12/27/11 – The New York Times published an article today on new drugs that are dramatically improving the lives of people living with multiple sclerosis. In the United States, there are approximately 400,000 people living with MS. People are usually, but not exclusively diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50. Women are two to three times more likely to have multiple sclerosis than men.
12/23/11 – From all of us here at New York Health Works, we wish everyone a very happy and healthy holiday season!
12/20/11 – Take a look here for the latest from Health Affairs on the federal Independent Payment Advisory Board.
12/16/11 – The Department of Health and Human Services issued much anticipated guidance today that will give states flexibility in determining what “essential benefits” insurers must provide in policies offered on the new health exchanges.
12/15/11 – I came across an interesting report from the Kaiser Family Foundation today. The report examines changes in health insurance coverage over the last decade, with a focus on how the turmoil in the economy has affected the number of uninsured…One exception to the trend of uninsured adults is in the 19-25 year old age bracket.
12/15/11 – Politico is running an interesting article on how the Department of Health and Human Services will define the “essential health benefits package” under President Obama’s new health care law. You can read it here.
12/15/11 – The Onondaga County Medical Society held a press conference yesterday urging Congress to stop Medicare cuts set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2012. They argue that if the cuts go through, many Medicare patients will be turned away. Read more from the Syracuse Post-Standard here.
12/14/11 – The final meeting of the full Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) was held today in Albany. The general purpose of today’s meeting was to accept the reports from the remaining work groups and outline the process for the transmittal of the final MRT recommendations to Governor Cuomo.
12/9/11 – On Wednesday, Governor Cuomo called the Legislature back to Albany for an Extraordinary Session to approve legislation that would overhaul the state’s tax code and create new economic development initiatives. The package that was approved in both houses of the legislature was negotiated largely behind closed doors.
12/6/11 – This morning USA Today ran an interesting piece on savings achieved in the Medicare program over the past year…data show that 2.65 million people with Medicare have saved more than $1.5 billion on their prescriptions – averaging about $569 per person.