Healthy Plan

Rhode Island bill legalizes abortion care under Medicaid and state employee health plan

Sen. Bridget Valverde (D-North Kingstown), Senate sponsor of the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act, said the EACA was unfinished business after a state-based abortion right became law in 2019.

“We protected Rhode Islanders from losing the right that has been stripped from millions of Americans across the country over the last year, following the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court,” Valverde said. “[But] a right to a health care service is useless if we intentionally prevent people’s health insurance from covering it. The ban on abortion coverage in Medicaid and state plans has been an unfair and unjust barrier to the full range of reproductive healthcare, which includes abortion.”

The Senate passed the EACA on a 24-12 vote, with support from President Dominick Ruggerio.

The opposition came from the GOP minority in the Senate and a sprinkling of Democrats.

Senate GOP Leader Jessica de la Cruz of North Smithfield

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Healthy Plan

Proposed Wake County Mental Health Hospital Aims to Treat Whole Person

This story originally published online at NC Health News.

The gift of a suncatcher became a symbol of hope as local and federal officials gathered with hospital executives at Garner Town Hall in southern Wake County to announce the awarding of $12 million in funding to help build a new mental health facility.

Rachel Moorefield was in the audience. In 2018, her son Isaiah died by suicide at the age of 19. Her family, through their grief, made suncatchers as a way to remember Isaiah and his sunny personality. She brought one to the announcement ceremony to symbolize and celebrate support for the cause of mental health care.

Moorefield, who recently moved to North Carolina from Minnesota, said having access to compassionate care is essential for people dealing with mental health issues. Compassion, she said, is something that Isaiah didn’t receive as she and her family looked for the help

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Healthy Plan

Telehealth Co. Signs Contract With US Health Plan Serving 1 Million Patients

May 19, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Telehealth company Reliq Health Technologies signs a contract with a U.S. health plan that operates in five states with over 3,000 doctors and more than 1 million patients.



Telehealth company Reliq Health Technologies Inc. (RHT:TSX.V; RQHTF:OTCQB; A2AJTB:WKN) has signed a contract with a U.S. health plan that operates in five states with over 3,000 doctors and more than 1 million patients.

The move is expected to add more than 10,000 new patients to the company’s iUGO platform by next March at an average revenue of CA$65 per patient per month.

“We are very pleased to have signed our first contract with a U.S. health plan,” said Reliq Chief Executive Officer Lisa Crossley. “The remote patient monitoring, chronic care management, and behavioral health integration solutions Reliq will be providing using our iUGO Care platform will support critical preventative programs to assist the ACOs in

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Healthy Plan

NC Senate: tie hospital licenses to State Health Plan savings

Senate Deputy President Pro Tempore Ralph Hise,left, outlines parts of the Senate Republicans’ budget proposal during a press conference on Monday, May 15, 2023 at the Legislative Building in Raleigh.

Senate Deputy President Pro Tempore Ralph Hise,left, outlines parts of the Senate Republicans’ budget proposal during a press conference on Monday, May 15, 2023 at the Legislative Building in Raleigh.


Travis Long

tlong@newsobserver.com

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North Carolina Budget

North Carolina is going through its budget process for the 2023-25 fiscal year. Here’s a look at coverage of the process and what’s in the budget from The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer.

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RALEIGH

Hospitals in North Carolina’s largest counties could be shut down if they fail to meet a savings target set by state lawmakers for cutting costs to the State Health Plan, under the budget proposal Senate Republicans unveiled Monday.

The provision, which Senate GOP leaders said in a press conference was necessary to bring about savings to the health plan that serves teachers and state employees, would require “urban hospitals to reduce healthcare costs to

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Healthy Plan

InLife supports new Insurance Commissioner’s digitalization, increased insurance, health coverage plans for Filipinos

Insular Life (InLife) expressed its support for the general directions and plans of new Insurance Commissioner Atty. Reynaldo Regalado (center), which include digitalization and plans to increase insurance penetration and health insurance coverage especially among OFWs.

Commissioner Regalado also expressed his wish to make insurance more inclusive for the benefit of more Filipinos.

These were among the key items discussed during the InLife delegation’s courtesy call to the commissioner. Executive Chairperson Nina D. Aguas (2nd from left) led the InLife delegation which included (from left) Trustee Luis Y. Benitez, Trustee and Insular Health Care President and CEO Maria Noemi G. Azura, and Corporate Secretary and Chief Legal and Governance Officer Atty. Renato S. De Jesus.

During the meeting, they also talked about InLife and Insular Health Care’s special projects and agreed to collaborate for gender and development through the InLife Sheroes Advocacy and Movement. InLife Sheroes, through its

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Healthy Plan

A health data privacy showdown

The Federal Trade Commission’s notice last week about its plan to crack down on health care companies that use customer data for marketing signals legal warfare to come.

That’s according to the legal experts Ben consulted.

The plan to use a 14-year-old cybersecurity rule “really is pushing the envelope,” said Kirk Nahra, a privacy attorney at law firm WilmerHale.

He added: The agency is “retroactively” looking to “revise the rule to fit enforcement actions that it has already taken.”

Nahra expects plenty of comments about the notice’s scope — at this point, it remains a proposal, not a final rule — and potential legal challenges if the FTC doesn’t scale it back.

“They are 100 percent right that health data … does need more comprehensive privacy regulation, but I’m not sure FTC has been

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Healthy Plan

A health care coverage crisis is unfolding at Canton’s paper mill

As with nearly every other aspect of the mill’s forthcoming closure, Pactiv has been anything but proactive and communicative, especially in educating its workers about their impending loss of health care coverage.

Now, on short notice and with few specifics, Haywood County’s nonprofit, government and educational community, along with state agencies, have to band together to clean up a mess Pactiv could have averted months ago, while workers are forced to make major decisions that could have a substantial impact on both their health and their household budgets.

“Once again, without warning, we are dealing with another crisis,” said Zeb Smathers, Canton’s mayor. “In the same breath, Canton, Haywood County and our partners across the state are going to do all that we can in next few months to make sure workers and their families receive the medical necessities they’re entitled to.”

 

Workers at Pactiv Evergreen’s century-old paper mill in

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Healthy Plan

InLife supports digitalization, increased insurance and health coverage plans

InLife Insurance Commission’s courtesy call. (Contributed Photo)

InLife Insurance Commission’s courtesy call. (Contributed Photo)

INSULAR Life (InLife) expressed its support for the general directions and plans of new Insurance Commissioner Atty. Reynaldo Regalado (center), which includes digitalization and plans to increase insurance penetration and health insurance coverage, especially among OFWs.

Commissioner Regalado also expressed his wish to make insurance more inclusive for the benefit of more Filipinos.

These were among the key items discussed during the InLife delegation’s courtesy call to the commissioner. Executive Chairperson Nina D. Aguas (2nd from left) led the InLife delegation which included (from left) Trustee Luis Y. Benitez, Trustee and Insular Health Care President and CEO Maria Noemi G. Azura, and Corporate Secretary and Chief Legal and Governance Officer Atty. Renato S. De Jesus.

During the meeting, they also talked about InLife and Insular Health Care’s special projects and agreed to collaborate for gender and development through the InLife Sheroes Advocacy and

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Healthy Body

The Impact of Social Media on Youth Mental Health

Summary: The U.S. Surgeon General has issued an urgent advisory addressing the potential dangers of social media on the mental health of young people.

Despite the potential benefits, the advisory highlights the risks social media poses to children and adolescents, with nearly 95% of 13-17-year-olds reporting usage.

Acknowledging the ongoing youth mental health crisis, the Surgeon General calls for immediate action from policymakers, tech companies, researchers, and families to better understand and mitigate the effects of social media.

The advisory is a key part of President Biden’s strategy to transform mental health care in America.

Key Facts:

  1. Almost 95% of young people aged 13-17 report using social media, with over a third saying they use it “almost constantly.”
  2. There’s growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health, with harmful content, sleep disruption, and reduced physical activity being highlighted as key issues.
  3. The
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Healthy Plan

What’s the best health insurance for early retirees?

Although early retirement is a goal for many Americans, fewer than 1% retire before the age of 50, according to a LIMRA study published in 2015. Perhaps somewhat more realistically, a 2023 EBRI/Greenwald Research Retirement Confidence Survey found that 20% of workers say they plan to retire between the ages of 60 and 64.

Christine Simone

Christine Simone is the CEO & co-founder of Caribou, a software solution for the finance industry to include health care costs and plan optimization for financial plans.

One problem with making good on the dream of early retirement is that while Social Security allows individuals to retire — or begin drawing government retirement benefits — at age 62.5, financial advisors commonly define early retirement as any age before 65 — the year at which individuals qualify for Medicare benefits, leaving a potential gap in how to mitigate financial risks related to health care costs.

It’s a

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