| Minnesotans could save billions in health care costs, task force says
Gov. Tim Pawlenty said there's much he likes in the wide-ranging recommendations he received Tuesday from a task force he appointed to find ways to improve health care in Minnesota. But he stopped short of endorsing some of the panel's recommendations, such as requiring Minnesotans to buy health insurance or raising the cigarette "health-impact fee" to discourage smoking. "I think we've done enough to smokers for now" by banning smoking in most bars and restaurants and adding the 75-cent fee, he said. And requiring everyone to have insurance might "criminalize poor people" who can't afford it, he added. Still, Pawlenty said the task force report "can be the framework for a significant health care reform initiative in Minnesota." The broad range of recommendations would link doctors, hospitals, employers, patients, insurers, schools, communities and policy makers in initiatives aimed at paring $12.3 billion from health care costs otherwise projected to soar from about $30 billion now to $57.4 billion by 2015.
Crist propose cheap health insurance
Gov. Charlie Crist announced Tuesday plans to help the uninsured with a new, low-cost health insurance, vastly expanded coverage for children and a pilot program offering low-cost primary care in 14 counties, including Miami-Dade and Broward. Two weeks before the start of the 2008 legislative session, the governor said his top three priorities were healthcare, education and energy/economic development. Healthcare was at the top of the list. His proposal for cheap health insurance would eliminate all of the 50-plus mandates now required, such as including chiropractors and acupuncturists in any plan. The plans would be required to guarantee coverage to all uninsured Floridians age 19 to 64. Crist said the cost would be $150 a month. Insurers disagree.
Smith says Oregon vote not an argument against S-CHIP expansion
PORTLAND, Ore. The vote against a cigarette tax in Oregon isnt a good argument against a similar effort nationally to expand health insurance for children, Republican Sen. Gordon Smith says. Opponents of expanding the federal State Childrens Health Insurance Program, or S-CHIP, have pounced on the Oregon vote. They say its evidence raising the federal tobacco tax by 61 cents to insure four million more children nationally will never fly. President Bush, who vetoed the S-CHIP bill, referred to the Oregon vote in speeches and in a call to U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., the only member of the Oregon delegation to vote against the bill. Smith said Thursday he thought Bush misunderstood the Oregon vote. Oregonians were impatient that legislators hadnt handled the matter themselves, rather than putting it to a statewide vote, Smith said.
DFLers advance health insurance plan
A bold plan to provide health insurance coverage for all Minnesotans through a government run program was advanced today by DFL legislators, who say they expect to wage a three or four year battle for such a system. The proposed Minnesota Health Plan was touted as the most effective way to transfer savings resulting from lower insurance overhead and other costs to provide coverage for an estimated 400,000 uninsured Minnesotans. The effort is being led largely by new House members, who say they are responding to numerous complaints about health insurance while campaigning in 2006. "Health care was either number one or number two as a primary concern," said Rep. David Bly, DFL-Northfield. The single-payer plan will compete with less dramatic proposals for health coverage reform during the upcoming legislative session.
OSI's anti-cancer drug Tarceva launches in Japan next week
The anti-cancer drug Tarceva will be launched and covered under Japan's National Health Insurance starting Tuesday, the Melville-based drug maker OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Friday. The drug is now available in 83 countries, including the United States and European Union.
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved Tarceva in October for patients with some forms of lung cancer where chemotherapy has failed. "We are pleased that lung cancer patients in Japan will now have access to Tarceva, which has been proven to offer a survival benefit with a well-described side-effect profile," said Gabriel Leung, president for oncology at OSI.
OSI manufactures and distributes Tarceva through partnerships with Genentech and Roche. The drug will be marketed in Japan by Roche affiliate Chugai Pharmaceutical Co.
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