Exchanges and Advocates: Helping Your State Create a Successful Exchange

One of the most talked-about provisions in the Affordable Care Act is the creation of health insurance Exchanges to help people and small businesses get coverage. HHS recently released their Initial Guidance to States on Exchanges, which gives you the bas

Researchers, rev your engines: Massachusetts pharma payments are posted

Drug and device companies paid Massachusetts physicians more than $16 million in the second half of 2009, the Bay State's newly-unveiled disclosure database shows (for those of you ready to bookmark: http://mass.gov/dph/pharmamed/). Health Care for All's

If they can do data-mining, they can do this

Having revealed that more than 250 physicians with serious sanctions against their medical licenses are on the speaking circuit of some of the nation’s top drug companies, ProPublica and a series of news outlets around the country have put the question to

Insider: Post-Election Analysis Part Two

Last week’s Insider addressed the role of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the November election. This installment tackles what the election means for ACA implementation going forward. Preview of Coming Attractions (coming to a Congressional multiplex nea

Claris imports banned after company investigates IV bag integrity, not fungus within

Drug supplier Claris Lifesciences is banned from importing products to the US from its flagship Indian plant for a series of unaddressed good manufacturing practice violations that led to contaminated IV bags, and complaints from US distributors and consu

Dental Therapists: A community solution to the oral health care crisis

In one of the most memorable scenes in Cast Away, Tom Hanks, who is stranded on a deserted island and has a toothache, gruesomely removes his tooth with a figure skate because he can no longer live with the pain. Even though they are not stranded on a des

Notable News from the NEACH Children’s Health Care Summit 2010

On October 26, the New England Alliance for Children’s Health (NEACH), an initiative of Community Catalyst, held its annual Children’s Health Care Summit in Manchester, New Hampshire. The event brought together 90 of our state partners from across the reg

Stuck in the Middle with You

A few weeks ago, Time magazine included a short essay that caught the eye of several of us here at Community Catalyst. In “The Coping Conundrum,” author Nancy Gibbs gently, but insistently, spotlights the unique issues faced by Americans in the sandwich g

A New Push to Pass Child Nutrition Reauthorization

While there is no shortage of issues vying for the attention of Congress during the lame-duck session that begins this week, we believe reauthorizing the federal child nutrition programs should be near the top of the list. Before Congress headed into rece