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First Edition: March 31, 2011

In today's news, reports on continuing congressional efforts to reach a deal on the current-year budget and on a move by Medicare to cover Provenge, a prostate cancer drug.

31 Mar 2011

Coro Health earns ALFA recognition for senior care programs

Coro Health, LLC, a provider of technology-based wellness therapies designed to improve the quality of life for seniors and caregivers, today announced it has been recognized as Program to Watch by the Assisted Living Federation of America 2011 Best of the Best Awards program.

31 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Vouchers for Medicare; evaluating the many parts of the health law; a single-payer plan for Oregon

With a hard deadline looming, talks to prevent a government shutdown have been stymied for a week because Tea Party members of the House have demanded everything: not just some of their cuts but almost all of them, and not just a reduction in spending but a reduction only in the programs they don't like. Many are insisting Democrats also agree to nonbudgetary riders, like ending the financing of Planned Parenthood or health care reform.

31 Mar 2011

Study: Diet-exercise can improve physical performance in obese seniors

For obese seniors, dieting and exercise together are more effective at improving physical performance and reducing frailty than either alone.

31 Mar 2011

Peregrine partners with WellAWARE to improve quality of care for seniors

WellAWARE Systems, the leading developer of next-generation wellness solutions for care providers, announced today that Peregrine Health Management Company will utilize WellAWARE to enhance the focus of delivering proactive and preventative care to its senior living residents.

31 Mar 2011

Study: Increasing Medicare age would shift costs

A study released today concluded that employers and younger people would end up paying more for their health insurance if Medicare's eligibility age were raised. However, the age change would also result in billions of dollars in taxpayer savings.

30 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: 'Lesson' from R.I. on waivers; Wis. infant mortality rate disparities; diabetes and seniors

Medicaid is the major cost driver in state budgets these days, so several Governors have proposed a deal to the White House and Congress: They'll take less money in return for the flexibility to run the program with fewer federal strings. A case study in the potential benefits is coming from liberal Rhode Island.

29 Mar 2011

Atypical antipsychotics is a safe mental health medication for nursing home residents

Conventional antipsychotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines often administered to nursing home residents are no safer than atypical antipsychotics and may carry increased risks, according to an article in CMAJ.

29 Mar 2011

Happiest at 70: Study

New research has suggested that a person is happiest after 70 years of age, as long as he or she enjoys good health, has sufficient income and is not lonely.

28 Mar 2011

House Subcommittee to investigate AARP 'financial conflicts'

House GOP lawmakers are scrutinizing how the AARP's interests may have played into the positions the organization took during the health debate.

28 Mar 2011

Asbury Communities offers management and support services for older adults

In 2010, more than 4 million baby boomers turned 50, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Boomers today represent 28 percent of the U.S. population, or 76.1 million people. With so many people aging, how is the senior living industry going to provide services to this group of older Americans?

28 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Sebelius, Vilsack, Weiner defend reform law; pro/con on seniors' access to health care

As former governors from states with large rural populations, we cheered this new health-care law. We knew that it would give Americans more freedom in their health-care choices, lower costs and improve the quality of care, especially for those in rural communities.

25 Mar 2011

Research examines BNP’s role in predicting cardiac events after CABG surgery

More than 250,000 patients undergo coronary artery bypass graft surgery each year in the United States. New research in the April issue of Anesthesiology examines whether the hormone plasma B-type natriuretic peptide helps indicate which patients are at risk of adverse cardiac events after CABG surgery.

24 Mar 2011

FTC: Granting pharmacists authority over PBMs may increase drug prices, reduce competition

In a letter to Mississippi State Representative Mark Formby this week, the Federal Trade Commission warns that a bill shifting regulatory authority over pharmacy benefit managers from the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner to the Board of Pharmacy "may increase pharmaceutical prices and reduce competition."

24 Mar 2011

Kentucky, Minn., Florida, Texas facing tough Medicaid, budget decisions

Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky has given lawmakers less than two weeks to approve his plan to come up with $165 million for Medicaid or he'll cut payments. The first-term Democrat, who took office in January 2008, faces a local variation on a problem vexing governors across the U.S.: when Kentucky lawmakers approved an $18 billion biennial budget last year, they overestimated federal Medicaid funding.

24 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Boehner, Mcconnell, Thune, major new organizations opine on health law

We now know that lawmakers who promised that "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan" were wrong. The president likes to say Americans aren't interested in revisiting the debates of the past. No one would accept an answer like that from an electronics store manager who refused to offer a refund on a defective television.

24 Mar 2011