HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: The new health law established temporary state high-risk “pools,” where people who are uninsurable elsewhere because of pre-existing medical conditions can get coverage. The new high-risk pools will only be open to people who’ve been uninsured for at least six months. But it’s important to act quickly. Applications are being accepted now for coverage starting Aug. 1

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: With a nudge from the new health care law and pressure from Medicare, hospitals, doctors and nurses are struggling to prepare for explosive growth in the numbers of high-risk elderly patients. More than 40% of adult patients in acute care hospital beds are 65 or older. Seventy million Americans will have turned 65 by 2030.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: Starting this fall, patients in all health plans can contest claim denials in an independent state-level review procedure. The provision does not apply to “grandfathered” plans — those in existence on March 23. Nor does the new law make it any easier for consumers to sue for punitive damages or for pain and suffering.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: The Obama administration is poised to award contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to about 20 states to run new insurance pools for people with serious medical problems. In another 20 states, where local officials chose not to participate, the federal government will run the pools through a private nonprofit entity. Applications will be available to the public in many states on Thursday.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: The House on Thursday approved a six-month plan to prevent a steep cut in doctors’ fees paid by Medicare. The $6.4 billion measure reverses a 21 percent cut in physician payments. Medicare officials had announced on Friday that they would begin processing claims for June at the lower rate, raising pressure on the House to accept the short-term adjustment.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: In the latest effort to break up the often cozy relationship between doctors and the medical industry, the University of Michigan Medical School has become the first to decide that it will no longer take any money from drug and device makers to pay for coursework doctors need to renew their medical licenses.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: On Tuesday, President Obama unveiled new regulations effective this year that should end some insurance companies’ worst practices, such as rescinding policies for frivolous reasons after a person becomes sick and a ban on lifetime coverage limits.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: President Obama, whose vilification of insurers helped push a landmark health care overhaul through Congress, plans to sternly warn industry executives at a White House meeting on Tuesday against imposing hefty rate increases in anticipation of tightening regulation under the new law.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: On Friday, the Senate passed HR 3962 which delays the scheduled 21% Medicare fee decrease and allows for a 2.2% Medicare fee increase from June 1, 2010 through November 30, 2010. The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on this bill Tuesday evening.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by 20 states challenging President Obama’s health care overhaul. Government lawyers say the health care overhaul cannot be moved from the elected branches of government into the courts without a genuine constitutional issue, which they maintain is lacking in this case.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: A final vote by the Senate is expected this week on a House bill which stops a scheduled 21% Medicare fee decrease. In anticipation of this vote, the CMS has reported that they will continue to hold claims through June 17th. If Congress has not taken final action by June 18th, claims will be paid with the 21% fee decrease applied.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: The National Association of Insurance Commissioners reported today that health insurance companies will cancel policies and leave the individual insurance market in some states because of a provision of the new health care law that requires insurers to spend more of each premium dollar for the benefit of consumers and that the federal government should take steps to prevent disruption of the market.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: Today, the White House will issue new rules that strongly discourage employers from cutting health insurance benefits or increasing the costs of coverage to employees. The rules limit the changes that employers can make if they want to be exempt from certain provisions of the health care law passed by Congress in March.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: With the passage of the new health care law, whenever people renew their policies or sign up for new ones after Sept. 23, after which time insurers can only rescind coverage if someone commits fraud — by lying on an application, for example. The new law also requires health plans to provide certain preventive services free of charge for plan members, another provision that goes into effect after Sept. 23. But this provision only applies to new health plans. If you currently have coverage, your plan will be grandfathered and will not be subject to that provision.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: Tracy Watts, a partner at Mercer Health and Benefits estimates that changes made in response to the health law will add an extra 2-3% in cost increases this year, pressuring employers to engage in even more cost-sharing with employees — whether through higher premiums, higher deductibles, co-payments or other out-of-pocket costs.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: A start-up financed by prominent venture capitalists and the Cleveland Clinic, Castlight Health, aims to change that by building a search engine for health care prices. Patients using Castlight could search for doctors that offer a service nearby and find out how much they will charge, depending on their insurance coverage. Price transparency could significantly change the way health care is bought in the United States.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: President Obama dipped back into the volatile politics of health care on Tuesday, using a televised question-and-answer session to attack his Republican critics and remind retirees that the check — a new $250 rebate to help them pay for prescription drugs — is about to go in the mail.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: Federal incentive payments to help doctors buy equipment to computerize medical records become available to doctors in January. To qualify for up to $18K next year and $44K over 5 years, doctors have to meet 25 criteria. In meetings at the White House this week, doctors and hospital executives voiced concern that the proposed standards are impossibly high and the risk of failure is great.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: President Obama and his allies, concerned about deep skepticism over his landmark health care overhaul, are orchestrating an elaborate campaign to sell the public on the law, including a new tax-exempt group that will spend millions of dollars on advertising to beat back attacks on the measure and Democrats who voted for it.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: This week the American Chiropractic Association announced that it has obtained absolute proof a campaign is being launched by major elements of organized medicine to repeal the pro-chiropractic “provider non-discrimination” provision (Section 2706) that the ACA successfully included in the recently enacted national health reform bill.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: After a meeting with insurance executives last week, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of HHS, says she is seeking a public-private partnership to carry out the health care law. She said she would “look for opportunities to work with insurance companies while also keeping a close watch to make sure they treat their customers fairly.”

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: In selling the health care overhaul to Congress, the Obama administration cited a research group at Dartmouth College to claim that it could not only cut billions in wasteful health care spending but make people healthier by doing so. The mistaken belief that the research proves that cheaper care is better care is widespread, but a growing number of health policy researchers are stating that cuts, if not made carefully, could cost lives.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: Starting in 2013, some people will see an increase in Medicare withholding from their paychecks. Specifically, the new law increases the Medicare Part A tax rate on wages by 0.9 percent, to 2.35 percent, for singles with adjusted gross incomes over $200,000 and married couples filing jointly whose income exceeds $250,000.

HC Reform Update by Mark Sanna: Although some insurance companies announced that adult children could stay on family plans starting months sooner than the law requires, many employers are choosing to wait to implement the changes. Instead of modifying health plans now, they plan to wait to provide the extended coverage until they are legally required to do so in January 2011.