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Study finds racial disparities in breast cancer care

Black women are less likely than white women to receive radiation therapy after a lumpectomy, the standard of care for early stage breast cancer, according to a new study by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

14 Dec 2009

African American women with breast cancer receive no follow-up care after lumpectomy, shows study

A new study finds many breast cancer patients - particularly African American women - do not receive recommended radiation treatments after undergoing a lumpectomy.

14 Dec 2009

Senator Arlen Specter proposes new amendment to current healthcare reform bill

Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) today proposed a new amendment to the current healthcare reform bill which will preserve access to care for millions of Medicare patients seen by a medical specialist.

14 Dec 2009

Senate plan may raise costs and cut healthcare access for senior citizens, says new report

A new report released by the Medicare Chief Actuary, Richard Foster, and the Center for Medicaid Services, the federal agency that oversees Medicaid, says that the proposed health care overhaul plan will dramatically increase health care costs and senior citizens will suffer from Medicare cuts.

14 Dec 2009

UnitedHealthcare completes previously announced acquisition of Health Net

UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group company, and Health Net, Inc. today announced that UnitedHealthcare has completed the previously announced acquisition of Health Net of the Northeast’s licensed subsidiaries and has obtained rights to renew Health Net’s membership in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

14 Dec 2009

Some Democratic Senators raise red flag on Medicare expansion idea

The possibility of allowing some 55-64 year olds to buy-in to Medicare is in the news today.

14 Dec 2009

Some rural communities concerned reform provisions could hurt Medicare services

Newspapers in Alaska and Washington state explore how health reform provisions might affect Medicare services in rural areas, while a Colorado newspaper looks at one senator's efforts to increase the number of doctors in rural areas.

14 Dec 2009

Pelosi calls House, Senate bills "75 percent compatible"

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., indicated Thursday that she may be amenable to a Senate compromise that would expand Medicare and allow the federal government to oversee nonprofit national health plans in lieu of the public option, CNN reports.

13 Dec 2009

Democrats struggling to find delicate balance on Senate health bill

The Hill: "Two key senators criticized the most recent healthcare compromise Sunday, saying the policies replacing the public option are still unacceptable. Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) both said a Medicare 'buy-in' option for those aged 55-64 was a deal breaker.

13 Dec 2009

UPMC Health Plan signs agreement to offer brain fitness software from Posit Science

UPMC Health Plan announced today that it has signed an agreement to offer award-winning brain fitness software from Posit Science®, at no cost, to all UPMC for Life Medicare Advantage members.

12 Dec 2009

Health policy study roundup

Relationship of Primary Care Physicians' Patient Caseload With Measurement of Quality and Cost Performance - To "determine whether primary care physicians in the same physician practice collectively see enough Medicare patients annually to detect meaningful differences between practices in ambulatory quality and cost measures," the authors of this study combed through a national sample of Medicare beneficiaries and a database identifying the practice affiliations of the physicians who delivered care to these patients.

12 Dec 2009

Results from clinical survey of Oncotype DX on patients with node-positive breast cancer announced

Genomic Health, Inc. today announced results from a clinical survey evaluating the impact of the Oncotype DX® Recurrence Score® result on physicians' adjuvant treatment recommendations for patients with node-positive, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

12 Dec 2009

Expansion of Medicare in health care compromise faces challenges

The expansion of Medicare included in a Senate compromise hailed as a breakthrough in the discussions of health care overhaul earlier this week is now encountering some friction.

11 Dec 2009

Talk To Me Technologies to help customers get funding through Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance

AbleNet, Inc. announces a new program to offer Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance funding support through Talk To Me Technologies, LLC. This service is effective December 2009 for the AbleNet SuperTalker™ progressive communicator and FL4SH™ scanning communicator products.

11 Dec 2009

First Edition: December 11, 2009

Today's headlines track the fits and starts of the Senate's health bill debate, including moderates' concern regarding the recent Medicare expansion deal and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's positive reaction to it. Meanwhile, floor action appears snagged on a drug importation amendment.

11 Dec 2009

SCAN Health Plan Arizona named to the 2009 "Best Places to Work" list

The Phoenix Business Journal and BestCompaniesAZ, co-founders of the "Best Places to Work" competition, announced today that SCAN Health Plan Arizona has been named to the 2009 list in the medium-sized category. Companies were nominated by their employees, who provided extensive insight into employee life.

11 Dec 2009

Medicare News and Research

Study finds racial disparities in breast cancer care

African American women with breast cancer receive no follow-up care after lumpectomy, shows study

Senator Arlen Specter proposes new amendment to current healthcare reform bill

Senate plan may raise costs and cut healthcare access for senior citizens, says new report

UnitedHealthcare completes previously announced acquisition of Health Net

Some Democratic Senators raise red flag on Medicare expansion idea

Some rural communities concerned reform provisions could hurt Medicare services

Pelosi calls House, Senate bills "75 percent compatible"

Democrats struggling to find delicate balance on Senate health bill

UPMC Health Plan signs agreement to offer brain fitness software from Posit Science

Health policy study roundup

Results from clinical survey of Oncotype DX on patients with node-positive breast cancer announced

Expansion of Medicare in health care compromise faces challenges

Talk To Me Technologies to help customers get funding through Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance

First Edition: December 11, 2009

SCAN Health Plan Arizona named to the 2009 "Best Places to Work" list

Prescription Solutions achieves overall generic prescription drug penetration rate of 68.8 percent

New data suggests bisphosphonate drug may play a role in reducing recurrent breast cancer

PharmMD raises $8.8 million in capital from The Riverside Company and FCA Ventures IV

Proposed changes to breast cancer screening criticized

Revolutionizing Life Science: An Interview with SCIEX on ASMS, the SCIEX 7500+ System, and AI-Driven Quantitation

From Discovery Biology to ELRIG Chair

Breathing New Life into Diagnostics: Plasmion's SICRIT Technology

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