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GOP Version Of Reform Bill Offers Tax Credits, Doesn't Require Coverage
House Republicans Wednesday unveiled their version of health reform legislation. It offers tax credits to help people buy insurance and doesn"t require individuals or businesses to carry coverage, The Associated Press reports. The plan costs $700 billion, less than current Democratic proposals in Congress.

National Marrow Donor Program Increasing Efforts To Attract Minority Donors
The National Marrow Donor Program, a not-for-profit group that manages a national registry for potential bone marrow donors, is using social networking sites to attract donors from minority communities, the Wall Street Journal reports. The process of finding a genetic match for a bone marrow transplant is often more difficult for minorities or people who identify themselves as multiracial because patients and donors must be genetically compatible. According to the Journal, a white patient has an 88% chance of finding a match, while the odds of most minorities finding a match can be as low as 60%. The odds of some minorities actually receiving a transplant can be as low as 20% because of other factors such as access to care in their communities, the Journal reports. About seven million U.S. residents already have signed up for the national registry -- recently renamed Be the Match -- and the program also has increased outreach to younger potential donors through social networking Web sites, such as Facebook and MySpace (Landro, Wall Street Journal, 5/27).
News of the day
Seminar Series Looks At Women's Health In The 21st Century
A series of free seminars, one in Belfast, has been organised to raise awareness of women"s health and rights in a 21st century where new biomedical techniques allow surrogate motherhood, test-tube babies, organ transplants and other medical developments.
Mental Health

Hospitals May Strike Deal To Save $200 Billion

Hospitals could sign on to an agreement with Senate health reform leader Max Baucus, D-Mont., and the White House to help save up to $200 billion as part of the overhaul plan, lobbyist and health industry s tell Roll Call. The possible deal would come on the heels of an agreement between the drug industry lobbying group, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and senior Democrats to save $80 billion over 10 years by expanding the Medicare drug program. The American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals and the Catholic Health Association are all said to be in talks about the potential bargain. It"s unclear what the hospitals would get, but Roll Call reports: "One area targeted by some lawmakers for savings would come from the Medicare and Medicaid disproportionate-share payment programs that reimburse hospitals for providing services to patients who are uninsured or whose treatments are not fully covered. Hospitals say the program would naturally see significant cost savings if all Americans have health coverage, but they caution that making the cuts before health reforms have been implemented could do more harm." Other sectors of the industry did not yet appear ready to pursue similar deals, but insurance and physician groups said they were engaged in conversations with members of Congress, and were prepared to make some sacrifices (Ackley, 6/24). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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