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The administration answered critics of the Obamacare contraception mandate with new "guidelines". The tell employers that they ar required to offer health plans that include contraception at no cost. Houses of worship are exempt. Insurers are mandated to cover the full range of contraceptive methods without cost but can limit it to generic. They must cover the "ring" and the "patch" without cost to the insured. Maternity care and all other women's health services are required at no cost. Also no cost for BRCA screening and genetic counseling. They then go on to require anesthesia at no cost for preventative colonoscopies. Anybody wonder why Obamacare premiums are the highest of all time?
California's Department of Managed Care has blasted Aetna for its unreasonable premium hikes on small business. Aetna has raised the premium an average of almost 20%. This is the third large rate hike by Aetna since 2013. None of the hikes have been accompanied by back up information to justify the raises. In California the insurers can not be made to have smaller increases.
The House has approved a law to ban abortion after 20 weeks, the time prior to viability and prior to the fetus being able to feel pain. The bill hopefully will be defeated in the Senate and of course Obama would veto it if it ever got that far. This is just dumb to do.
The FDA has changed its rules regarding gays being able to give blood providing it has been at least one year since having sex with another man. It used to be since 1977.
The House has gone after the VA for spending billions of dollars improperly. They wanted to know how they could spend all the money for prosthetics without competitive bidding.
Kaiser Health Services has shown how the government can not get things right. The article shows that the feds have decreed that colonoscopy is a free procedure for screening. This left the charges for anesthesia, pathology, polyp removal and a colonoscopy after a positive stool blood test. The feds then said that polyp removal was part of the procedure and could not be charged to the patient. Then they say that anesthesia is part and can not be charged to the patient. They have yet to say about whether or not a colonoscopy after a positive stool blood test is screening. The same is true for pathology. Legislation by small steps. The patient that paid for the anesthesia or polyp removal may or may not be entitled to a refund.
The FDA has ruled that duodenoscopes should be continued in use since the deadly infections associated with them are rare.
Missouri is trying again. The governor has signed legislation to put caps on med mal suits non-economic damages. Each time they do this the State Supreme Court shoots it down. This time the law puts a cap of $400,000 for non-catastrophic injury, $700,000 for catastrophic injury and death. Top
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article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the
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