AIS Health Daily | Study Results: Health Insurers, Profits Aren’t Likely to Rebound Until 2012

Between 2009 and 2011, net premiums and total revenues among health plans will increase at an annual rate of 7.4% a year — much slower than the 9.2% average increase the sector experienced between 2004 and 2008, according to a new study from Conning Research & Consulting. The study is based on health plan statutory filings with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Profit margins generally improved among health plans in recent years because medical inflation tended to be slower than anticipated, explains Terence Martin, vice president of insurance research and consulting at Conning.

AIS Health Daily | Observers See Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans Faring Well in 2010 Despite Payment Cuts and New Rules

While tougher times probably are ahead for many of them, Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans (SNPs) have been doing well at adding members recently, according to several industry sources. And with both the House and Senate reform bills reauthorizing SNPs through 2013, their near-term future seems assured — at least for the ones that survive seemingly inevitable consolidation. None of the experts queried by MAN was willing to predict the size of SNP gains in the just-completed Annual Election Period (AEP) for 2010 until CMS comes out Jan. 15 with figures for the initial weeks of that period, which ended Dec. 31.

AIS Health Daily | COBRA Subsidy Extension Could Help Health Plans Keep Members, but May Cause Uptick in Medical Loss Ratios

A six-month extension to the federal government’s COBRA subsidy program will help health plans hang on to members that otherwise might have left the system. But because COBRA tends to attract less healthy employees, it also could translate to a bump in medical loss ratios (MLRs). President Obama late last month signed into law a provision that extends a federal subsidy for COBRA coverage from nine to 15 months. The new law also makes the subsidy available to people who lost their jobs between Sept. 1, 2008, and Feb. 28, 2010. The previous final date of eligibility was Dec. 31.

CBO | Additional Information on the Effect of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund Letter to the Honorable Jeff Sessions

On the basis of the economic forecast and technical assumptions in CBO’s March 2009 baseline, CBO projected that, under current law, the HI trust fund would be exhausted—that is, the balance of the trust fund would decline to zero—during fiscal year 2017. Enacting PPACA, including the manager’s amendment, would reduce net outlays for Part A of Medicare by $245 billion over the 2010–2019 period relative to that baseline, CBO estimates. Enacting that legislation would also increase HI payroll tax receipts by about $113 billion over that period, according to estimates by CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). Together, those changes in outlays and revenues would diminish budget deficits and add to trust fund balances by $358 billion over that 10-year period. Given those changes in the financial flows of the trust fund, CBO estimates that the HI trust fund would have a positive balance of about $170 billion at the end of fiscal year 2019.

CBPP | USING RECONCILIATION PROCESS TO ENACT HEALTH REFORM WOULD BE FULLY CONSISTENT WITH PAST PRACTICE

CBPP | Extending the TANF Emergency Fund Would Create and Preserve Jobs Quickly and Efficiently

CBPP | Major Insurance Market Reforms Will Not Work Unless They Are Part of Broader Health Reform

Arizona Republic | Planned cuts to Arizona schools stir fears

"Parents and voters need to really think about what this means and what their priorities are and what trade-offs they want to make," said Dana Wolfe Naimark, CEO of the Children's Action Alliance. Naimark is among those who think a temporary sales-tax increase of 1 percentage point, from 5.6 percent to 6.6 percent, combined with other budget cuts is not enough to fill the estimated $1.4 billion shortfall for the current fiscal year and the more than $3 billion projected for fiscal year 2011, which begins July 1. Brewer's $7.8 billion budget for the current fiscal year and $8.6 billion for next fiscal year calls for sweeping cuts to juvenile corrections, state employee pay and several social-service programs, including those that serve seriously mentally ill adults and health care for low-income children.

Arizona Republic | Medicare doctors waning in rural Arizona

Seniors in rural Arizona towns and cities with a graying population, such as Yavapai County's Prescott and Prescott Valley, are facing what health officials acknowledge is a troubling trend: doctors who refuse to see new Medicare patients. White is among the many seniors who have struggled to find a local physician and have turned to hospital emergency rooms, clinics or lengthy car trips to Phoenix for health care. Medicare, some doctors say, pays too little, and the red tape is too much. Nearly a third of Medicare recipients looking for a new primary-care physician had some trouble securing a regular doctor, according to a June 2008 report by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

East Valley Tribune | Banner Heart Hospital completes expansion

Banner Heart Hospital in Mesa has opened a new heart care clinic, adding more areas for open-heart and vascular surgery, catheterization procedures and patient recovery. The $29.8 million expansion will add two operating rooms, one catheterization lab and one electrophysiology lab. The plan also features vacant space for future use as catheterization labs.

New York Times | Practicing on Patients, Real and Otherwise

Near the end of my surgical training, I spent three months as chief resident of a hospital trauma team. Two other doctors-in-training and I formed the first-line emergency room response, assessing and resuscitating patients who had been mangled, burned or otherwise injured. It was my first experience as a leader, but each of us was already fairly proficient and we all got along. I was confident that we would work well together.

AZ Daily Star | 5 Tucson docs in Haiti, helping fix broken bones

Five local doctors are in Haiti this week helping residents there heal broken bones from this month's devastating earthquake. The doctors include three surgeons from the Tucson Orthopaedic Institute, one orthopedic surgeon from the University of Arizona and an anesthesiologist who practices at Tucson Medical Center. The journey for four of the doctors began last week when Dr. Russell G. Cohen was watching a television news report about Haiti with his 11-year-old son, Gavin.

HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award Hospital Recipients

Phoenix Business Journal | Kitchell worker killed in construction accident at Phoenix Children’s Hospital

Institute for Health Technology Transformation's Winter Health IT Summit
Feb. 9 - 10, Phoenix, AZ
http://ihealthtran.com/hitwintersummit.html

11th Annual Emerging Issues in Healthcare Law Conference
February 17-19, 2010
Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort , Phoenix
http://www.abanet.org/health/02_programs/01_emerging_issues.html

John F. Roatch Lecture on Social Policy and Practice
"U.S. Health Reform and the Elusive Target of Human Rights"
University Club of Phoenix
March 5th, 2010. 2:30 to 5:00 pm
eemb@asu.edu

2010 Western States Health-e Connection Summit & Trade Show
April 12 & 13, 2010
Phoenix Convention Center
http://www.azhec.org/events.jsp

CIO Healthcare Summit
The health care industry is changing. Will your organization survive?
May 9 - 12, 2010
Four Seasons Resort, Scottsdale, AZ
http://www.ciohealthcaresummit.com/

State Compensation Fund Arizona (SCF) provides safety seminars on the following topics:

1. OSHA Recordkeeping	7. Lockout/Tagout
2. Fall Protection	8. Forklift: Train the Trainer
3. Safety Management	9. Heat Stress Prevention
4. Electrical Safety	10. Back Injury Prevention
5. Scaffold Safety	11. Evacuation Safety
6. Construction Safety Management

For more information: http://www.scfaz.com/corporate/safety_seminars.php

Washington Post | Pelosi: House won't pass Senate bill to save health-care reform

As Democrats continued to grapple with the consequences of their loss in Massachusetts, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday eliminated the most obvious avenue for completing health-care reform, saying the House will not embrace the version of the legislation already approved by the Senate. "I don't think it's possible to pass the Senate bill in the House," Pelosi told reporters after meeting with her caucus. "I don't see the votes for it at this time." Pelosi (D-Calif.) had struggled to sell the Senate legislation to reluctant Democrats since Tuesday, when Republican Scott Brown's upset victory in the Massachusetts Senate election cost Democrats their filibuster-proof Senate majority. House approval of the Senate package would have delivered the bill quickly to the president's desk.

Washington Post | Misleading claims about Safeway wellness incentives shape health-care bill

It's a seductively simple solution to rising health-care costs. Require workers to pay higher premiums if they flunk tests for measures such as weight, blood pressure and cholesterol. Then, bingo: You not only get a fitter workforce, you slash medical expenses. Politicians of both parties have embraced that idea and expanded upon it in the Senate reform bill, inspired largely by the claims of Steven A. Burd, Safeway's chief executive. Burd says he has set an example for employers nationwide by rewarding employees for healthy behavior.

ABC News | US Sen. Landrieu Holds out Hope for Medicaid Fix

Sen. Mary Landrieu defended the Senate's version of health care overhaul legislation — and language in it that provides up to $365 million in Medicaid money for Louisiana — as she discussed what her fellow Democrats should do after losing a crucial Senate seat to a Massachusetts Republican. With state Sen. Scott Brown's victory Tuesday in the race to fill out the term of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Republicans will have 41 seats in the Senate, enough to block votes on the health care plan. Landrieu told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that efforts to reach a consensus on health care should continue. She said she still favors the Senate version, which does not contain a government-run insurance plan backed by the House.

Los Angeles Times | Democrats in Calif. Legislature revive single-payer health care proposal that would cost $210B

A key legislative committee in California revived a bill Thursday to create a government-run health care system in the nation's most populous state, two days after Massachusetts elected a senator who opposes the president's national health care plan. The Senate Appropriations Committee released the bill for a vote by the full Senate next week. The legislation had been held over from last year because of the state's ongoing budget crisis.

Healthcare IT News | CMS to match EHR funding in four states

Washington Post | Republican Brown beats Coakley in special Senate election in Massachusetts

iHealthBeat | More Surgeons Offer Virtual Consultations, But Concerns Remain

Phoenix Business Journal | McCain: Focus on jobs, restart health reform process

U.S. Sen. John McCain said Thursday that President Barack Obama should have focused more on the economy and jobs during his first year in office rather than health care reform. “I think it was a major miscalculation not only the way they went about trying to get this legislation passed on a strictly partisan basis, but also neglecting what the majority of Americans’ concern, that is jobs and the economy,” McCain told “CBS Early Show”. Arizona has been hit hard by the recession, job losses, real estate foreclosures and underwater mortgages.

Arizona Central | Study: TGen spin-off to boost Scottsdale's economy

A new study shows that a TGen spin-off based in Scottsdale will boost the city's economy by creating jobs, revenue and related businesses to the tune of $239 million by 2015. TGen Drug Development, or TD2, is set to play a role in the expansion of the city's biomedical industry, according to a report by the independent economic research firm Tripp Umbach of Pittsburgh. TD2 is a subsidiary of Phoenix-based Translational Genomics Research Institute. It was created in 2003 as a way to commercialize the research discoveries of TGen. Scottsdale provided a $3 million loan to accelerate TD2's growth. The company is located on the biomedical campus of the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale.

Arizona Daily Star | 21% in Pima now on AHCCCS; hospitals strain under the load

One in every five Pima County residents is now enrolled in a state health-insurance program for Arizona's poorest residents. As the economic downturn persisted in 2009, the state's version of Medicaid added more than 200,000 people, including nearly 30,000 in Pima County. No state program in Arizona has grown faster than AHCCCS, the governor's office says. Between 2004 and 2008, the number of Pima County residents enrolled in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System jumped by 27 percent. During that same period, the local population increased by about 13 percent.

East Valley Tribune | Gilbert medical offices filling up

A new medical office building under construction adjacent to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center will bring four practices to Gilbert that specialize in surgical, oncology and radiation services. Mercy Medical Commons construction began late last month, and occupancy is slated for September. Mercy Gilbert Medical Center is a four-story, full-service hospital with 206 beds. Advanced Surgical Associates, Arizona Cancer Specialists, Desert Oncology Associates and Scottsdale Medical Imaging have leased space and will open offices inside the building. They will occupy about 32,000 square feet. Mercy Medical Commons is being developed by Irgens Health Care Facilities Group, a division of Irgens Development Partners. There is a lack of existing medical office space off the Mercy Gilbert campus, said Jason Meszaros, vice president and senior team leader for Irgens' Arizona office.

Phoenix Business Journal | Scottsdale Healthcare opens infusion center

11th Annual Emerging Issues in Healthcare Law Conference
February 17-19, 2010
Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort , Phoenix
http://www.abanet.org/health/02_programs/01_emerging_issues.html

John F. Roatch Lecture on Social Policy and Practice
"U.S. Health Reform and the Elusive Target of Human Rights"
University Club of Phoenix
March 5th, 2010. 2:30 to 5:00 pm
eemb@asu.edu

2010 Western States Health-e Connection Summit & Trade Show
April 12 & 13, 2010
Phoenix Convention Center
http://www.azhec.org/events.jsp

CIO Healthcare Summit
The health care industry is changing. Will your organization survive?
May 9 - 12, 2010
Four Seasons Resort, Scottsdale, AZ
http://www.ciohealthcaresummit.com/

State Compensation Fund Arizona (SCF) provides safety seminars on the following topics:

1. OSHA Recordkeeping	7. Lockout/Tagout
2. Fall Protection	8. Forklift: Train the Trainer
3. Safety Management	9. Heat Stress Prevention
4. Electrical Safety	10. Back Injury Prevention
5. Scaffold Safety	11. Evacuation Safety
6. Construction Safety Management

For more information: http://www.scfaz.com/corporate/safety_seminars.php

American Medical News | HHS plans national claims database

The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services has been collecting claims data from Medicare and Medicaid cases for some time. Now it's looking to collect data from private payers as well. The data would be used to strengthen research on treatment outcomes and bolster comparative effectiveness research, the agency said. The HHS announced plans to build a nationwide database of claims information using funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. With funding through the stimulus bill, the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research was created. The council was charged with developing recommendations on how funding appropriated to HHS for comparative effectiveness research should be invested.

iHealthBeat | Public Comment Period Begins for Proposed 'Meaningful Use' Rules for EHRs

There is a 60-day public comment period for the federal government's recently proposed "meaningful use" regulations. Last month, CMS released a notice of proposed rulemaking that defined how health care providers can demonstrate meaningful use of EHRs to qualify for federal incentive payments. At the same time, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released an interim final rule describing certification standards for EHR technology. Both the CMS notice of proposed rulemaking and the ONC interim final rule were published in the Federal Register.

Kaiser Health News | Feds Vs. States: Who Should Run Proposed Health Insurance Marketplaces?

The fight over whether states or the federal government will have more clout in a proposed health insurance marketplace is escalating – and the outcome has big implications for consumers. This issue is one of the key disputes in the current negotiations between leaders of the House and Senate as they meld their health bills. The House, which would establish a national exchange run by the federal government, argues that setting a uniform program would help protect consumers. The Senate, which wants each state to create and run its own exchange, says states have more experience overseeing insurance plans and know their residents’ needs better.

LA Times | Unions agree to compromise on 'Cadillac tax' for healthcare

The White House and labor leaders agreed Thursday on a formula to tax high-cost insurance plans, removing one of the last obstacles to President Obama's healthcare overhaul, officials said. Under the agreement, reached after an intense round of negotiations this week, union leaders dropped their opposition to the so-called Cadillac tax in exchange for concessions to limit its scope. Organized labor had bitterly opposed the healthcare tax, arguing that union members had negotiated generous benefits in lieu of pay increases. The compromise would raise the threshold for family plans subject to the tax from $23,000 to $24,000 and exempt the cost of dental and vision plans.

Las Vegas Sun | Wary of health care reform, Gibbons weighs rejecting federal Medicaid funds

iHealthBeat | Microsoft's Bing Aims To Improve Results for Health Care Searches

AIS Health Daily | Medical Identity Theft Is Low-Tech, High-Risk and Rapidly Growing

AIS Health Daily | Health Spending Increases May Remain Low as Economy Rebounds

Plunging commercial enrollment, a slowdown in personal income growth and higher unemployment translated to an historically low 4.4% annual increase in health care spending in 2008, according to data released by CMS Jan. 5. The recession appears to have provided a financial incentive for some people to reduce spending and forgo medical treatment — particularly those who lost health insurance as a result of unemployment, according to CMS. Out-of-pocket spending for retail prescription drugs, for example, declined and the rate of increase in spending for most other services decelerated. The data reflect total annual spending for health care goods and services, private and government-run insurance and the amount invested in structures, equipment and noncommercial research.

Phoenix Business Journal | Scottsdale Healthcare opens infusion center

Scottsdale Healthcare has opened an outpatient treatment center near its Osborn Medical Center where patients can receive certain treatment and infusion services. The new Treatment and Infusion Services Outpatient Center provides physician-ordered services such as intravenous antibiotics, chemotherapy, blood transfusions, wound care and medications for diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s and rheumatoid arthritis. Patients previously had to go to the medical center for such treatments.

Phoenix Business Journal | Brewer's FY2011 budget features major cuts

Brewer wants voters to consider ballot measures to decide the fate of photo radar on state highways and to scale back the state's version of Medicaid (the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System). That pullback would take 310,500 Arizonans off AHCCCS rolls. There are more than 1.4 million state residents receiving AHCCCS care. The governor said the state would lose $738 million in federal matching funds if voters pull back AHCCCS care, but would save $1.4 billion over the next two years.

Arizona Republic | Mayo administrator sees future growth

Tom Bour stood on the roof of the Mayo Clinic in northeast Phoenix and pointed to the land below. The hospital's top administrator looked past the dozens of parking spaces and out to the east, to undeveloped acres of brush and dirt. Bour smiled and spoke of the hope for the medical buildings that may come as the hospital begins its 12th year. Of the 200 acres Mayo owns along 56th Street just south of Loop 101, only about 20 percent has been developed. Along with the seven-story hospital, there is a hospice, hotel and child-care facility. The buildings are designed to support employees and patients. As for the remaining undeveloped land, it will be designated for medical care. The potential is exciting, Bour said.

Arizona Republic | First hospital for QC area to open in November

The first hospital in the Queen Creek area is set to open this fall, officials of non-profit Banner Health have anounced. Banner Ironwood Medical Center, on Combs and Gantzel roads in Pinal County, will open Nov. 1. The 36-bed hospital will be in its first phase upon opening. It expands over 220,000 square feet and will one day reach a 500-bed capacity, said spokeswoman Susan Gordon. I think for us it's an opportunity to bring health care to a community that doesn't have it," Gordon said. The hospital, which sits on unincorporated Pinal County land, will serve the approximate 80,000 San Tan Valley residents and 25,000 in Queen Creek. Currently Queen Creek residents' nearest hospital is Gilbert Hospital, on Power Road south of Ray Road. San Tan Valley residents often go to Mercy Gilbert Medical Center and Banner Baywood in Mesa, said Pinal County Supervisor Bryan Martyn.

2010 Western States Health-e Connection Summit & Trade Show
April 12 & 13, 2010
Phoenix Convention Center
http://www.azhec.org/events.jsp

CIO Healthcare Summit
The health care industry is changing. Will your organization survive?
May 9 - 12, 2010
Four Seasons Resort, Scottsdale, AZ
http://www.ciohealthcaresummit.com/

State Compensation Fund Arizona (SCF) provides safety seminars on the following topics:

1. OSHA Recordkeeping	7. Lockout/Tagout
2. Fall Protection	8. Forklift: Train the Trainer
3. Safety Management	9. Heat Stress Prevention
4. Electrical Safety	10. Back Injury Prevention
5. Scaffold Safety	11. Evacuation Safety
6. Construction Safety Management

For more information: http://www.scfaz.com/corporate/safety_seminars.php

Health Affairs | Health Spending Growth At A Historic Low In 2008

In 2008, U.S. health care spending growth slowed to 4.4 percent—the slowest rate of growth over the past forty-eight years. The deceleration was broadly based for nearly all payers and health care goods and services, as growth in both price and nonprice factors slowed amid the recession. Despite the slowdown, national health spending reached $2.3 trillion, or $7,681 per person, and the health care portion of gross domestic product (GDP) grew from 15.9 percent in 2007 to 16.2 percent in 2008. These developments reflect the general pattern that larger increases in the health spending share of GDP generally occur during or just after periods of economic recession. Despite the overall slowdown in national health spending growth, increases in this spending continue to outpace growth in the resources available to pay for it.

AIS Health Daily | Not-For-Profit Blues Plans May Embrace For-Profit Subsidiaries

Don’t expect more not-for-profit Blues plans to attempt to convert to for-profit status anytime soon, say industry experts. However, not-for-profit Blues plans increasingly may operate like for-profit plans: They will buy or start for-profit subsidiaries to expand into new markets and maximize payback to the parent company while retaining their not-for-profit status. Tom Wilson, president of executive consulting firm The Wilson Group, tells The AIS Report that “I don’t think there’s going to be a movement toward publicly traded conversions.” But he contends that not-for-profit plans will likely adopt more complex organizations where a not-for-profit Blues plan holds a for-profit subsidiary. He says not-for-profits and for-profit insurers alike are under intense regulatory scrutiny, but not-for-profits don’t have to report as much about their for-profit subsidiaries. He also asserts that having for-profit subsidiaries allows the plans to capitalize on both their “mission and margin.”

Washington Post | Obama backs high-end health plan tax

President Barack Obama signaled to House Democratic leaders Wednesday that they'll have to drop their opposition to taxing high-end health insurance plans to pay for health coverage for millions of uninsured Americans. In a meeting at the White House, Obama expressed his preference for the insurance tax contained in the Senate's health overhaul bill, but largely opposed by House Democrats and organized labor, Democratic aides said. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.

NPR | Nursing Offers A Healthy Employment Future

Despite the seemingly perennial nursing shortage that affects the U.S., the future of the industry looks bright. By 2018, nearly 600,000 new jobs will be created for registered nurses, making it the profession poised for the most growth overall, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently announced. Keeping with the healthcare trend, home health aide jobs are expected to grow by roughly 470,000 positions over the same time span, making it the second fastest growing profession.

Market Watch | Experts: Critical loophole in Senate health bill

A critical loophole in the current version of the Senate health-care bill would allow insurers to charge more for those who don't participate in wellness programs, essentially negating the measure's key goal of eliminating higher costs for those with pre-existing conditions, a group of health experts said Thursday. In a conference with reporters, representatives from a group known as Health Care for America Now, along with the American Heart Association and other health-care experts, said the law calls for the creation of pilot programs that would allow insurers to penalize those with certain conditions via higher premiums or deductibles. Then, the policyholder can lower those rates by meeting certain wellness goals, which may include enrollment in programs at an extra cost to the insured.

Health Data Management | Vendors Expand EHR Financing

Healthcare IT News | Tennessee, Pennsylvania to get federal matching funds for EHRs

Phoenix Business Journal | CEO Brucker leaves Rural/Metro

Rural/Metro Corp. CEO Jack Brucker has left the Scottsdale company and isn’t expected to receive his $2.8 million severance package. Liz Merritt, spokeswoman for Rural/Metro, said it was Brucker’s decision to resign, saying he cited personal reasons for resigning before he could have cashed in on his severance package. His contract states he has to resign “for a good reason,” she said, if he wanted to receive the severance pay. While a search has begun for his replacement, Conrad Conrad, Rural/Metro’s chairman and a former Dial Corp. executive vice president and CFO, will serve as interim president and CEO. He has served as a board member since October 2005 and was named chairman of the board in July 2008.

Phoenix Business Journal | AZ announces $22.5M TriCor settlement

Attorney General Terry Goddard announced a $22.5 million settlement Thursday over a cholesterol drug called TriCor. The drug, which was developed by French drug company Fournier Industrie et Sante, accounted for more than $1 billion in sales for Abbott Laboratories. Fournier was acquired by Belgian-based Solvay in 2005. Named in the settlement were Abbott Laboratories, Fournier Industrie et Sante and Laboratories Fournier S.A.

Phoenix Business Journal | Arizona’s AG backs governor in opposing Nebraska’s perks in Senate health care bill

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard turned down Gov. Jan Brewer's request to consider suing the federal government if special treatment for Nebraska ends up in the federal health care reforms. But on Friday evening, Goddard said he would join Brewer in opposing special treatment for Nebraska. U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., was a key vote in December to getting health reforms through the Senate. To get Nelson's vote, Senate leadership included special treatment for Nebraska related to Medicaid. Arizona and other states would not get that same treatment under the Senate version of health care reform.

AZ Capitol Times | AZ, feds choose opposite directions on health care

As the federal government prepares to expand health care coverage to more Americans, Arizona may be looking to drastically cut back on its Medicaid program to help solve state budget problems. A bill passed by the U.S. Senate would greatly increase the number of people receiving coverage under Medicaid, but that coverage wouldn't begin until 2014. In the meantime, Gov. Jan Brewer wants to give Arizona voters a chance to either partially reverse an expansion of the Arizona Health Care Costs Containment System (AHCCCS) they approved 10 years ago or find new funding for the program. Even if the Senate health care proposal becomes law, a reduction in AHCCCS could strip coverage for 300,000 Arizonans while they wait for the federal program to go into effect. Scaling back Arizona's Medicaid program is expected to save the state about $900 million a year, providing a much-needed infusion of cash to a state that faces an estimated $3.3 billion deficit in fiscal 2011.

Phoenix Business Journal | Chuck Sowers exits Health Net for Mercy

Chuck Sowers has left his post as president and CEO of Health Net of Arizona Inc. to take a CFO position at Mercy Care Plan, a health plan that provides care to Medicaid patients. He had served as president and CEO of Health Net since February 2007, taking Mark El-Tawil’s spot when he was promoted to chief senior products officer for Health Net Inc. before moving over to head Humana Inc.’s Arizona operations in July 2008. Jim Hertel, publisher of Arizona Managed Care Newsletter, said Sowers now has the CFO spot at Mercy Care Plan, administered by Schaller Anderson, an Aetna company.

Phoenix Business Journal | Haven Senior Horizons names director

AZ Rural Health & Public Health Policy Forum
State Capitol Building
Tuesday, January 12: 7:30 am - 3:15pm
http://www.azrha.org/2010FinalFlyer_PolicyForum.pdf

Advanced Reimbursement Management _ Lunch ‘ n’ Learn HFMA AZ chapter
Current Challenges in Eligibility and HB 2008
Tuesday, January 12: 11:30 am - 1:30 pm
http://www.azhfma.org/events_list.cfm

2010 Western States Health-e Connection Summit & Trade Show
April 12 & 13, 2010
Phoenix Convention Center
http://www.azhec.org/events.jsp

CIO Healthcare Summit
The health care industry is changing. Will your organization survive?
May 9 - 12, 2010
Four Seasons Resort, Scottsdale, AZ
http://www.ciohealthcaresummit.com/

State Compensation Fund Arizona (SCF) provides safety seminars on the following topics:

1. OSHA Recordkeeping	7. Lockout/Tagout
2. Fall Protection	8. Forklift: Train the Trainer
3. Safety Management	9. Heat Stress Prevention
4. Electrical Safety	10. Back Injury Prevention
5. Scaffold Safety	11. Evacuation Safety
6. Construction Safety Management

For more information: http://www.scfaz.com/corporate/safety_seminars.php