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Pfizer focuses on enabling America's 43 million uninsured to obtain medicines at significant savings

Pfizer Inc said today it will launch the pharmaceutical industry's most comprehensive initiative to significantly expand access to prescription medicines across the United States, with a specific focus on enabling America's 43 million uninsured to obtain Pfizer medicines at significant savings.

7 Jul 2004

Of all families with medical bill problems, two-thirds have difficulty paying for basic necessities—rent, mortgage payments, transportation or food

Uninsured families are more likely to have medical bill problems, but two-thirds of families with problems paying medical bills—about 13.5 million families—have health insurance coverage, according to findings from HSC's Community Tracking Study 2003 Household Survey, a nationally representative survey involving information on about 25,400 families and 46,600 people.

2 Jul 2004

TUNA therapy results in significantly reduced erectile dysfunction

Comparing five-year results of Medtronic TUNA® Therapy (transurethral needle ablation) to surgery for 121 men in their mid-60s with lower urinary tract symptoms caused by an enlarged prostate, a team of urologists found that “for appropriately selected patients with bothersome voiding symptoms, TUNA is an attractive treatment option.”

1 Jul 2004

HHS approves Arkansas plan to expand prenatal care to low-income pregnant women and their unborn children

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today approved a request by the state of Arkansas to expand prenatal care to low-income pregnant women and their unborn children under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

1 Jul 2004

Expanded Australian Medicare services for the chronically ill

From tomorrow, Australian people who have chronic diseases and complex health conditions will have access to additional Medicare rebates for up to five allied health and three dental services.

30 Jun 2004

Repeating balloon angioplasty and/or stenting procedures in elderly patients add more than $700 million a year to Medicare expenses

Repeating balloon angioplasty and/or stenting procedures to open narrowed arteries in elderly patients may add more than $700 million a year to Medicare expenses, according to a report in today’s rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

29 Jun 2004

50,000 people in the U.S. with cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis or hepatitis C will be eligible for a Medicare drug lottery

50,000 people or 10% of the 500,000 people in the U.S with cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis or hepatitis C will be eligible for a Medicare drug lottery for coverage of life saving drugs.

26 Jun 2004

750,000 Americans will have a stroke or brain attack this year

Today researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine reported findings that suggest that not all stroke patients have equal access to the only Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved acute ischemic stroke treatment.

25 Jun 2004

Senior citizens cutting back on medications due to high costs

The findings are based on an in-depth study over a three-year period of nearly 8,000 older adults who were regularly taking prescription medicines at the beginning of the study.

25 Jun 2004

Tommy G. Thompson has announced a new Medicare program that will save seniors and the disabled substantial money

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced a new Medicare demonstration program that will save seniors and persons with disabilities substantial money

24 Jun 2004

Australians will have access to a new Medicare smartcard

Australians will have access to a new Medicare smartcard as part of the government’s electronic health agenda to improve the quality and accessibility of patient information across the health system.

24 Jun 2004

Fewer Americans with Alzheimer’s and $149 billion in annual Medicare and Medicaid savings by 2025

A new Alzheimer’s Association report released today shows that medical research breakthroughs could result in nearly three million fewer Americans with the disease and $149 billion in annual Medicare and Medicaid savings by 2025.

24 Jun 2004

Historical analysis of the 38-year struggle to provide a prescription drug benefit to seniors as part of Medicare

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of California, San Francisco, have completed a new historical analysis of the 38-year struggle to provide a prescription drug benefit to seniors as part of Medicare.

23 Jun 2004

Tommy G. Thompson today approved a plan by New York State to streamline the State Children's Health Insurance Program

"I am pleased to approve this simplification of New York's SCHIP application," Secretary Thompson said. "We have always encouraged states to make enrollment in SCHIP as well as Medicaid as simple as possible.

23 Jun 2004

Nevada Attorney General warns against drug card scams

Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval has reminded consumers to be alert with regard to scams related to the new Medicare prescription discount drug cards made available to consumers under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act.

22 Jun 2004

Report shows the health of Australians continues to improve

A comprehensive report shows the health of Australians continues to improve and as a nation we are healthier than we’ve ever been.

21 Jun 2004

40 percent of African-American nursing home residents living in low-tier facilities

Racial and socioeconomic disparities are widespread in U.S. nursing homes, new Brown University research shows, with 40 percent of African-American nursing home residents living in low-tier facilities.

21 Jun 2004

Over half of older adults hospitalized for heart disease also have reduced kidney function

Over half of older adults hospitalized for heart disease also have reduced kidney function, suggests a study in the July Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

21 Jun 2004

Statement on the legislation to double the funding for Alzheimer’s research

Sheldon Goldberg, president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association issued the following statement today on the legislation to double the funding for Alzheimer’s research at the National Institutes of Health

16 Jun 2004

Expansion of Medicare coverage of positron emission tomography to include some Medicare beneficiaries with suspected Alzheimer’s disease

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today that it intends to expand Medicare coverage of positron emission tomography (PET) to include some Medicare beneficiaries with suspected Alzheimer’s disease.

15 Jun 2004

Medicare News and Research

Pfizer focuses on enabling America's 43 million uninsured to obtain medicines at significant savings

Of all families with medical bill problems, two-thirds have difficulty paying for basic necessities—rent, mortgage payments, transportation or food

TUNA therapy results in significantly reduced erectile dysfunction

HHS approves Arkansas plan to expand prenatal care to low-income pregnant women and their unborn children

Expanded Australian Medicare services for the chronically ill

Repeating balloon angioplasty and/or stenting procedures in elderly patients add more than $700 million a year to Medicare expenses

50,000 people in the U.S. with cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis or hepatitis C will be eligible for a Medicare drug lottery

750,000 Americans will have a stroke or brain attack this year

Senior citizens cutting back on medications due to high costs

Tommy G. Thompson has announced a new Medicare program that will save seniors and the disabled substantial money

Australians will have access to a new Medicare smartcard

Fewer Americans with Alzheimer’s and $149 billion in annual Medicare and Medicaid savings by 2025

Historical analysis of the 38-year struggle to provide a prescription drug benefit to seniors as part of Medicare

Tommy G. Thompson today approved a plan by New York State to streamline the State Children's Health Insurance Program

Nevada Attorney General warns against drug card scams

Report shows the health of Australians continues to improve

40 percent of African-American nursing home residents living in low-tier facilities

Over half of older adults hospitalized for heart disease also have reduced kidney function

Statement on the legislation to double the funding for Alzheimer’s research

Expansion of Medicare coverage of positron emission tomography to include some Medicare beneficiaries with suspected 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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