Medicare News and Research

RSS

Meridian Health Plan wins 2015 Top Workplaces award

Meridian Health Plan has been awarded a 2015 Top Workplaces honor by the Detroit Free Press. The Top Workplaces lists are based solely on the results of an employee feedback survey administered by WorkplaceDynamics, LLC, a leading research firm that specializes in organizational health and workplace improvement.

25 Nov 2015

Health insurance coverage for transgender people is cost-effective, study finds

A new analysis led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that while most U.S. health insurance plans deny benefits to transgender men and women for medical care necessary to transition to the opposite sex, paying for sex reassignment surgery and hormones is actually cost-effective.

25 Nov 2015

Catasys to provide assistance to Humana members experiencing substance abuse challenges

Catasys, Inc., a provider of proprietary big-data based analytics and predictive modeling driven health management services for health plans, announced today that it has signed a national agreement with Humana Behavioral Health to combine its substance abuse care management with Humana clinical programs to address the needs of members experiencing substance abuse challenges.

24 Nov 2015

Complex numeric data on hospital-acquired infections confuses consumers

Patients have difficulty deciphering complex numeric data on healthcare-associated infections used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to help consumers choose hospitals, according to a new study published online today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).

24 Nov 2015

Modest physical activity associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease in older adults

In a large prospective community-based study of older Americans, modest physical activity was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This was true even among men and women older than age 75 at baseline - a rapidly growing population for whom regular activity has been advised, but with little supportive empirical evidence.

19 Nov 2015

UPMC for You honored by MHPA Institute for Medicaid Innovation

UPMC for You, the Medical Assistance program of UPMC Health Plan, was honored by the Medicaid Health Plans of America Institute for Medicaid Innovation for demonstrating innovative and effective approaches to providing services that have improved the health of Medicaid enrollees, at MHPA's annual Best Practices Awards program held in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.

19 Nov 2015

Higher levels of air pollution in major urban areas linked to heart attack risks in people 65 and older

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have found a link between higher levels of a specific kind of air pollution in major urban areas and an increase in cardiovascular-related hospitalizations such as for heart attacks in people 65 and older.

18 Nov 2015

Study examines association between IV products and anaphylaxis risk

Cunlin Wang, M.D., Ph.D., of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Md., and colleagues studied recipients of intravenous (IV) iron (n = 688,183) enrolled in the fee-for-service Medicare program from January 2003 to December 2013.

18 Nov 2015

Nearly 50% of Medicaid patients infected with hepatitis C denied coverage for life-saving antiviral drugs

Nearly 50 percent of Medicaid patients infected with chronic hepatitis C whose doctors had prescribed newer, life-saving antiviral drugs were denied coverage to the therapies because they weren't considered "a medical necessity" or because the patients tested positive for alcohol/drugs, among other reasons, according to new Penn Medicine research.

17 Nov 2015

Advances in nanofilter technology may lead to surgically implantable, artificial kidney

Research that could lead to the development of a surgically implantable, artificial kidney, was presented at ASN Kidney Week 2015 November 3-8 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA.

11 Nov 2015

Members of Dallas/Fort Worth community receive quality health care through UT Southwestern health fairs

Thanks to UT Southwestern Accountable Care Network, some 68,000 members of the Dallas/Fort Worth community are receiving much-needed access to quality health care, including flu shots, screenings, education, and more through a series of 22 health fairs across the Metroplex running now through Nov. 20.

11 Nov 2015

People with high fitness levels in midlife have lower annual health care costs after age 65

People with high fitness levels in midlife have significantly lower annual health care costs after age 65 than people with low fitness in midlife, after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

10 Nov 2015

Obesity groups take aim at states that deny coverage of obesity treatment under affordable care act

The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and groups including The Obesity Society (TOS) and Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), filed a complaint this month with U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) claiming the 27 states that deny coverage for bariatric surgery are in non-compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and that their failure to comply is discriminatory against women and people with disabilities, and violates the ban against denying coverage based on health status or a pre-existing condition.

10 Nov 2015

Major US healthcare database has missing pieces

A major source of American health information data contains a handful of glaring flaws related to health risks, say Johns Hopkins researchers in a study published online Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE.

9 Nov 2015

Circulating protein predicts risk of chronic kidney disease

Make room, cholesterol. A new disease marker is entering the medical lexicon: suPAR, or soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor.

6 Nov 2015

Most states do not cover bariatric surgery under ACA despite minimal impact on monthly insurance premiums

Most states do not cover bariatric surgery under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) despite the need for effective treatments for obesity and the minimal impact it has on monthly premiums, according to new research presented here at ObesityWeek 2015, the largest international event focused on the basic science, clinical application and prevention and treatment of obesity.

5 Nov 2015

Three out of four consumers not covered for evidence-based obesity treatment services

In one of the largest studies ever conducted to better understand insurance coverage of obesity treatments, researchers found that three out of four consumers report that they are not covered for necessary, evidence-based obesity treatment services, including access to a registered dietician (72% not covered), medical weight management (77% not covered), bariatric surgery (76% not covered) or FDA-approved obesity drugs (84% not covered).

5 Nov 2015

EndoGastric Solutions announces assignment of relative value units for new CPT code covering TIF procedure

EndoGastric Solutions® (EGS), a leader in incisionless procedural therapy for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), today announced the Federal Register has posted coding and payment information specific to the new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)® code covering the Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF®) procedure.

4 Nov 2015

Voluntary Advance Care Planning to become recognized, reimbursable benefit for Medicare recipients

Reflecting recommendations from the American Geriatrics Society and 65 other partner organizations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that voluntary Advance Care Planning (ACP)--a comprehensive, ongoing, person-centered approach to communication about future healthcare choices--will for the first time become a recognized, reimbursable benefit for Medicare recipients.