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Senate Finance Committee To Discuss Public Plan Options; House Energy And Commerce Committee Discusses State, Regional Plans
The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday will meet to discuss the inclusion of a public insurance plan in its health care reform legislation, the Des Moines Register reports (Beaumont, Des Moines Register, 5/14). Supporters of the public plan say it would allow middle-income workers a choice between their employer coverage and coverage offered by the government. The insurance industry and Republican lawmakers oppose such a plan.The Finance Committee will consider a plan similar to Medicare but that would feature slightly higher reimbursement rates for providers. The plan would either be operated by the government or government-contracted private firms. Another option would allow each state to develop and oversee its own public coverage plan. The committee also will consider a proposal from Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) that would allow a new public plan to compete with private insurers by requiring that the public plan be financed by premiums rather than tax dollars, that it follow the same solvency rules that apply to private firms and that it keep a reserve fund to cover liabilities. Schumer"s plan also would allow doctors and hospitals the choice of participating. The public plan also would be required to follow the same consumer protection rules as private firms (Alonso-Zaldivar/Werner, AP/Contra Costa Times, 5/14). The panel also is expected to discuss employer or individual mandates (Edney, CongressDaily, 5/14).Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has said he believes a public plan would eventually eliminate private insurance and force U.S. residents out of their employer-sponsored plans, said the committee meeting will reveal the likelihood of Republicans uniting against a public option. "We will have an idea how controversial it is and how strong people feel about it on both sides," Grassley said. He added, "I think before I would write it off completely, I would want to look at what those possible compromises are" (Des Moines Register, 5/14). House Energy and Commerce Committee
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Healthcare Reform Gets Boost From Hospital Groups
"In the face of mounting Republican opposition to its healthcare agenda, the Obama administration received a boost Wednesday, winning a preliminary agreement with leading hospital groups to cut federal payments to the industry over the next decade," The Los Angeles Times reports. "Under the plan, negotiated primarily by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), hospitals would accept $155 billion in cuts if the administration and its congressional allies succeeded in extending health insurance to tens of millions of people who are now without coverage. None of the hospital groups has signed a written agreement backing the cuts, nor is there any guarantee that the cuts will be included in versions of the healthcare legislation being developed by lawmakers other than Baucus" (Levey, 7/9).
News of the day
NPS RADAR Reviews Rivaroxaban - Oral Anticoagulant For Post-knee Replacement Surgery, Australia
Prescribers treating patients who have had total hip or knee replacement surgery can access an independent review of the oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban (Xarelto) in the August issue of NPS RADAR.
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Death Penalty And Mental Illness: Families Of Victims Speak Out At National Convention; "Double Tragedies" Report Released

For the first time, families of murder victims have joined with families of persons with mental illness who have been executed to speak out against the death penalty. Double Tragedies, a report being released today at a special session on the first day of the annual convention of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), calls the death penalty "inappropriate and unwarranted" for people with severe mental disorders and "a distraction from problems within the mental health system that contributed or even directly lead to tragic violence." The report calls for treatment and prevention, not execution. It is available online at http://www.nami.org/doubletragedies. The report, a joint project of NAMI and Murder Victims" Families for Human Rights (MVFHR), is based on extensive interviews with 21 family members from 10 states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. "Family opposition to the death penalty is grounded in personal tragedy," said MVFHR executive director Renny Cushing. "In the public debate about the death penalty and how to respond in the aftermath of violent crime, these are the voices that need to be heard." "Most people with mental illness are not violent," said NAMI executive director Mike Fitzpatrick. "When violent tragedies occur they are exceptional, because something has gone terribly wrong, usually in the mental health care system. Tragedies are compounded and all our families suffer." The report identifies an "intersection" of family concerns and makes four basic recommendations: - Ban the death penalty for people with severe mental illnesses. - Reform the mental health care system to focus on treatment. - Recognize the needs of families of murder victims through rights to information and participation in criminal or mental health proceedings. - Families of executed persons also should be recognized as victims and given the assistance due to any victims of traumatic loss. At least 100 people with mental illness have been put to death in the United States and hundreds more are awaiting execution. NAMI


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