More stuff......
Tight state budgets are forcing Medicaid cuts (Reuters)
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2002/09/20/eline/links/20020920elin018.html
More than half the states in the US are planning to reduce eligibility for the Medicaid health program for the poor or to reduce benefits, according to a survey of state Medicaid directors released Thursday.
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Americans for Insurance Reform Asks State Insurance Commissioners for Immediate Action on Insurance Rates (US newswire)
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/prime/0919-125.html
Americans for Insurance Reform (AIR), a coalition of over 85 consumer and public interest groups representing more than 50 million people, sent letters today to insurance commissioners in all 50 states, asking what they "plan immediately to do to help those who are being gouged now and need your assistance right away."
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Health Coverage Falls (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20669-2002Sep29.html
The number of Americans who lack health coverage has begun to increase again after a two-year decline, according to federal figures to be released today, which suggest that the faltering economy propelled another 1.4 million people last year into the ranks of the uninsured.
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Bush to Extend Health Care Benefits to Fetuses New Rule Stirs Abortion Debate (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13562-2002Sep27.html
Starting in November, "unborn children" will qualify for government health benefits under a new rule that the Bush administration announced yesterday. The change, designed to promote prenatal care, represents the first time that any federal policy has defined childhood as beginning at conception.
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Premera proposes for-profit status; state may get windfall if it gives health insurer OK (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/healthscience/134545343_premera30m0.ht
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The state's largest health insurer wants to shed its nonprofit status, saying it needs cash from investors so it can grow and improve service.
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Gore Favors Single-Payer Health Care (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56932-2002Nov14.html
Al Gore says he now favors "single-payer" national health coverage, a proposal that would require a massive change in the nation's health insurance system.
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State moves to limit Medicaid drugs (Baltimore Sun)
http://www.sunspot.net/news/health/bal-bz.medicaid15nov15,0,5098126.story?co
ll=bal%2Dhealth%2Dheadlines
The state health department is launching an effort to save money by issuing a list of preferred prescription drugs for Medicaid beneficiaries, and opposition to the plan began to surface this week.
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whew!!