\rThe conference call was in preparation for the launch of Organizing for America\'s health care campaign, the AP/USA Today reports (AP/USA Today, 5/28). Organizing for America has scheduled grassroots organizing events beginning June 6, when Obama will release a video message about his principal goals for reform. The ideas generated at the events will be used to plan public service events that will be held on June 27. Mitch Stewart, executive director of Organizing for America, said, \"Reforming [our] health care system is going to require each and every one [of] us to get involved\" (Davis, \"Washington Wire,\" Wall Street Journal, 5/28). ","2009-05-29 00:00:00","May 29, 2009","2"); currentCount = 3; headline[currentCount] = new headline ("58641","3","Daily Health Policy Report","Data Ranks Insurers According to Speed of Claim Payment, Share of Denials","Aetna, Cigna and Humana ranked highest nationally on criteria including speed of health claim payments and fewest claims denied, according to the 2009 PayerView Rankings, the Boston Globe reports. The rankings -- prepared by Athenahealth in collaboration with Physicians Practice management journal -- evaluated 172 national, regional and government payers in 40 states.
According to the data, insurers paid physicians an average 5.3% faster in 2008 and denied an average of 9% fewer medical claims compared with 2007 figures. On average, national health insurers paid physicians in 33 days and denied 9.2% of claims.
According to the Globe, the rankings reveal some of the obstacles that can result from the complexities and bureaucracy involved in the medical billing process, with each insurer operating in different ways. Jonathan Bush, chair and CEO of Athenahealth, said, \"This is the biggest problem we have in health care -- the inability to close supply chains and to practically and tactically connect doctors with payers and patients,\" adding, \"These connections are broken\" (Weisman, Boston Globe, 5/28).
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The rankings are available online. ","2009-05-29 00:00:00","May 29, 2009","3");
currentCount = 4;
headline[currentCount] = new headline ("58642","3","Daily Health Policy Report","Massachusetts, Tennessee Health Plans Might Offer Ideas on U.S. Health Care System Overhaul","Congressional lawmakers who are crafting a plan to overhaul the U.S. health care system might be able to look to state health insurance programs in Massachusetts and Tennessee for ideas, the AP/Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Health reform legislation modeled after Massachusetts\' near-universal health insurance law \"is likely to emerge\" in Congress, \"although details remain unsettled,\" the AP/Star Tribune reports. The plan also could include components of Tennessee\'s CoverTN program, which charges beneficiaries who smoke or are overweight higher premiums. Lawmakers in the Senate already have discussed a lifestyle tax funding mechanism, such as taxes on alcohol and sugary beverages. According to AP/Star Tribune, Massachusetts \"chose to cover virtually everyone,\" while Tennessee \"chose to get just a few more people bare-bones insurance at a budget price with limits on how much plans would pay for hospital stays.\"
Alan Weil of the National Academy for State Health Policy said, \"The belief that we should all have health insurance coverage is broadly held,\" but \"there are tremendous differences around the country in beliefs on how to achieve that goal.\" He added, \"We learn from Massachusetts that a bold objective matters. If it can be sustained, that\'s terrific,\" and \"[i]t would be nice if you had a southern state that had achieved universal coverage and did it in a different way, but we don\'t have that\" (Johnson, AP/Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5/28).
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American Public Media\'s \"Marketplace\" on Thursday reported on a study published in Health Affairs that looked at the Massachusetts program. The segment included comments from Jon Kingsdale, director of the Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority, and University of North Carolina Health Care System CEO Bill Roper (Babin, \"Marketplace,\" American Public Media, 5/28). ","2009-05-29 00:00:00","May 29, 2009","4");
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