With almost nothing but a steady stream of dire news about public services in 2011 , and the prospect of even more budget cuts facing us as the Washington State Legislature convenes work today, it is heartening to hear some good news. For the third year in a row, Washington has earned bonuses for enrolling [...]
Archive for the ‘Advocacy’ Category
Washington’s Apple Health for Kids Earns $17M Federal Achievement Bonus
Posted in Advocacy, Children's Health, Economics of Health Care, Ethics, Health Care Reform, Health Disparities, Health Insurance, Recession, State of Washington on 9 January 2012 | Leave a Comment »
News Roundup
Posted in Access to Medicines, Advocacy, Conflicts of Interest, Consumer Protection, Economics of Health Care, Ethics, Global Health, Health Care Marketing, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Healthcare Inequalities, Prescription drugs, Promotions, Tobacco control on 9 January 2012 | Leave a Comment »
As the new year starts, some ome items of note from near and far: The breast implant scandal strips away the glossy euphemisms of cosmetic surgery S. Korea approves Asia’s first anti-leukemia drug Nicotine Gum and Skin Patch Face New Doubt No Benefits for Sick Job Seekers: After battling leukemia, man is denied unemployment benefits Opinion: [...]
And the good news is…
Posted in Access to Medicines, Advocacy, Assistance, Children's Health, Consumer Protection, Economics of Health Care, Health Insurance, Pharmacists, Prescription drugs, State of Washington on 7 November 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Now more so that ever, learning of positive developments and new efforts of those working to make a difference, helps me to keep going . I share here with you some news of significance at the local, state, and national levels. In Washington State: State lifts three-visit ER limit for poor patients Workers’ wellness saving [...]
Health Literacy Month–Still a Long Way to Go
Posted in Advocacy, Consumer Protection, Health Literacy, Language Access, Limited English Proficiency, Pharmacists, Prescription drugs on 21 October 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I just learned that October is Health Literacy Month, via an article entitled “Hospital discharge summaries are a health literacy issue” (a guest post by another physician) published on the KevinMD.com blog. (Background: this article had originally been posted on another blog called Engaging the Patient, sponsored by Emmi Solutions, a healthcare communications firm which [...]
Health News Progress Report
Posted in Advocacy, Conflicts of Interest, Consumer Protection, Economics of Health Care, Ethics, Global Health, Health Care Marketing, Health Insurance, Military medicine, Promotions, State of Washington, Tobacco control on 17 August 2011 | 1 Comment »
Moving forward Regence fined $100K for denying women coverage [Washington] State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has fined Regence BlueShield $100,000 for denying contraceptive coverage to 984 women. Regence had covered the women’s use of an IUD, or intrauterine contraceptive device, but not the removal of it. When the women wanted to remove the device because [...]
In Washington State, Health Insurance Rate Requests Now Public
Posted in Advocacy, Consumer Protection, Economics of Health Care, Ethics, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, State of Washington on 30 July 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Kudos to Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, who took action on behalf of consumers! From the OIC blog: Health insurance rate requests now public Individual and small employer health insurance rate requests are now public. See the complete filings received since July 1, as well as a summary for each request. Several health insurers filed rate [...]
ACTION ALERT: Comments Needed on Important Language Access Standard by July 25
Posted in Advocacy, Consumer Protection, Discrimination, Economics of Health Care, Health Care Marketing, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Health Literacy, Language Access, Language Services on 20 July 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Several national health advocacy groups have put out an alert about some key changes to language access standards that have just been proposed for the communication responsibilities of certain federal agencies which regulate private health care plans. As we move forward towards the enactment of health care reform, it is critical that everyone, including LEP [...]
Headline Scan
Posted in Access to Medicines, Advocacy, Assistance, Children's Health, Economics of Health Care, Environmental Health, Ethics, Global Health, Health Care Marketing, Health Disparities, Health Insurance, Health Literacy, Healthcare Inequalities, Language Access, Recession, State of Washington, Workers' rights on 18 May 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Can We Afford Personalized Medicine? Special treatment for ‘high profile’ patients; exasperation for the rest of us Health Insurers Making Record Profits as Many Postpone Care People Who Donate Organs For Transplants Can Have Difficulty Getting Insurance Foundations, Conflicts Of Interest And Drugmakers Mission Crash: The Intolerable Policy Incoherence in US AIDS Policy, Global and [...]
Losing Your Job When You Get Sick
Posted in Advocacy, Discrimination, Economics of Health Care, Ethics, Workers' rights on 14 April 2011 | Leave a Comment »
On tonight’s evening news, King 5 TV, our local CBS affiliated carried a story about a Microsoft worker who lost his job after being diagnosed with leukemia. Duncan Sutherland came forward after after seeing another report the night before about Ken Knightley, a Microsoft worker who is now being denied paid leave to undergo treatment [...]
