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Debate and skepticism over the healthcare reforms

A few years back a law that was meant to cover millions of elderly extending their prescription drug coverage backfired with many who could not access their medicines or were charged more all because of computer generated errors. Administration, industry and consumer groups are gearing up to prevent the same thing from happening after the healthcare bill became law last week.

2 Apr 2010

Verizon charges $970 million due to the health care bill

The recent health care reform bill has shown its impact on corporate tax structure this Thursday when Verizon Communications Inc. a phone company announced it will record a related $970 million non-cash charge in the first quarter.

2 Apr 2010

More big companies report charges spurred by health law

News regarding the health law's early impact on large companies - millions of dollars in lost tax exemptions - is continuing to emerge.

2 Apr 2010

Democrats, Republicans vie to claim public opinion about health reform

USA Today: "A week after Congress passed President Obama's 10-year, $938 billion health care plan, lawmakers from both parties are spending their spring break trying to turn the historic legislation to their political advantage. At stake are the large majorities Democrats have built up over the past two elections, including a 76-vote margin in the House and an 18-vote cushion in the Senate."

2 Apr 2010

Seniors worry about Medicare reforms, especially changes to Medicare Advantage

The Associated Press: "While Democrats hail the sweeping legislation as the greatest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare, they also fear that seniors won't see it that way for this fall's elections. Indeed, Republicans have portrayed the overhaul as a raid on Medicare — a bedrock of retirement security — to provide money to pay for covering younger, uninsured workers and their families.

1 Apr 2010

First Edition: April 1, 2010

According to today's headlines, President Obama will head to Maine to continue efforts to sell the new health reform law. Meanwhile, his administration is ramping up education plans and efforts to smooth the shift.

1 Apr 2010

With corporations already claiming pain from overhaul, business lobby prepares to fight back

A week after the health overhaul cleared Congress, a business lobby that opposed the plan is now regrouping to shape its implementation and exact political retribution on supporters, The Wall Street Journal reports. "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is planning a broad effort to blunt the health overhaul by trying to shape its regulatory language and spending heavily to unseat vulnerable Democrats who voted for it."

1 Apr 2010

Pfizer admits paying $35 million to doctors over last 6 months

Pfizer among other large pharmaceutical companies recently disclosed payments to doctors and other medical professionals for consulting and speaking on its behalf and also some sponsorship of clinical trials. On Wednesday in an announcement the company spokesperson revealed that they had paid a whopping $20 million to 4,500 doctors and other medical professionals in the last six months of 2009. Pfizer also accepted that they paid $15.3 million to 250 academic medical centers and other research groups for clinical trials in the same period. This disclosure is only about payments made within the US.

1 Apr 2010

Rite Aid's fiscal 2010 fourth-quarter revenues down 3.6%

Rite Aid Corporation today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended February 27, 2010.

31 Mar 2010

Nation's emergency physicians warn parents about dangers of prescription drug abuse

The nation's emergency physicians are issuing a strong warning to parents about the dangers of prescription drug abuse, which are now the second most abused drugs, after marijuana. Nearly three-quarters of a million people (741,425) needed emergency care in 2006 because of prescription drug abuse.

31 Mar 2010

First Edition: March 31, 2010

According to today's headlines, just as President Obama signed the last piece of the health overhaul into law, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched efforts to shape its regulatory language. Meanwhile, analysis of particular policies included in the sweeping measure continue.

31 Mar 2010

Pelosi releases statement on signing of Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act into law

Health insurance reform represents remarkable progress for the American people. Today, with President Obama's signature, health care becomes more affordable for the middle class, we begin closing the prescription drug donut hole, and we demand accountability from the insurance industry.

31 Mar 2010

gloStream launches gloDNA 100% Stimulus Guarantee

gloStream, maker of gloEMR and gloPM – the only electronic medical record software and practice management applications with Microsoft® Office built right in – today announced the gloDNA 100% Stimulus Guarantee.

31 Mar 2010

AARP Idaho unveils list of winners and losers of 2010 legislative session

With the 2010 Idaho legislative session drawing to a close, the dust has settled on several key pieces of legislation that deliver good news and bad news for people across the state. Today, AARP Idaho unveiled its list of "2010 Legislative Session Winners and Losers," highlighting bills that either help or hurt Idahoans.

31 Mar 2010

CVS Caremark awarded Specialty Pharmacy accreditation from URAC

CVS Caremark announced today that it has been awarded Specialty Pharmacy accreditation from URAC, a Washington, DC-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry.

31 Mar 2010

FDA grants priority review status for Isotechnika Pharma's voclosporin

Isotechnika Pharma Inc. today announced that the New Drug Application (NDA) for the Company's next generation calcineurin inhibitor, voclosporin, has been accepted for priority review as filed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The application was submitted by Isotechnika's partner, Lux Biosciences, Inc.

31 Mar 2010

Women, diabetics, dementia patients most likely to fall in 'doughnut hole'; Reform seeks to close coverage gap

Among elderly Americans, women and those with diabetes and dementia are most likely to find themselves in the Medicare Part D drug plan 'doughnut hole,' the coverage gap that occurs after a beneficiary has reached the annual coverage limit but hasn't spent enough on drugs to qualify for catastrophic coverage.

31 Mar 2010

Britain popping “pills for every ill”, says research

A new study reports that Britons are turning to prescription drugs for every illness, minor or major. This recent paper titled “A Pill for Every Ill”, published in Social Science & Medicine journal says that while two decades earlier average number of prescriptions dispensed per person was only eight, it is more than 16 now.

30 Mar 2010

Closing Medicare drug gap helps Democrats sell reform

Kaiser Health News writer Christopher Weaver, in a story produced in collaboration with the Los Angeles Times, looks at the government's plan to close the Medicare prescription drug "doughnut hole."

29 Mar 2010

Seniors with diabetes and dementia more likely to fall into Medicare Part D prescription drug plan

Among seniors, women and patients with diabetes and dementia are the most likely to fall into the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan "donut hole" - the gap occurring after beneficiaries reach their annual coverage limit and before catastrophic coverage kicks in - according to new research published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

29 Mar 2010