Month: December 2011

Even if a year-end deadline runs out, the state won't automatically move to drop health care coverage for tens of thousands of low-income adults as previously expected, Gov. Scott Walker said Thursday. In a second change in direction by the Republican governor, Walker said the state is suspending plans to implement the federal health care overhaul in Wisconsin while the nation's highest court considers whether to uphold that law. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 12/23)

A study of Wisconsin’s state employee health insurance plan shows La Crosse has the highest single monthly premium rates of the state’s metro areas. Citizen Action of Wisconsin released its sixth annual Wisconsin Health Insurance Cost Ranking, showing a 32 percent variation between Madison, the lowest-cost metro area, and La Crosse, which amounts to a difference of $2,177 per year for single health coverage. But local hospital officials say it’s an unfair comparison to make, since the report looks at health care premium costs for just one group. (LA CROSSE TRIBUNE, 12/23)

The state Medical Examining Board is looking into investigating at least 10 doctors not previously disciplined for writing sick notes the Madison School District considered fraudulent. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 12/22)

Dr. Ken Lee lives every day with reminders of a suicide car bombing: a crescent-shaped scar on his temple, thumbs that don't work correctly, constant headaches, and legs and arms that always feel like they're on fire. The attack in Baghdad nearly killed the Wisconsin National Guard's chief medical officer, leaving him with a brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder so severe that the slightest provocation sent him into a furniture-smashing rage — even as he worked to diagnose and heal fellow veterans back home. (AP, 12/22)

As Wisconsin's health programs for the poor have ballooned in recent years, the state has relied increasingly on private contractors to administer the programs, completed fewer investigations into potential fraud and not taken full advantage of cheaper ways of delivering health care, a new audit has found. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 12/21)

A federal advisory board on biosecurity has recommended that research published by a University of Wisconsin scientist not include details that could enable bioterrorists to replicate his experiments. The National Institutes of Health confirmed Tuesday that a federal advisory board recommended changes in the manuscripts of two researchers, including work done by UW scientist Yoshihiro Kawaoka, on H5N1 avian influenza virus, the strain known popularly as "bird flu." (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 12/21)

U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy introduced a set of policies to reform the American health care system last week, 11 months after voting to repeal President Barack Obama's health care package without a ready replacement. (WAUSAU DAILY HERALD, 12/20)

At least 10 doctors not previously disciplined by the state signed sick notes for Madison School District employees that the district considered fraudulent, according to a State Journal analysis of the notes submitted amid Capitol protests earlier this year. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 12/19)