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Our colleagues at the Higher Ed Watch have followed developments in the college-sponsored student health insurance market and posted yesterday about regulations the Administration will soon issue to largely determine the future of these plans post-reform. We are cross-posting Maggie Severn's thoughtful post for our New Health Dialogue readers.

In the coming days, the Obama administration is expected to issue regulations that may determine the future of college-sponsored student health insurance plans. The stakes are high for students and parents, as these regulations are expected to clarify the types of changes that must be made to these college-sponsored plans to comply with the massive health-care reform legislation that Congress passed earlier this year.

It’s going to be a frightfully busy weekend here in the nation’s Capitol. The time for thrills, chills … and witches is right around the corner. And, no, we’re not talking about the mid-term elections next week -- but Halloween! So whether you’re out trick-or-treating, roaming the streets as a zombie (or faster as a marathon runner) or just keeping fear alive, we wouldn’t want you to be haunted by the ghosts of great posts gone by. So while you’re carving up your pumpkins, be sure to carve out some time to read this week’s ghoulish addition of Health Wonk Review. Boo!

Your neighborhood trick-or-treaters may think Skittles and Reeses Cups are a valid form of currency, but the Congressional Budget Office doesn’t score your Halloween haul.  Sadly after a certain age, a stash of M&Ms and Twizzlers just won't pay. So if candy won't pay for health reform, Maggie Mahar over at HealthBeat knows what will.

We know that the health care system can sometimes be harder to navigate than a corn maze under a full moon. As Jason Shafrin of the Healthcare Economist explains, misaligned incentives and complex payment policies can lead to double double toil and trouble for skilled nursing and general nursing facilities.

Writing over at the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, Louise Norris tells the wicked tale of a few Midwestern insurers that are being accused of casting spells again—this time, on consumers, hexing them with misinformation about private insurance policies.

Health Policy Program Director Kavita Patel published an op-ed today in CNN, exploring the prospects of "repeal and replace" and the new health  insurance consumer protections :

When President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, it was clear he would face an uphill battle defending the law and communicating its benefits to the American public.

In the months leading to passage, we heard cries of rationing, death panels and blatant mischaracterization of what is in the bill.

Since passage, the cries have shifted from rationing to repeal. Efforts to repeal the law have been highlighted by the self-proclaimed "Young Guns" of the GOP...President Obama should not be fazed by this or any other calls for repeal. He should do the job he was elected to do and protect patients' interests, but he will need to face a confused public...

Read the full article here.

September 23rd marks the six month anniversary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A number of new insurance protections will become effective for all plans beginning on or after September 23rd, marking the next phase of health care reform implementation. This includes extending dependent coverage for young adults, banning insurance rescissions, no cost sharing for certain preventive care, a new insurance claims and appeals process, the elimination of lifetime coverage limits and a prohibition on denying coverage of children under 19 with pre-existing conditions.

September 23^rd marks the six month anniversary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A number of new insurance protections will become effective for all plans beginning on or after September 23^rd, marking the next phase of health care reform implementation. This includes extending dependent coverage for young adults, banning insurance rescissions, no cost sharing for certain preventive care, a new insurance claims and appeals process, the elimination of lifetime coverage limits and a prohibition on denying coverage of children under 19 with pre-existing conditions.

How do these new provisions affect grandfathered health plans? When will average American families feel the benefits of these new changes? Why are we still experiencing double digit premium rate increases? When and how do I put my 25 year old back on my insurance plan?

In the first New Health Frequency podcast, the New America Foundation’s Health Policy Program Director, Dr. Kavita Patel, explains the benefits and limitations of the next wave of health reform.

Download the mp3

I have a hard time remembering what life was like before smartphones. One thing for sure is that I enjoyed eating out more. Before I could glance at a calorie counter application on my phone and learn that my morning low-fat blueberry muffin actually has 430 calories. Or before my phone forced me to acknowledge that my favorite Cobb Salad actually weighs in at a hefty 1,245 calories. Talk about a buzz kill. But a good buzz kill, part of the push to make people more aware of their personal health and well-being.

In our elusive quest for eating in moderation, mobile applications may change the way we think about and monitor food consumption and lifestyle choices. In the New York Times recently, Lesley Alderman points to the potential of smartphone weight-loss programs, or "pocket nutritionists." As of now, there isn’t evidence to show that smartphone apps are more effective than traditional diet and exercise programs, but we do know that they can at least train us to become “smarter” food consumers and (possibly) more avid exercisers:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched HealthCare.gov early this morning, keeping up with its July 1 deadline. The website, with a "take health care into your own hands" catchphrase, will serve as a platform for Americans to compare public and private options in their area. Starting in October, price and improved quality comparisons will be available (there are already links to an interactive hospital comparison tool) on the site. There's information about the new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans, resources on the new law (and a very cool timeline), information on how to stay healthy -- and plenty more where that came from.

(Reposted with updated links to the Lewin Group CER symposium.)

We all know why we need comparative effectiveness research -- to have verified, scientific information about the best treatment options. Now we want to talk about how to use the research to facilitate informed health care decision-making.  We attended a panel discussion called Improving Medical Decisions Using Comparative Effectiveness Research, sponsored by the Friends of Cancer Research. One theme was how the success of comparative effectiveness research is contingent on both coordination of health information technology and on cooperation among health entities and government agencies. There were a lot of panelists, we’ll hit some highlights.

According to a new report by the Commonwealth Fund, young adults are going to win under the new health reform law. Nearly all of the 13.7 million uninsured young adults will get insurance coverage over the coming years, largely from significant Medicaid expansions, the provision that allows young adults to stay on their parents' insurance until the age of 26 and from the new exchanges and federal subsidies launching in 2014.

Starting in 2014, everyone earning a certain salary must carry health insurance. The Congressional Budget Office maintains that the "compliance of young adults will be particularly important in terms of creating broad and diverse risk pools in the exchanges and individual markets" and estimates that "the influx of young and health people into the exchanges and individual markets will lower premiums by 7 percent to 10 percent."

As our deputy director (and in-house “recovering litigator”) Julie Barnes jokes, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act could be called the “jobs bill for lawyers.” New insurance regulations? Fraud and abuse? Payment reform? Medicare? Medicaid? New contractual and business relationships for hospitals and other providers? You got it. If you're a health lawyer, business will come knocking at your door.

The American Health Lawyers Association hosted a program on reform this week, inviting lawyers from all over the country to learn and review the nuts and bolts of the new law. Julie's presentation kicked off the program Tuesday morning, reminding the sold-out crowd why comprehensive reform was so important. Failing to cover everyone is a national embarrassment, for one. Skyrocketing healthcare costs, two. No longer can we afford the status quo -- not the federal or state governments, not consumers, not employers, not insurers, not pharmaceutical companies and not the provider community. Julie's panel addressed commercial insurance, explaining that the goals of reform included making health insurance coverage affordable, creating minimum coverage standards and making insurance markets work better for all Americans. Panelists described how the new law seeks to achieve these lofty objectives.

We’d like to take the time to introduce you to a few people. The people that the President has entrusted with carrying out health reform. Get to know them better, they're working on important stuff. The legislation can only be as good as the people who make it happen and Robert Pear of the New York Times gives us the scoop. So here's why they matter:

Jay Angoff. The new(ish) guy on the DC health scene but he's had long experience at the FTC, Congress Watch, the National Insurance Consumer Organization, as well as held senior health and insurance state jobs in New Jersey and Missouri. Now, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius picked him to run the new Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. Former colleague and law partner Cyrus Mehri said, “Having been a state insurance commissioner, Jay can see through the games insurance companies play. He will put teeth into the law. He will create a whole new federal regulatory regime to rein in the abuses and excesses of the industry.” Always good to know someone with a foot in the door. Fun fact: Angoff is a former member of the rock 'n' roll band The Brooklyn Bridge (Big hit: "The Worst That Could Happen").

We get the promise of health IT, in the traditional, first life.

But what about in the SecondLife? It is a whole new world. An intriguing one.

“Dozens of patients, stricken with a debilitating flu, crowd the emergency room. Some slump mutely in chairs. Others wander, moaning or calling out for blankets. Just as the nurses begin triage, part of the hospital goes dark: a black out.”

Fortunately, as Stephanie Simon of the Wall Street Journal reports, “this chaotic scene isn’t real.” But it could be. Which is the rationale for online simulation courses to help doctors and nurses prepare for emergencies. (An aside -- speaking of health care emergencies... if you never read Sheri Fink's Pro-Publica/New York Times Magazine piece on Katrina, which won a Pulitzer this week, read it now.)