By Jonathan Tamari and Stacey Burling http://www.philly.com TRENTON – Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, New Jersey’s largest health insurer, filed yesterday to become a publicly held for-profit company, a move that could bring the state a $1 billion windfall for health care but that comes with concerns about how the change could impact consumers. The […]

By Kendra Marr http://www.washingtonpost.com Imagine a virtual health clinic: Your lung doctor and heart specialist can pull up your online medical profile and chat, via instant messenger, about your medications. You schedule checkups online, create a wellness journal or even rate your general practitioner. WellNet Healthcare, a Bethesda health management company, is launching the beta […]

http://www.insurancejournal.com Louisiana Medical Mutual Insurance Company (LAMMICO), which provides medical liability insurance for health care practitioners in Louisiana, announced it has funded scholarships for four students at medical schools in that state. This is the eighth year LAMMICO has awarded merit scholarships to help defray tuition and other expenses associated with students enrolling at Tulane […]

By Melissa Dunson http://www.joplinglobe.com

By James T. Mulder http://www.syracuse.com Doctors are hoping to get Gov. David Paterson and state legislators to fix the state’s medical malpractice insurance system when they return to Albany Tuesday for a special session. Dr. Richard Waldman of Syracuse, who heads the New York State District of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said […]

http://www.ohio.com There’s been a lot of news recently about new health-care facilities in Northeast Ohio. But one trend is particularly disturbing and should be of concern to Summit County residents. That trend is physician investment and ownership in hospitals. Most recently, we have heard about a proposal to build a new, physician-owned for-profit hospital in […]

by Pat Shellenbarger | The Grand Rapids Press http://www.mlive.com GRAND RAPIDS — Dick Ziomkowski admits he wasn’t doing all that well controlling his diabetes after it was diagnosed a couple of years ago. He wasn’t monitoring his blood-sugar level the way he was supposed to, wasn’t following a proper diet and didn’t get the exercise […]

By Terry Hillig http://www.stltoday.com A lawsuit testing the constitutionality of Illinois’ medical malpractice reforms is expected to come before the state’s Supreme Court this fall — and with it the very real possibility that the law will be nixed. State Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton, was one of the leaders in a long bipartisan effort to […]

By Jay Greene http://crainsdetroit.com In what appears to be a truce between doctors and health insurers nationally over the publishing of physician quality data on the Internet, a number of Southeast Michigan health insurers are expanding their efforts to inform members of higher-performing doctors within their provider networks. Each health insurer that operates in Southeast […]