Health plans - policy (BenefitsLink.com)Headlines re Health plans - policy, gathered by BenefitsLink.comOpinion Comparing John McCain's Health Care Plan to Barack Obama's Plan- (Found June 19, 2008 ) Excerpt: "As voters, you have a huge and critically important choice on health care. There are dozens of details upon which they differ and for those I would point you to my comprehensive posts on the McCain Health Care Plan and the Obama Health Care Plan. But to understand their big idea differences, I would point you to our pension system to better understand where McCain and Obama are going on health care." (eMaxHealth.com)http://www.emaxhealth.com/72/22947.html Opinion Perspectives on State Health Reform- (Found June 19, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Drawing on recent Foundation state surveys and analysis of state actions on Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program through recent economic cycles, the essay highlights the difficulty of achieving national health reform state by state, but concludes that 'a small number of pacesetting states can serve as laboratories for national health reform.'" (Drew Altman via Kaiser Family Foundation)http://www.kff.org/pullingittogether/061108_altman.cfm House Bill Would Allow Small Businesses to Form Statewide, Nationwide Pools for Purchasing Insurance- (Found June 19, 2008 ) Excerpt: "A bipartisan coalition of House members on Tuesday introduced a bill (HR 6210) that would allow small businesses to form statewide or nationwide pools to purchase insurance and provide them with tax credits to lower the cost of coverage, CongressDaily reports." (Kaiser Family Foundation)http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=52673 Estimates of the Potential Reduction in Health Care Costs from AHIP's Affordability Proposals (PDF)- (Found June 19, 2008 ) 11 pages. Excerpt: "AHIP's affordability proposals1 could yield substantial savings for the U.S. health care system, provided that a large-scale and coordinated set of public and private initiatives is launched in the coming years. Taken together, AHIP's proposals have the potential to trim national health expenditures (NHE) by as much as 9 percent by the year 2025, compared with current baseline trends." (America's Health Insurance Plans)http://www.ahipresearch.org/PDFs/TechnicalMemo06.11.08.pdf Surprising Lessons on Health Care Reform from Small Island of Taiwan- (Found June 19, 2008 ) Excerpt: "In the middle of May, two Taiwanese officials, Hou Sheng-Mou and Michael S. Chen, came to Washington facing a tough assignment: promote single payer health care in a city where it's widely regarded as a non-starter in the debate over revamping the U.S. system. Their visit didn't command much attention from reporters covering that debate; countries like the Netherlands or Switzerland that have universal coverage based on strong private health care systems loom larger as potential..http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=hbnews-000002889735&parm1=5&cpage=1 Senate Committee Hearing - 47 Million & Counting: Why the Health Care Marketplace is Broken- (Found June 19, 2008 ) Held June 10, 2008, in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building; member and witness statements are linked. (U.S. Senate Committee on Finance)http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearing061008.htm Guidance Overview Hewitt Federal Legislation Quick Guide Updated June 11, 2008, for Health and Welfare Plans (PDF)- (Found June 19, 2008 ) 10 pages. This Federal Legislation Quick Guide provides short updates on federal legislation that is currently under active consideration by Congress or has recently been enacted into law regarding health and welfare benefit plans. (Hewitt Associates)http://www.hewittassociates.com/_MetaBasicCMAssetCache_/Assets/Legislative%20Updates/Quick... New Jersey Lawmakers Sanction Benefit Reform Package- (Found June 19, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Despite a fierce battle by Garden State unions, a New Jersey state Senate committee has approved a package of six reform proposals for pensions and health care coverage for future government workers." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)http://www.plansponsor.com/pi_type10/?RECORD_ID=41828 ERIC's Health Policy Conference Features Foremost Health Policy Leaders- (Found June 19, 2008 ) Excerpt: "ERIC's Health Policy Conference held June 11 in Washington, DC, featured many of the nation's leading health policy stakeholders who discussed consumer directed health plans, the Patient Centered Medical Home, designing and implementing wellness programs, health care reform proposals, compliance with new legislation, and cutting edge strategies in employee benefits. . . . links on the target page include the presentation materials of the speakers, and other background...http://www.eric.org/forms/documents/DocumentFormPublic/view?id=12A9800000041 |