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Catholic Hospital System Ends Joint Venture With Mass. Insurer Over Differences On Abortion
Massachusetts-based Catholic hospital system Caritas Christi Health Care on Friday ended its joint venture with the Missouri-based health insurer Centene after Cardinal Sean O"Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston insisted that the relationship linked Catholic hospitals too closely to abortion providers, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 6/27). Under the joint venture, Caritas and Centene created a new company, CeltiCare, which would have insured thousands of low-income Massachusetts residents under Commonwealth Care, the state"s subsidized health care program. Financially troubled Caritas, which was founded by the Archdiocese of Boston, said it will continue to participate as a provider in Commonwealth Care but will no longer be a co-owner of the insurance venture with Centene. Caritas will provide care to patients covered by Centene, as it does for patients covered by other private insurers, but it will not provide any services that violate Catholic teachings, such as abortions or sterilizations. In terminating the joint venture, the archdiocese hopes to appease criticism that Caritas would have profited from abortion and other services provided at non-Catholic medical centers, the Boston Globe reports. According to the archdiocese, O"Malley sought the withdrawal after weeks of consultation with the church-affiliated think tank National Catholic Bioethics Center, in response to harsh criticism from antiabortion-rights groups for not blocking the agreement. The withdrawal is "a vindication of sorts" for O"Malley"s critics, who have argued that it would be wrong for Caritas to enter an agreement with a health insurer that covers abortion care, according to the Globe. Andrea Miller, the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, said that Caritas" involvement in the joint venture had raised concern from NARAL because of the Catholic Church"s opposition to abortion rights. She said that although Caritas has withdrawn from the venture, "[t]he question remains: Will the involvement of Caritas Christi health providers negatively affect women"s ability to get timely access to reproductive services, including birth control?" Miller added that NARAL hopes that state regulators "will continue due diligence to ensure that referrals and services are provided in a manner that does not delay access to reproductive health services" (Paulson/Lazar, Boston Globe, 6/27).

Society Launches Consultations On Regulation Of Conduct In Schools Of Pharmacy
Students and staff, among others in the profession, have the chance to make their views
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NIST, DOD, Intelligence Agencies Join Forces To Secure US Cyber Infrastructure
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in partnership with the Department of Defense (DOD), the Intelligence Community (IC), and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS), has released the first installment of a three-year effort to build a unified information security framework for the entire federal government. Historically, information systems at civilian agencies have operated under different security controls than military and intelligence information systems. This installment is titled NIST Special Publication 800-53, Revision 3, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations.
Cardiovascular

No Recess Rest In Health Reform Ad Wars

Major groups are promising that the August recess will be filled with advertising wars trying to manage the message of the health care reform debate, Politico reports. "America"s Health Insurance Plans is sinking millions of dollars into a recess advertising blitz defending itself, as Democrats and the White House turn the industry"s practices into a rallying call for reform. "That type of rhetoric is not productive," said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for (America"s Health Insurance Plans). "We have proposed many of the insurance market reforms and consumer protections that people are talking about."" In the last health overhaul battle, "industry stakeholders came out squarely against reform" and invested heavily in ads to kill it. "This year, many big players are trying to avoid getting tagged as the group that killed reform. So their ads - at least for now - are generally supportive of the reform effort but hazy on their positions on the exact language of the House and Senate proposals. ... Of the ads that have aired, $17.3 million have been in favor of Obama"s reform plans. About $8 million has been spent on commercials opposing it." In total, $51 million has been spent on ads since Obama took office. About $22.5 million has been "pro-reform but neutral on the details. PhRMA, the trade association of pharmaceutical makers, has spent the most, at $17 million. The final $3.5 million in advocacy has been spent by diabetes, autism and other specialized health interests that also are urging reform without getting specific about the legislation" (Cummings, 8/4). Roll Call: "New coalitions are also beginning to bud, one health care lobbyist said, among insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms, hospitals and medical societies beyond their typical trade groups. "These will go live in the August recess," the lobbyist said. Health care lobbyists say they aren"t surprised that the health insurance industry is opting against going overtly negative, given that its nemesis, the public option, is likely to be nixed in the final package." Other groups are planning support or their own advertising during the recess including the National Retail Federation, the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the National Association of Manufacturers and the AARP (Ackley and Palmer, 8/4). Politicians are getting in on the ad blitz too, The New York Times Caucus blog reports: "House Minority Leader John Boehner released a new Web advertisement poking fun at President Obama"s own lobbying efforts on Monday, interspersing the "I"m not a doctor, but I play one on TV" ads from some years ago with some of the president"s recent comments on the health care system." "Democrats quickly shot back at Mr. Boehner"s ad. "John Boehner isn"t an insurance company executive, but he sure plays one in the U.S. House of Representatives. That"s the only explanation for admittedly working to "kill" health insurance reform while premiums for the average American family are rising three times faster than their wages, while small businesses are choosing between offering coverage and creating jobs, and when controlling runaway health care costs is necessary to get the economy fully back on track," said Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee" (Becker, 8/3). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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