By Jeffrey Krasner Massachusetts businesses yesterday joined with most of the state’s health insurers in a new lobbying group aimed at controlling healthcare costs and preventing more universal-coverage expenses from being shifted to employers. The Coalition for Affordable Health Care said it will fight efforts to increase assessments on employers who do not provide health […]

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By CAROLYN FEIBEL http://www.chron.com/ Should you call an ambulance for a sprained wrist or child’s fever? A spider bite? The medical consensus is no, but every year thousands of people in the Houston area dial 911 for non-emergencies. Hoping to cut back on the number of ambulances responding to non-emergency calls, the City Council voted […]

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http://www.marketwire.com NAPA, CA–(Marketwire – June 5, 2008) – The Doctors Company, the nation’s leading physician-owned medical malpractice insurer, is pleased to announce an overall average rate reduction of 13.4 percent for its Ohio physician members that is effective immediately for new policies and on July 1, 2008 for renewal policies. Some physicians will have premium […]

Associated Press WASHINGTON – A broad coalition of corporations, consumer groups, and pharmaceutical providers moved closer this week to compelling millions of doctors to file prescriptions electronically. Electronic prescription supporters as disparate as AARP and AT&T have touted it as an easy, effective way to avoid deadly medication errors and save healthcare providers billions, while […]

Bernadette Tansey http://www.sfgate.com Drug companies shower medical school faculty members with pens, pricey dinners, free samples and other inducements to influence their prescribing patterns, an organization of U.S. medical students says. The med students are now trying to erase that pattern by grading their teachers. The American Medical Student Association issued its second annual report […]

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By SARAH RUBENSTEIN http://online.wsj.com In a move that consumer groups say could increase pressure on people with unpaid medical bills, some hospitals are trying out a new tactic to recoup patients’ debts: They’re auctioning the debt online. Hospitals have long relied on outside collection agencies to go after debtors. Under traditional arrangements, these agencies receive […]