LEWISTON — Central Maine HealthCare has joined an Auburn research company to offer more local people the chance to enroll in clinical trials, widely expanding the availability of experimental drugs for problems including diabetes, arthritis and heart disease. By next year, the number of Lewiston-Auburn-area people enrolled in trials could triple from 500 to 1,500, […]
health care
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Journalist finds good news in U.S. health care system
LEWISTON — There’s good news buried in the U.S. health care system’s web of unfairness and inefficiency, argues best-selling health care writer T.R. Reid. Some medical communities are trying hard to cut the cost of health care. And it’s working, Reid told a Bates College audience Wednesday. “In many places in America, the doctors actively work […]
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Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Appeals court upholds Obama health care law
WASHINGTON (AP) — A conservative-leaning appeals court panel on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s health care law, as the Supreme Court prepares to consider this week whether to resolve conflicting rulings over the law’s requirement that all Americans buy health care insurance. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the […]
Posted inOur View
Health care system sick and getting sicker
A New York Times reporter introduced us last week to Tammy Yancey, a $9.50-an-hour gas station attendant for Sam’s Club in Pinellas Park, Fla. Walmart, which also operates Sam’s Club, had just announced sweeping health insurance cuts and premium increases for its one million employees. Those increases included a steep penalty for employees who smoke. […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine, sj-web
Educated workers needed for health care jobs, LePage says
As Maine’s economy continues to struggle, state leaders say the health care sector remains strong and is expected to grow. At a conference on Tuesday, officials said training a qualified work force is the key to both meeting the growing demand for health care services in Maine and taking advantage of the economic activity that […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine health care exchange rules recommended
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A report that outlines an important component of health insurance reform in Maine, a health care exchange where people can shop for policies, was met with expressions of frustration by Democrats as it was presented Monday to a legislative committee. “I’m disappointed,” Sen. Joseph Brannigan, D-Portland, said before he and other […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
New Maine health insurance figures due Tuesday
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — New U.S. Census will provide updates on the number of people lacking health insurance nationally and in Maine. The U.S. Census Bureau is to release its new figures, based on the 2010 census, on Tuesday. Current national figures show the number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 46.3 million […]
Posted inMaine
State of Maine ranks 11th on child well-being
AUGUSTA — Maine is doing relatively well on several measures of child well-being, ranking 11th overall among the 50 states, according to data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation in its 2011 national Kids Count Data Book. However, the state’s rate of infant deaths and low birthweight babies has risen, and the percent of children […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine’s health insurance panel composed almost entirely of industry members
AUGUSTA, Maine — With one notable exception, a new nine-member committee charged with developing Maine’s federally mandated health insurance exchange is made up almost entirely of health care and insurance insiders. The stand-out appointee is Jamie Bissonnette Lewey of Pembroke, chairwoman of the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission. Lewey is a longtime advocate for criminal justice […]