A new model of health care delivery -- direct primary care -- could be déjà vu for some Californians, a retreat to the past when insurance wasn't a part of the health care equation. Direct primary care emphasizes prevention and a reduction in the use of "downstream services" -- treating symptoms rather than the problems themselves.

The California Medical Association and the Food & Drug Council have joined a statewide alliance that seeks to monitor developments in the California Health Benefit Exchange, the Sacramento Business Journal reports (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 8/29).

The California Medical Association and the Food & Drug Council have joined a statewide alliance of business and labor leaders, health plans, providers and patient advocates monitoring developments in the California Health Benefit Exchange.

On the road 50 hours a week, the drivers who work for Becker Trucking, headquartered in Seattle, have little trouble finding cheap eats at the all-night diners lining the interstates of the Pacific Northwest. But many drivers were struggling with chronic poor health, and the company’s health costs were rising fast. What his employees really needed, the company president realized, was better access to doctors.

Officials from a health care advocacy group have presented something of a road map to the state leaders at the Maryland Health Exchange Board, whose members are working to implement the national health care reform law.

West Virginia is taking strong steps to get ready for the new federal health-care reform law, Kathleen Stoll, deputy director of the non-profit Families USA, told a conference of West Virginia health-care workers, policy-makers and advocates Monday.

This morning, America's Agenda joined with a broad “National Coalition of Health Reform Coalitions” at a press conference calling on the White House and Congress to continue their efforts to enact health care reform that Americans need, now, more than ever.

 America’s Agenda: Health Care for All, a leading coalition of business and labor organizations, submitted a letter today to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressing strong opposition to the proposed excise tax on higher-cost “Cadillac” health plans included in HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The duo “urge Members of the Senate to continue to work toward enacting consensus health-care reform legislation” – adding that “"The bill before the Senate this week isn't and shouldn't be the final answer, but the status quo is simply unacceptable.”

Opinion polls on health care reform keep piling up, and most of them show the public’s deep ambivalence, if not rejection, of the House and Senate bills on the table. But a new survey of residents in key battleground congressional districts found 

The White House is once again distributing a statement from a Republican in support of health care reform.

In the often contentious but vital debate over health care reform, one issue unites patients, doctors, business owners and workers alike: the need to reduce how much Americans pay for the care they receive.

In a statement distributed by the White House Monday, Tommy Thompson — the former Republican presidential candidate, health and human services secretary in the Bush administration, and four-term governor of Wisconsin — gives strong praise to the health care legislation that is expected to be voted on by the Senate Finance Committee later this week.

The need for health reform grows more urgent by the day. Costs are skyrocketing, hurting families and businesses. 

“After months of spirited conversation and debate, it is time to move forward a broadly supported, pro-growth health-care reform package that reduces costs, helps prevent chronic disease, preserves patient choice, encourages personal responsibility, and, most importantly, ensures quality and affordable care for all Americans,” said Mark Blum, executive director of the organization.

Far too often in our nation's policy-making process, we allow ourselves to get caught up in the divisive aspects of issues rather than focusing on how we can work together to achieve a historic, bipartisan result. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the debate over health-care reform set to enter a critical phase when lawmakers return to Washington next week.

Women in southern West Virginia are living shorter lives than women in much of the nation, according to a report released today.

Democratic senators met Tuesday with President Obama to begin coordinating their message on a healthcare overhaul that seems likely to focus on cost containment and changing the way the insurance industry does business.

Sooner than anyone had anticipated, President Obama's drive for health reform has reached a crucial decision point.

American medical care may be the most expensive in the world, but that does not mean it is worth every penny.

Although much attention in health overhaul legislation has been given to a public plan option, employer mandates and other hotly contested proposals, most voters favor a health system overhaul

As the push for national health care reform shifts into high gear, there's reason to think we may get it done this time.

Although still publicly beating the drums for President Obama's healthcare overhaul, representatives of some of the biggest players are beginning to express concern behind the scenes that it won't do enough about the major problem: runaway medical costs.

Insurance companies should use their profits to help fund as much as $100 billion of a landmark U.S. health-care system, senators including Democrat Charles Schumer of New York said.

With the growth in health-care costs skyrocketing higher each year, people are demanding change in our health system. 

Leaders from business, labor and health care provider communities announced Tuesday a list of health care priorities that members say are nonpartisan, common sense goals for any overhaul legislation.

As veterans of many political battles, we both learned long ago that far-reaching legislation like health care reform requires House and Senate Members to strike consensus. 

SB 414, passed by the West Virginia legislature on May 28^th, is the centerpiece of a group of landmark health reform bills passed by the West Virginia legislature this year.

Walk though a typical Kaiser Permanente doctor's office or hospital, and you won't find a paper chart lying around. Kaiser, with 450 hospitals and offices around the country, is almost entirely paperless.  

A strong push from the Obama administration and Democratic leaders in Congress has set the wheels in motion toward national health care reform.

Since I spent yesterday talking about health insurance, it seems fitting to switch gears to another health reform discussion: the fourth America’s Agenda Health Care Summit Conversation, happening today at 11am PST at the University of California San Francisco.  

Dear Friends, Best wishes for a successful Summit Conversation on American Health Care for the 2Ist Century at the University of Califomia- San Francisco.

America has been talking for half a century about providing quality health care for every citizen. 

Participants at the second of four forums on health care being held across the country concluded that real health care reform must start with disease prevention and better health information technology.

John R. Seffrin, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of the American Cancer Society, and its advocacy affiliate, ACS CAN, participated in a health care summit at the University of Miami during which leaders from medicine, business, and government discussed ideas to reform the US health system in the new Presidential administration. 

American Nurses Association (ANA) President, Rebecca M. Patton, MSN, RN, CNOR attended the first  of a series of “Summit Conversations” to highlight the emerging national consensus on key components of a reformed 21st century health care system on January 28, 2009, at the University of Miami.  

The drumbeat of news about the ailing U.S. economy constantly reminds us all about the uncertainties we will continue to face if Congress and the Obama Administration do not act swiftly on an economic-recovery plan.

While it may not sell newspapers or light up the ratings on cable shout shows, a diverse group of interests has quietly moved toward consensus on the need for significant health reform this year.

A major summit begins tomorrow in Florida on health care reform. With Donna Shalala moderating, this summit. There will be a dedicated topic on Health Information Technology with one of the key speakers C. Martin Harris of the Cleveland Clinic.

Our broken healthcare system is bankrupting people and businesses. We're all paying a lot more and getting less. Our nation's economic future depends on making the right policy choices on healthcare.

The pharmaceutical industry is paying $13.2 million to run advertisements supporting 28 politicians, all but three of them Democrats, in an example of how interest groups are already adjusting to the prospect of stronger Democratic control of Congress in 2009.

America's Agenda: Health Care for All, the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, and a team of co-sponsors have launched a nationwide TV spot focusing on health care reform that is running over the two weeks leading up to the presidential election.

With the election just weeks away, a new poll shows that 79% of West Virginia residents would be more likely to vote for political candidates who worked to guarantee quality health care for all.

The majority of West Virginia residents with weight and health problems admit they need help, but many don't see a doctor because they can't afford it or can't get there.

A group of businesses and healthcare groups are joining forces to help make health care more accessible and affordable in West Virginia.

Too many West Virginians are going without healthcare and that has to change. 

At the Democratic Convention event honoring Dick Gephardt, America's Agenda announced the launch of its new Summit Conversations series on American health care for the 21st century.

Kenneth Thorpe has a tough challenge ahead: Oversee the design of a more efficient, less expensive health-care system for West Virginia.

When we're too sick to participate in the workforce, when our employers can't keep up with skyrocketing costs, when preventable diseases go unchecked and result in costly complications, we all pay the price.

John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), will join other leaders from labor, health care, government and business January 28 at the University of Miami in the first of ten "Summit Conversations" on health care reform.