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Timeline, vote counting continue to be central To Senate health overhaul

The Associated Press reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering higher payroll taxes on "upper-income earners to help finance health care legislation.

13 Nov 2009

Details emerge for possible Medicare payroll tax in Senate health bill

Bloomberg: "White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said a proposal to apply Medicare taxes to capital gains earned by wealthy Americans as part of health-overhaul legislation is 'in play' in order to scale back a proposed levy on high-end insurance plans." Orszag made these comments while speaking at the Bloomberg Washington Summit today.

12 Nov 2009

Humana CEO: No no regrets about sending warning letters to Medicare customers

Humana's CEO says he does not regret sending Medicare customers a letter warning that health care reform could hurt their benefits. The letters caused government officials to probe whether the insurer violated federal regulations in September.

12 Nov 2009

AARP leader provides powerful voice for seniors and health care

John Rother tries to dispel myths and quell fears that seniors may have about health care reform as a leader at the powerful lobby and senior group AARP.

12 Nov 2009

Making end-of-life wishes known is rare; more hospice care could save Medicare money

Because Medicare beneficiaries account "for the vast majority of U.S. deaths" the treatment people receive "in the last year of life accounts for roughly a quarter of Medicare's budget." Dr. Joel Policzer, a medical director for a hospice, says that often "a dying elderly patient may have wanted less invasive care. But it doesn't happen.

12 Nov 2009

Activists worry immigration arguments will hamper hispanic health care

The Washington Post reports that Hispanic lawmakers and groups are "scrambling to develop a strategy to counter what they see as efforts to shortchange immigrants in health bills on Capitol Hill."

12 Nov 2009

American Medical Alert announces operating results for the third quarter of 2009

American Medical Alert Corp. a provider of healthcare communication services and advanced telehealth monitoring technologies, today announced operating results for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2009.

12 Nov 2009

Medical Facilities announces financial results for the third quarter of 2009

Medical Facilities Corporation, today reported its financial results for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2009. All amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars unless indicated otherwise.

12 Nov 2009

54% of Americans are inconsistent in taking prescriptions, reveals survey

A new survey finds that 54 percent of Americans say they do not consistently take prescriptions as instructed even though 87 percent believe prescription medicines are important to their health – pointing to a growing public health problem.

12 Nov 2009

New strategies required to curb health care spending: Study

Slowing the growth in U.S. health care spending will most likely require adoption of an array of strategies as well as an improved approach to moving promising strategies into widespread use, according to a new analysis by the RAND Corporation.

12 Nov 2009

U.S. News & World Report rates HealthPlus' plans as one of the nation's best for the fifth year in a row

For the fifth year in a row, HealthPlus of Michigan's commercial and Medicare Advantage health plans are recognized by U.S. News & World Report/NCQA as among the nation's best.

12 Nov 2009

Health care legislation not fair to Hispanic small businesses and families

A number of Hispanic organizations have united to address major problems with the health care legislation passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and urge the Senate to come up with a bipartisan solution for real healthcare reform. They are especially concerned the health care legislation will create a greater tax burden and unfair government mandates on Hispanic small businesses and families. During this critical health care debate, these organizations want their voices to be heard and believe that the current approach will lead to loss of jobs and reduced wages for Hispanic workers.

12 Nov 2009

AARP urges U.S. Senate to pass H.R. 3962 and H.R. 3961

The U.S. House of Representatives' historic vote on health care reform was a decisive step to fix our broken health care system - but for millions of Americans struggling with soaring health care costs the Senate must take the next step, and pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) and the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act (H.R. 3961). Over 3 million Illinoisans stand to particularly benefit from key provisions in the bill.

12 Nov 2009

CHF commends the passage of health reform bill; disapproves move to eliminate CHIP

Children's Health Fund (CHF), a national organization that advocates for and provides clinical care to disadvantaged and medically underserved children, today issued a Report Card that graded the child health provisions in the Congressional Health Reform bill that was passed in the House of Representatives on November 7.

11 Nov 2009

Cost control issues take center stage in health care reform

Cost issues continue to receive attention as bipartisan support emerges on the Hill for a commission to control health care costs. Kaiser Health News reports:

11 Nov 2009

Premier healthcare alliance expert's efforts to enhance patient safety receives recognition from DoD

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) has recognized a Premier healthcare alliance expert for his efforts to enhance patient safety while reducing healthcare costs.

11 Nov 2009

$9M ARRA funds to reduce healthcare-associated infections in ambulatory surgical centers

To reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in stand-alone or same-day surgical centers, the HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the availability of up to $9 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to state survey agencies in 43 states. HAIs are infections some patients acquire when they are in a health care setting such as a hospital or outpatient clinic.

11 Nov 2009

Lack of health insurance leads to death of 2,266 U.S. military veterans in 2008

A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.

11 Nov 2009

Poor access to interpreters can compromise doctor-patient communication in cancer care

In a new survey of physicians who treat breast cancer patients, only one-third said they had good access to trained medical interpreters or telephone language-interpretation systems when they needed it. Poor access to interpreters can compromise physician-patient communication that is critically important in cancer care.

11 Nov 2009

Researchers discuss imaging techniques for early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease

With about 35 million people around the world suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD) by the year 2010 and an expectation that these numbers will double every twenty years with approximately 115 million cases by 2050, pressure on healthcare systems worldwide will be intense. In a special issue of the journal Behavioural Neurology, twelve contributions from an international group of researchers discuss imaging techniques that may contribute to early diagnosis and advancements in treatment for this devastating disease.

11 Nov 2009

Medicare News and Research

Timeline, vote counting continue to be central To Senate health overhaul

Details emerge for possible Medicare payroll tax in Senate health bill

Humana CEO: No no regrets about sending warning letters to Medicare customers

AARP leader provides powerful voice for seniors and health care

Making end-of-life wishes known is rare; more hospice care could save Medicare money

Activists worry immigration arguments will hamper hispanic health care

American Medical Alert announces operating results for the third quarter of 2009

Medical Facilities announces financial results for the third quarter of 2009

54% of Americans are inconsistent in taking prescriptions, reveals survey

New strategies required to curb health care spending: Study

U.S. News & World Report rates HealthPlus' plans as one of the nation's best for the fifth year in a row

Health care legislation not fair to Hispanic small businesses and families

AARP urges U.S. Senate to pass H.R. 3962 and H.R. 3961

CHF commends the passage of health reform bill; disapproves move to eliminate CHIP

Cost control issues take center stage in health care reform

Premier healthcare alliance expert's efforts to enhance patient safety receives recognition from DoD

$9M ARRA funds to reduce healthcare-associated infections in ambulatory surgical centers

Lack of health insurance leads to death of 2,266 U.S. military veterans in 2008

Poor access to interpreters can compromise doctor-patient communication in cancer care

Researchers discuss imaging techniques for early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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