Medicare News and Research

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First Edition: September 5, 2014

Today's headlines include reports of hacker activity at the healthcare.gov health insurance website.

5 Sep 2014

State highlights: Texas abortion clinic to reopen after ruling; Maine Medicaid cuts

An embattled abortion clinic in McAllen, Tex., which was the last provider of abortions in the vast Rio Grande Valley when new state restrictions forced it to stop last fall, will start operating again by this weekend, its owner said Wednesday, after last week's favorable decision by a federal judge (Eckholm, 9/3).

5 Sep 2014

Short-term use of DPP-4 inhibitors does not increase risk for pancreatic cancer

Researchers at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and the UNC School of Medicine have found that a popular class of diabetes medications called DPP-4 inhibitors does not increase the short-term risk of pancreatic cancer, as was previously reported by other researchers.

5 Sep 2014

Three Johns Hopkins Medicine hospitals win 2014 Excellence Award for Quality Improvement in Hospitals

Three Johns Hopkins Medicine hospitals have been awarded the 2014 Excellence Award for Quality Improvement in Hospitals from the Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care, an independent, nonprofit health care quality improvement organization.

5 Sep 2014

Small business exchange to get soft launch in 5 states

Federal officials will give small businesses in five states an early chance to try out the delayed health insurance exchange for their employees to fix any glitches before the site goes live in other states. Meanwhile, Minn. Gov. Mark Dayton calls the MNsure rollout his "biggest disappointment," and the Covered Oregon board votes on a new course.

5 Sep 2014

New cancer drug renews debate about costs

The drug Opdivo, which went on sale in Japan this week, costs an average of $143,000 per patient, The Wall Street Journal reports.

5 Sep 2014

Health care spending projected to grow modestly

Government actuaries expect that U.S. health spending will increase over the next decade as a result of an aging population, a rebounding economy and the health law's expanded insurance coverage, but the growth rates will be lower than those seen for most of the last two decades.

5 Sep 2014

First Edition: September 4, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about a new government report that predicts a rebound in national health spending.

4 Sep 2014

Virginia Mason introduces surgical warranty for hip and knee replacements

Virginia Mason, a national leader in improving quality and safety and controlling health care costs, today introduced a surgical warranty for hip and knee replacements.

4 Sep 2014

Opinions: Controversial view of freedom; a $20,000 CT scan

The most cynical claim made by the promoters of the Halbig lawsuit over Affordable Care Act subsidies is that they're standing up for "freedom."

4 Sep 2014

Accreditation of bariatric surgery centers contributes to improved safety for patients

Patients who underwent weight loss operations in recent years, when most bariatric surgical centers were accredited, had fewer postoperative complications and were 2.3 times less likely to die in the hospital than patients who had bariatric procedures performed before a national movement toward facility accreditation was taking place, according to new study findings.

4 Sep 2014

Calif. OKs tougher rules on plan networks; Mnsure taps groups to do outreach

News organizations track developments in California, Minnesota, North Carolina and Wisconsin as state online insurance marketplaces gear up for the second open enrollment season.

4 Sep 2014

USPSTF lung cancer screening recommendations in high-risk Medicare beneficiaries is cost effective

Questions regarding effectiveness, infrastructure and cost effectiveness of low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening of those at high risk for lung cancer have now been answered. Medicare should rapidly provide full national coverage for these exams.

3 Sep 2014

Implementing guidelines can improve hospitals' communication during patient care transitions

What happens when you are hospitalized, but your outpatient doctor does not know? Or when you arrive at the office for follow-up care, but your doctor does not have the right information about your hospital stay? Missing or incomplete communication from hospitals to outpatient primary care physicians (PCPs) can contribute to poor experiences and lead to hospital readmissions.

3 Sep 2014

State highlights: Mass. health care costs grow smaller 2.3 percent; new rules in Calif. for inmates with mental illness

Two years ago, Massachusetts set what was considered an ambitious goal: The state would not let that persistent monster, rising health care costs, increase faster than the economy as a whole.

3 Sep 2014

Viewpoints: Medicaid expansion spreading; 'GOP's woman problem;' praising Medicare

The latest jerry-built effort to destroy health care reform could be defeated in the full federal appeals court in the District of Columbia. In July, a three-judge panel of that court - taking a ridiculously crabbed view of a section in the law - ruled 2-to-1 that tax-credit subsidies are allowed only for those buying insurance on a health exchange "established by the state."

3 Sep 2014

Exchange roundup: Mnsure bogs down; Maryland consumers drop coverage

Marketplace developments across the country, including in Minnesota, Maryland, Georgia and California.

3 Sep 2014

Bypassing politics, insurers pay for end of life talks

These doctor-patient conversations had been labeled "death panels" by opponents of the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, in a bid to reduce backlogs, Medicare offers a deal to hospitals to pay 68 percent of short-term stay medical claims that were rejected by outside auditors.

3 Sep 2014

First Edition: September 2, 2014

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including an analysis of care at small military hospitals and a look at the $8 billion in health law taxes that come due Sept. 30.

2 Sep 2014

Commercial health care spending up from higher medical service costs

Recent growth in health care spending for commercially insured individuals is due primarily to increases in prices for medical services, rather than increased use, according to a new study led by researchers at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, published in the August issue of the American Journal of Managed Care.

30 Aug 2014

Medicare News and Research

First Edition: September 5, 2014

State highlights: Texas abortion clinic to reopen after ruling; Maine Medicaid cuts

Short-term use of DPP-4 inhibitors does not increase risk for pancreatic cancer

Three Johns Hopkins Medicine hospitals win 2014 Excellence Award for Quality Improvement in Hospitals

Small business exchange to get soft launch in 5 states

New cancer drug renews debate about costs

Health care spending projected to grow modestly

First Edition: September 4, 2014

Virginia Mason introduces surgical warranty for hip and knee replacements

Opinions: Controversial view of freedom; a $20,000 CT scan

Accreditation of bariatric surgery centers contributes to improved safety for patients

Calif. OKs tougher rules on plan networks; Mnsure taps groups to do outreach

USPSTF lung cancer screening recommendations in high-risk Medicare beneficiaries is cost effective

Implementing guidelines can improve hospitals' communication during patient care transitions

State highlights: Mass. health care costs grow smaller 2.3 percent; new rules in Calif. for inmates with mental illness

Viewpoints: Medicaid expansion spreading; 'GOP's woman problem;' praising Medicare

Exchange roundup: Mnsure bogs down; Maryland consumers drop coverage

Bypassing politics, insurers pay for end of life talks

First Edition: September 2, 2014

Commercial health care spending up from higher medical service costs

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