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News from the » West - Midwest - Northeast - South - States - 2001

The West 2000

(Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming)

Big California medical group goes under, leaving physicians unpaid - Dec. 11
California doctors have had it with IPAs - Nov. 27
Alaska physicians settle FTC charges of price-fixing - Oct. 9
Anthem challenges bid for New Mexico Blues - Sept. 25
Crisis deepens for California practice group - Sept. 18
California law facilitates advance directives for end-of-life medical care - Aug. 14
New Mexico Blues accepts $55 million merger offer - Aug. 7
California high court to ponder rights on medical decisions - July 31
Sign of the times: California opens department to regulate HMOs - July 24
Jumbo California practice on the ropes once more - July 10/17
Some California physicians hanging up on hospital call - June 26
Calif. court: Plans can't drop physicians without reason - June 5
California health plans fire back at doomsday survey - April 17
Mexican HMO gets Calif. license for Mexican workers in U.S. - March 13
Doctors in Oregon aided 27 suicides last year - March 13
Another state may approve HMO liability - March 6
Two states ponder limits on abortion providers - Jan. 31
MedPartners finally pays Calif. physicians - Jan. 3/10

1 in 5 U.S. adults smokes cigarettes. Read more

The Midwest 2000

(Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin)

Ohio physician fights insurance plan's use of economic profiles - Dec. 18
Michigan doctors want Blues to cover surgery centers - Nov. 27
Groundbreaking Minnesota health insurance plan to expand - Nov. 27
Illinois case argues medical staff bylaws are contracts - Contract Language Nov. 27
Illinois court says HMO can't use ERISA to refuse to pay - Nov. 13
Wisconsin doctors challenge noncompete clause - Oct. 2
A community of men: Project Brotherhood, a Black Men's Clinic - Oct. 2
Ohio hospital closure sends residents scrambling for slots - Aug. 7
Beleaguered Cleveland hospitals saved from closure - July 31
Illinois court hits HMO for institutional negligence - In the courts July 10/17
Illinois PPO to pay physicians for online consultations - May 22/29
Massachusetts project aims to sharpen doctor profiles - May 22/29
Suit challenges huge gift to Wisconsin medical schools - May 15
Cleveland doctors fight to save hospitals - April 24
Ohio physicians leading the fight for prompt payments - March 13
Michigan med school toasts 150 years - Feb. 21
Public employees in Illinois gain extra immunity - In the courts Jan. 31
Muskegon, Mich.: Local notion - Jan. 3/10

Smoking causes 443,000 U.S. deaths each year. Read more

The Northeast 2000

(Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont)

Pennsylvania federal court dismisses HMO doctor incentive case - Dec. 11
New Jersey scam squashed before doctors tell all their personal information - Dec. 4
Rhode Island doctors learning to fight back against Blues plan - Dec. 4
Suicides or executions: Physicians should not participate - Editorial Dec. 4
Union can stay at N.Y. hospital - Nov. 20
Judge blocks Maine's try at prescription price controls - Nov. 13
N.Y. court backs physician's judgment over HMO rule - Nov. 6
New York doctors push health plan to list fee schedule - Oct. 9
Connecticut sues four managed care plans - Oct. 2
New Jersey physicians may finally see payments from bankrupt health plans - Sept. 11
Drug industry challenges Maine's prescription caps - Aug. 28
New York bill opens up doctor malpractice data online - July 24
Fallout begins from Maine law capping drug prices - June 26
Aetna to drop all-products clause in Conn. - June 5
Maine takes control of prescription prices - June 5
Board certification rule causes N.Y. practices to suffer - June 5
Maine voters face decision on doctor-assisted suicide - May 22/29
Maine poised to set nation's first price controls on drugs - May 8
Internet disciplinary reports likely for N.Y. physicians - April 10
N.Y. IPA prevails in court battle against Blues - April 3
Volume-based quality reports anger N.Y. doctors - March 20
New York state physicians slam rapid perinatal HIV test - March 13
Cancer crusade: Mass. mailing - Feb. 7
N.J. governor wants tobacco money for health coverage - Jan. 24
New Jersey insurers will pay for care in cancer clinical trials - Jan. 17
New Hampshire orders liquidation of ailing health plan - Jan. 17
Two Northeast plans sued over prescription benefits - Jan. 3/10

Food companies spend nearly $2 billion a year marketing food and beverages to children. Read more

The South 2000

(Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia)

PacifiCare under Texas insurance oversight - Dec. 11
Florida lifts ban on in-office surgery with new safeguards - Nov. 27
ERISA does not preempt Texas law on patient rights - In the courts Nov. 13
TMA OKs suing insurers over late physician payments - Nov. 6
Feds seize medical license as property - Oct. 23/20
Florida to get new med school; enrollment starts in 2001 - Oct. 16
Humana restructures in South Florida, drops physicians - Oct. 9
La. verdict against peer review is reversed - Oct. 9
Humana restructures in South Florida, drops physicians - Oct. 9
Texas ruling skirts issue of who controls HMO physicians - Oct. 2
Physician layoffs averted at Texas medical school - Sept. 25
Insurers circumvent Virginia all-products law - Sept. 18
Ban continues on Florida office surgery; settlement nixed - Sept. 11
Oklahoma closes its emergency medicine program - Sept. 4
Florida bans some office-based surgeries - Sept. 4
Mississippi to license physician assistants - Aug. 28
Florida adds muscle to its prompt-pay legislation - Aug. 21
HIP of Florida under state scrutiny after reserves dip - Aug. 14
Court to health plan: Say how you determine physician reimbursement - Editorial Aug. 7
Ga. court upholds physicians' right to know payment rates - July 31
Va. high court favors peer review privacy - July 10/17
Appellate decision mixed on Texas HMO law - July 10/17
Payment dispute leads to three-sided fight in Texas - June 19
AMA, TMA criticize Texas' legal settlement with Aetna - June 19
Last-gasp proposal aims to save struggling TennCare - June 12
Texas surgeons settle price-fixing case - May 8
Texas board attempts to discipline medical director - May 8
Florida doctors, hospital in power struggle - May 8
Greater Southeast Community Hospital: Back from the brink - April 3
N.C. clinic abandons multispecialty trend - April 24
TennCare orders largest insurer to stay - April 24
Georgia court rules physicians don't need to disclose drug use - April 10
Memphis practice wants to serve God but needs manna - April 3
Most foreign-born doctors flunk Florida test -- again - April 3
Delaware court reinstates terminated resident - In the courts March 20
Tampa hospital, president opt to part company - March 6
Tenn. doctor deep in debt but still there - Feb. 28
A hospital privatization: For-profit but no profit - Feb. 21
Georgia is ground zero for scope-of-practice firefight - Feb. 7
Florida physicians sue Humana over coding practices - Feb. 7
Two states ponder limits on abortion providers - Jan. 31

Heart disease and obesity account for $550 billion in annual U.S. health spending. Read more

State Roundups 2000

(Our coverage of trends in state legislatures and regulatory bodies is also a good source of information about developments in different parts of the country.)