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U.S. Bill Would Establish Survey To Collect Health Data From Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders
Madeleine Bordallo, the U.S. delegate from Guam, has introduced legislation that would fund a survey to collect health data from Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, the Pacific Daily News reports. The legislation would amend the Public Health Service Act to fund the survey through HHS.Bordallo said, "Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities are eager to move forward with their efforts to improve public health. This scientific survey would establish baseline health information to inform health policy and interventions so that individual and community health can be properly tracked and evaluated." According to the Daily News, while federal agencies should be collecting data on native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders separately from Asian-Americans, most have not done so (Limtiaco, Pacific Daily News, 5/26).

A Combination Of Common Genetic Variations Can Lead To Schizophrenia
A multi-national group of investigators, including a scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has discovered that nearly a third of the genetic basis of schizophrenia may be attributed to the cumulative actions of thousands of common genetic variants. The effects of each of these genetic changes, innocuous on its own, add up to a significant risk for developing both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
News of the day
'Consumer-Directed' Plans Rise In Popularity As Businesses Scramble To Cut Health Costs
High-deductible health insurance plans coupled with health savings accounts (tax-advantaged funds for covering medical costs), are becoming the plan of choice for Connecticut"s small businesses newly offering insurance to employees, Hartford Business reports. The plans, called "consumer-directed health plans," make up 60 percent of the insurance company Aetna"s new small business sales. Nationally, the number of people with these plans rose from 3.2 million in 2006 to eight million this year.
Cardiovascular

Plans To Control Doctors' Pay Big Issue In Massachusetts

Massachusetts officials are proud of their low rate of uninsured people, but the state also hosts the highest health care costs in the country, a problem that jeopardizes their achievement in expanding coverage, NPR"s Morning Edition reports. A commission charged with overseeing the insurance plan for 310,000 government workers recently voted - unanimously - that doing away with the current, fee-for-service model for paying doctors was the first step to controlling those costs. "Massachusetts policymakers want to replace fee-for-service with "global payment" - paying groups of health providers a flat yearly fee for each patient they cover," NPR reports (Knox, 8/5). Responding to a viewer"s question about whether similar plans to set physician rates are being considered in Washington, CNN health correspondent Sanjay Gupta said, "Nothing"s been set in stone butò€¦ we are hearing for example, there may be caps on out of pocket expenses and full coverage for things like preventive care. There is no plan in any of bills so far to set prices across the board across the country" (8/4). Doctors, meanwhile, are growing antsy about their fees under the current system. "Insured patients typically expect to make a small co-payment when they see a doctor, and later get billed for anything else they owe. But physicians no longer want to wait for their money," the Wall Street Journal reports. Some doctors are asking patients for co-pays as well as other out-of-pocket portions, such as their deductible or co-insurance, before leaving after an office visit or receiving a procedure. Practices report collecting only 50 percent of their charges if they bill patients after they leave the office, and only 10 to 20 percent from uninsured people. However the new policies sometimes put patients in difficult positions: "Mary Lou Hatch, 43, of Surprise, Arizona, delayed the start of chemotherapy for her breast cancer earlier this summer because the oncologist demanded $450 from her in advance" (Matthews, 8/4). 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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