Deputies seize baby to test blood against parents' will

Deputies seize baby to test blood against parents' will - Associated Press -- Here's a nicely framed conflict between public health laws designed to protect newborns vs. parental religious beliefs, in state (Neb.) that doesn't provide a religious exemption for newborn testing. Absent a First Amendment claim (which would fail), the only constitutional argument would be a claimed infringement of

Iglehart on the House's failure to override Bush's SCHIP veto

John Iglehart, the founding editor of Health Affairs and national corespondent for the New England Journal of Medicine, posted his instant analysis [may require paid subscription] of the House's failure on Thursday to override the President's veto of the SCHIP reauthorization bill, HR 976. Iglehart's provides an excellent overview of the controversy and connects this contretemps to "the larger

Federeal employees' health plan not much of a model for reform

There's a good analysis of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP) by Reed Abelson in The New York Times today. Various presidential candidates are talking about the FEHBP in their stump speeches, suggesting that this country's 47 million uninsured could be covered by the same plan that covers their elected representatives. Bottom line: There's really nothing about the FEHBP that

Major-party presidential candidates on health reform

Here are links to the major-party presidential candidates' health-policy web pages, which I offer in alpha order and without editorial comment:Joe Biden: http://www.joebiden.com/issues/?id=0003Sam Brownback: http://www.brownback.com/s/Issues/tabid/60/Default.aspx#HealthcareHillary Clinton: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/healthcareplan/ Chris Dodd: http://action.chrisdodd.com/t/41/

SCHIP

Here's a news post courtesy of FDLI's SmartBrief:White House to face state SCHIP lawsuits -- New Jersey was the first of several states expected to file lawsuits against the Bush administration over rules set in August that limit state coverage of children's health insurance to exclude children in middle-income families. Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York and