12/25/2008 News For: Cigna Health Care Of FloridaGerald McEntee: Health Care Reform Needs a Public Option If we fail to insist on a public health insurance option as part of any health care reform legislation enacted in Congress, we won't have the kind of change that America voted for in November. Newspapers Examine Health Care Issues Prompted By Current Economic Recession Two newspapers recently published articles that examined the health care issues faced by many individuals as a result of the current economic recession. Summaries appear below.Raleigh News & Observer: The News & Observer on Monday examined the problems with medical costs that many individuals face amid the current economic recession. Pennsylvania gov's top health care aide to leave HARRISBURG ? The director of Gov. Ed Rendell's efforts to expand health insurance to low-income children and adults, help doctors pay their malpractice bills and modernize Pennsylvania's health care system is stepping down. Pa. gov's top health care aide to leave HARRISBURG ? The director of Gov. Ed Rendell's efforts to expand health insurance to low-income children and adults and modernize Pennsylvania's health care system is stepping down. Medical care reform: making it easier to see a doctor Going to see the doctor was too expensive for 54-year-old Chinese peasant Song Zhiyao, but the introduction of a rural cooperative medicine scheme in 2007 has greatly eased his financial burden. A new public-health reform under review might give even more help to Song and millions of other Chinese citizens who have borne their own medical bills for as long as two decades. TOO MUCH TO PAY Song has lived in ... Early Glance: Managed Care companies NEW YORK Shares of some top managed care companies are down at 10 a.m.: Aetna fell $.10 or .4 percent, to $26.09. CIGNA fell $.29 or 1.9 percent, to $15.22. Obama's Health Care Meeting in Tallahassee Local medical physicians and residents discussed what changes they would like to see in the national health care system. Health care switch saves $400K Recently, the town switched health insurance carriers to produce a one-time savings of $114,000. Health fair draws crowd at Riverwalk Loma Linda University Health Care and Turner Development Corp. attracted more than 700 people to a recent health fair at the Medical Park at Riverwalk in Riverside. Health Care Flashpoints Whither the public plan option? Over the next few years, health reform will succeed or fail based on a few major flashpoints that will shape any new program, including the financing of health insurance and the access to medical care itself. |




