health Care Reform
• Update: Health Care Industry Groups Clarify Commitment to Reducing Health Spending Growth
• Urban Institute Report Says Failure to Institute Health Care Reform Could Result in 66 Million Uninsured Residents
• Daschle Continues to Play Role in Health Care Reform
• Senate Confirms Hamburg as FDA Commissioner
• New Democrat Coalition Seeks Independent Panel to Oversee Comparative Effectiveness Research
• Senate HELP Committee Approves Bill to Place Tobacco Under FDA Regulation
• Senate Approves Supplemental Spending Bill with Funds for Flu Pandemic
• DOJ and States Join Whistle-Blower Lawsuit Accusing Wyeth of Medicaid Fraud
• Health IT Lobby Group Asks HHS to Designate CCHIT as EHR Certification Body
• Report Finds U.S. Residents Will Pay Greater Share of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage in 2009
• HHS and DOJ Expand Health Care Fraud Investigations
• Survey Finds Few Employers Plan to Drop M/SU Coverage In Response to Federal Parity Legislation
• IHS Releases $500 Million in ARRA Health Care Funding
• NEJM Study Finds IOM’s Medical Resident Rest Recommendations Would Cost $2.5 Billion Annually
• Update: UAW and General Motors Agree to Tentative VEBA Deal
• KFF Launches Health Reform Gateway

SAMHSA will release this week’s issue of the Financing News Pulse Tuesday May 26, 2009 because of Memorial Day. 

Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing

• Senate Finance Committee: Financing Health Care Overhaul
  10:00 a.m. May 20, 215 Dirkse
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services Education, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
  10:30 a.m. May 20, 138 Dirksen
• House Oversight and Government Reform Committee: State and Local Pandemic Preparedness
  2:00 p.m. May 20, 2154 Rayburn
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies
  10:00 a.m. May 21, 2362-A Rayburn
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies
  2:00 p.m. May 21, 192 Dirksen

Around the States: State and Local Behavioral Health Financing News

Download SAMHSA's Weekly Financing News Pulse: Weekly Financing News Pulse final 20090526.pdf (818.51 kb)

Table of Contents

National Health Financing News

• President Obama Calls for Additional Taxes to Offset Health Reform Budgeting Error
• President Obama Announces Health Industry Groups Pledge $2 Trillion in Spending Reductions; Groups Say Obama Overstated Pledge
• Senate Finance Committee Releases Proposals for Health Care Reform Including Public Plan Options; Considers Health Reform Options
• Other Legislators Discuss Health Care Reform Options
• MedPAC Reports that Medicare’s Hospital Fund Will be Insolvent by 2017
• President Obama Appoints Thomas Frieden as CDC Director
• Secretary Sebelius Appoints HHS Office of Health Reform Staffers
• Senate HELP Committee Advances FDA Commissioner Nomination
• Senate Confirms ONDCP Director
• Lawmakers Consider Tax Credits for Employers Offering Wellness Programs
• Influenza Pandemic Funds Progress Through Congress
• AHRQ Report Finds Fewer Families Can Afford Health Insurance
• Walk-In Health Clinics Increasingly Affiliated with Hospitals and Medical Centers
• Independent Pharmacies Protest CVS Caremark’s Plan to Charge Higher Copays at Non-CVS Pharmacies
• Pfizer Creates Program to Offer Some Customers Free Prescription Drugs
• Young Adults Among the Fastest Growing Groups of Uninsured
• CMS Awards HMS Medicaid Integrity Program Contract
• Hospital Payment System Fails to Reward Readmission Reductions
• UAB Survey Finds Many Employers Believe Employees Understand the Necessity of Rising Health Insurance Costs
• WellCare Reports First Quarter Loss Due to Fraud Expenses
• Employment Status Affects Health
• HHS Will Announce Specifications for “Meaningful Use” of Health IT Under the ARRA
• KFF Releases New Resources Examining Medicaid as Health Reform Platform, Medicare Buy-In Option, and State-Level Data
• Ford to Sell Stock to Fund VEBA

Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing

• Senate Finance Committee: Health Care Overhaul
  10:00 a.m. May 12, 106 Dirksen
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
  10:00 a.m. May 12, 2359 Rayburn
  2:00 p.m. May 12, 2358-C Rayburn
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health: Medical Device Safety
  2:00 p.m. May 12, 2123 Rayburn
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
  9:45 a.m. May 13, 138 Dirksen
• House Veterans’ Affairs Committee: Innovative Technologies and Treatments for Veterans
  10:00 a.m. May 13, 334 Cannon
• Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee: Primary and Specialty Health Care
  10:00 a.m. May 14, 430 Dirksen
• Senate Appropriations Committee: Fiscal 2009: War, Flu Supplemental
  2:00 p.m. May 14, 106 Dirksen
• House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia: Federal Workers’ Response to the H1N1 Outbreak
  2:00 p.m. May 14, 2154 Rayburn

Around the States: State and Local Behavioral Health Financing News

Download the Weekly Financing News Pulse: Weekly Financing News Pulse final 20090518.pdf (573.28 kb)