FAIR Health, Identified as Leading Innovator in Consumer Transparency, Participates in White House Summit on Smart ...

Thu, Apr 5, 2012, 6:41 PM EDT - U.S. Markets closed

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

View the original article here

House committee hears testimony on health care

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The percentage of Texans with health insurance would rise from 74 percent to 91 percent under the new federal health care law, a state official told lawmakers Monday.

State Medicaid Director Billy Millwee also said the state is prepared to implement the new rules regardless of whether the U.S. Supreme Court declares them constitutional. Texas, along with a number of other states, has challenged the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in court.

"I think we're going to be well-positioned, whether it's found to be constitutional or not," Millwee said.

The law for the first time requires all Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. Democrats say the law will make the nation's health care more efficient, while Republicans complain it allows the government to overstep its authority.

The House Public Health and Insurance Committees met at the Capitol to hear about how the new federal law will affect the state. Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, chairwoman of the public health committee, said she was concerned that small and medium-sized businesses may not be prepared to the new requirements on them to offer health insurance to employees.

Katrina Daniel, an associate commissioner at the Texas Department of Insurance, said the agency was working on developing model health plans for the state. She said the federal law requires insurers to provide policy information in a standardized template that will help individuals and companies to compare plans and choose one best for them.

The Republican-controlled Legislature has repeatedly complained about the changes in health care law and has failed to pass legislation that would allow the state to set comply with it. Much of Monday's hearing was taken up with testimony about how the costs of all health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, are rising at an unsustainable rate.

The Texas Legislature only meets in odd-numbered years, but the committees hold hearings when they are out of session to monitor government agencies.

View the original article here

How to Lose Weight While Cleaning Your House -- Aerobic Housecleaning Versus Clean Momma

Stevie Markovich's "Aerobic Housecleaning Lifestyle" video came out in 2002, but now it has some stiff competition: Carolyn Barnes' "Clean Momma Program," complete with her signature move, the Rag Drag. WSJ's James R. Hagerty reports.

View the original article here

White House says Obama's health overhaul on track

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is on track in many states, the White House asserted Wednesday. But officials said the administration is preparing a federal backstop anyway for states in which opposition to the new law has blocked planning.

The law calls for states to build new health insurance markets called exchanges, so that millions of middle-class people who are currently uninsured can buy taxpayer-subsidized private coverage. It also expands eligibility for Medicaid so low-income adults who have no dependent children can get government insurance. Putting the two approaches together, more than 30 million Americans are expected to gain coverage starting in 2014.

But 26 states are asking the Supreme Court to overturn the health care law, and many of those have made little progress in planning their exchanges, even though the deadline clock is ticking. The law says state plans must be approved by January 1, 2013 — a year in advance of the program's launch — or the federal government will step in and run things.

"No matter where you live, on January 1, 2014, an exchange will be up and running," deputy chief of staff Nancy-Ann DeParle said on the White House blog.

An accompanying progress report said 28 states and Washington, D.C., are "on their way" toward establish exchanges, widely considered the operational linchpin of the health care law.

With a presidential election and Supreme Court decision on the fate the health care law coming first this year, 2014 seems like a long way off even if Obama's signature domestic accomplishment is upheld. But to federal and state officials planning for exchanges, time is short. A totally new marketplace must be created, along with systems for verifying and safeguarding confidential personal information used to determine eligibility.

The White House report put a rosy outlook on the progress in some states.

For example, the report highlighted Idaho among states advancing. Republican Gov. Butch Otter strongly supports a state-run exchange, and his administration has received a $20-million federal grant to start work. But the legislature has to approve the actual spending of the money, and Republican foes of the federal health care overhaul are trying to block Otter from moving ahead. The issue is one of the most highly contested in this year's legislative session.

View the original article here