Seniors News and Research

RSS

Arizona's transplant funding cuts continue to trigger controversy; Florida, Kansas focus on state role in reforms; Wisc. plan would elminate tax on health savings accounts

[Arizona Gov. Jane] Brewer's transplant cutbacks have become a rallying cause for Democrats, who call her decision "Brewercare." It's hypocritical for Republicans to support the program's end while opposing President Barack Obama's health-care legislation on the ground it would create death panels run by bureaucrats, said Anna Tovar, a Democratic state representative from Tolleson (Palmeri, 12/10).

10 Dec 2010

OpEds: Palin on the Ryan Roadmap, Seniors and primary care docs, Arizona transplant controversy

[The president's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform's report] implicitly endorses the use of 'death panel'-like rationing by way of the new Independent Payments Advisory Board—making bureaucrats, not medical professionals, the ultimate arbiters of what types of treatment will (and especially will not) be reimbursed under Medicare.

10 Dec 2010

AARP Pennsylvania thanks House for passage of bill stopping payment cut to doctors in Medicare

AARP Pennsylvania State Director Dick Chevrefils released a statement following today's passage of the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010 by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill stops a scheduled payment cut to doctors in Medicare, ensuring seniors can continue to see their physicians for the next year.

10 Dec 2010

AMA welcomes House passage of legislation to stop Medicare physician payment cut for one year

"The AMA welcomes bipartisan House passage of legislation to stop the Medicare physician payment cut for one year. Stopping the steep 25 percent Medicare cut for one year was vital to preserve seniors' access to physician care in 2011. Many physicians made clear that this year's roller coaster ride, caused by five delays of this year's cut, forced them to make difficult practice changes like limiting the number of Medicare patients they could treat.

10 Dec 2010

Alliance of Specialty Medicine calls for new, permanent Medicare reimbursement formula

The Alliance of Specialty Medicine (Alliance) today called on Congress to permanently fix Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) after lawmakers once again passed a temporary fix, thereby postponing unprecedented reimbursement cuts to Medicare doctors until 2012.

10 Dec 2010

OpEds: How debt panel 'punted' on health costs; Sustainable 'doc fix;' Arizona 'death panel;' Sebelius on flu vaccine

In this Kaiser Health News column, Austin Frakt and Aaron Carroll write: "By some accounts, the Republican takeover of the House is a game changer for health reform. Already, it has reinvigorated debate over the law, and the media have focused on what federal legislators can or will do to alter it. But more attention should be directed elsewhere. The future trajectory of health reform will be shaped far more by interest group agendas and state-level actions than by the new House leadership's stated plans. Not only has the game changed, but so have the most important players" (12/9).

9 Dec 2010

Number of people admitted to hospital for treatment of dog bites increased by 86%: AHRQ

The number of people admitted to the hospital because of dog bites increased by 86 percent - from 5,100 to 9,500 hospital stays - between 1993 and 2008, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

9 Dec 2010

AARP Pennsylvania applauds U.S. Senate for protecting seniors' access to their doctors

AARP Pennsylvania State Director Dick Chevrefils today released a statement applauding the U.S. Senate for passing legislation that will preserve access to doctors for people in Medicare by stopping a scheduled 25 percent cut in reimbursement.

9 Dec 2010

Texas health officials confronting Medicaid costs

"The biggest culprit in Texas' growing debate over escalating Medicaid costs" is "[a] mathematical formula that calculates how much the federal government pays and what's left over for the state," Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with The Texas Tribune, reports. "Already facing a record budget shortfall, Texas' Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) will drop more than 2 percentage points in late 2011, equivalent to a $1.2 billion hit."

8 Dec 2010

Company reaches $28 million settlement for Medicare program

The Tennesseean: "Healthways Inc. will return $28 million to Medicare's overseer under a settlement related to the company's participation in a pilot program to determine the effectiveness of its nurse-based health coaching for chronically ill seniors." The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had paid the company $72 million for the pilot program, which ended two years ago, under the condition that it meet "specific targets for cost savings, health outcomes and patient satisfaction."

7 Dec 2010

Early physical therapy associated with fewer subsequent injections, surgery, physician visits: Study

The American Physical Therapy Association is pointing to a new study on low back pain in Medicare patients in its efforts to encourage the newly established Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to promptly launch a demonstration project on direct access to physical therapist services that was recommended in the recent health reform law.

7 Dec 2010

AARP survey shows overwhelming support for long term solution to protect access to medicare doctors

Access to doctors is critical to 39 million older Americans on Medicare – including over 1.5 million Illinoisans. But this access might be gravely compromised if Congress takes no action by January 1st, 2011, to prevent a severe cut in pay for Medicare physicians. Today, AARP released a survey of Illinois members, showing overwhelming support for a long term solution that protects patients' access to their doctors.

7 Dec 2010

New, HIV-like retroviruses linked to CFS, prostate cancer detected in healthy blood donors

In an unprecedented move, chronic fatigue syndrome patients published a half-page ad in The Washington Post today. The ad brings attention to new, HIV-like retroviruses, including XMRV, which have been linked to CFS and aggressive prostate cancer, and have been detected in healthy blood donors.

6 Dec 2010

Elimination of first month purchase option for power wheelchairs will hurt Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas

For 12 years, Gerald Sloan, owner of Progressive Medical Equipment, LLC, has provided home medical equipment to Medicare patients from his retail outlets near Kansas City and St. Louis, and he is also vice president of the Midwest Association for Medical Equipment Services (MAMES). Today, Sloan is concerned that the elimination of the first month purchase option for Medicare beneficiaries requiring power wheelchairs will prevent patients in rural areas from receiving the mobility assistance that has been prescribed by their physicians.

4 Dec 2010

THCA has serious concerns regarding any effort to drop elders out of federal Medicaid program

On behalf of an aging Texas elderly population who depend upon adequate Medicaid funding to meet their growing care needs, and on behalf of the staff and facilities that are a mainstay of local economies throughout the state, THCA has serious concerns regarding any effort to drop out of the federal Medicaid program.

4 Dec 2010

News outlets explore approaches for caring for aging patients

Caring for aging patients -- whether at home or in nursing facilities -- poses unique challenges.

4 Dec 2010

OpEds: Positions on Fiscal Commission; Reinhardt on Medicare; Defeating diabetes

As a member of this bipartisan commission and co-author of the Conrad-Gregg Bipartisan Fiscal Task Force legislation the panel is based on, I hope this plan will be supported. ... Unfortunately, significant health-care savings are missing from the plan; this is an issue that will have to be addressed soon.

4 Dec 2010

Debt panel proposals target health costs

A White House-appointed commission's deficit-taming proposals would affect every corner of society. Workers with solid coverage on the job, seniors, drug companies, trial lawyers, hospitals, doctors, state governments and federal employees would all feel the effects.

3 Dec 2010

Today's Op-Eds: Preventing hospital errors; myths about the reform law; Medicare and the independent payment advisory board

Greenbay Press Gazette: No matter what happens with health care reform, the principles we've been discussing the past few months still hold true. Health care systems should continue to focus on quality and cost.

2 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 2, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include news about how the debt panel's plan would boost costs for seniors on Medicare; how parts of the GOP are making clear their positions regarding health reform "repeal and replace" strategy; and how limited health plans faced critics at a Senate hearing.

2 Dec 2010

Seniors News and Research

Arizona's transplant funding cuts continue to trigger controversy; Florida, Kansas focus on state role in reforms; Wisc. plan would elminate tax on health savings accounts

OpEds: Palin on the Ryan Roadmap, Seniors and primary care docs, Arizona transplant controversy

AARP Pennsylvania thanks House for passage of bill stopping payment cut to doctors in Medicare

AMA welcomes House passage of legislation to stop Medicare physician payment cut for one year

Alliance of Specialty Medicine calls for new, permanent Medicare reimbursement formula

OpEds: How debt panel 'punted' on health costs; Sustainable 'doc fix;' Arizona 'death panel;' Sebelius on flu vaccine

Number of people admitted to hospital for treatment of dog bites increased by 86%: AHRQ

AARP Pennsylvania applauds U.S. Senate for protecting seniors' access to their doctors

Texas health officials confronting Medicaid costs

Company reaches $28 million settlement for Medicare program

Early physical therapy associated with fewer subsequent injections, surgery, physician visits: Study

AARP survey shows overwhelming support for long term solution to protect access to medicare doctors

New, HIV-like retroviruses linked to CFS, prostate cancer detected in healthy blood donors

Elimination of first month purchase option for power wheelchairs will hurt Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas

THCA has serious concerns regarding any effort to drop elders out of federal Medicaid program

News outlets explore approaches for caring for aging patients

OpEds: Positions on Fiscal Commission; Reinhardt on Medicare; Defeating diabetes

Debt panel proposals target health costs

Today's Op-Eds: Preventing hospital errors; myths about the reform law; Medicare and the independent payment advisory board

First Edition: December 2, 2010

Industry Focus eBook - Analytical Chemistry (2nd Edition) eBook

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

Latest News