Content about Healthcare reform in the United States

As I write this column, it’s the final Super Tuesday primaries in eight states, including here in New York, before the big mid-term elections in November. And if the Sunday morning news shows are right, the Democrats are in for a spanking. Given the present state of the economy, the stagnant job market and the American electorate’s need to find someone to blame, it’s really kind of inevitable.

WASHINGTON More money is flowing from the federal stimulus coffers to states as the White House continues its push to drive the healthcare system’s massive transformation to a digital and information technology-based platform.

WASHINGTON The Department of Health and Human Services on Sept. 8 unveiled CuidadoDeSalud.gov, a website designed to help Hispanic consumers take control of their health care by connecting them to new information and resources that will help them access quality, affordable healthcare coverage.

Consistent with the mandate in the Affordable Care Act to provide consumers with information and resources to make informed healthcare decisions, CuidadoDeSalud.gov is the partner site of HealthCare.gov, which was launched in July 2010.

NEW YORK Millions of patients with such acute ailments as fevers and coughs turn to the emergency room for treatment, according to researchers. The findings serve as yet one more indicator for the need of convenient and affordable health services available at retail-based clinics.

WASHINGTON Workers on average are paying nearly $4,000 this year toward the cost of family health coverage — an increase of 14%, or $482, above what they paid last year, according to the benchmark "2010 Employer Health Benefits Survey" released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.

WASHINGTON The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday expanded Medicare coverage of evidence-based tobacco-cessation counseling, removing a barrier to treatment for all tobacco users covered by Medicare, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT In these times of trillion-dollar spending bills and massive deficits, $16 billion may not seem like all that much. But it’s enough to throw another critical lifeline to states coping with the ever-rising costs of Medicaid health assistance to the poor and unemployed –– and to thousands of community pharmacies that have to provide prescription services to those millions of Americans.