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Administration opened marketplaces despite technology concerns, GOP senators say

In new report, Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, allege the White House's delayed decisions kept health officials from meeting development deadlines for the online exchanges, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, a GAO official tells a Senate panel that the government has a flawed strategy on tech projects.

20 Jun 2014

First Edition: June 19, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about how the 2015 insurance premium rates are shaping up across the country and details of consumers' experiences in trying to get their new coverage.

19 Jun 2014

Viewpoints: Working for benefits; fears for a pill to prevent HIV; possible Medicaid strategy for Virginia

[Economist Robert] Moffitt noted in an email that "the work incentives in the government safety net have greatly increased over the last 20 years: less welfare payments if you don't work, and much greater government payments if you do."

19 Jun 2014

State highlights: Illinois Medicaid digital shift delayed; N.C. hospitals fight cuts; heroin in New England

Alexian Brothers Health System is suspending its effort to launch a new Medicaid program, blaming the difficulty of connecting physicians using different electronic records systems. The Arlington Heights, Ill.-based health system was spearheading a so-called accountable care entity (ACE) to coordinate the care of about 46,000 patients on Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled. The ACEs are a form of managed care, one of Gov. Pat Quinn's initiatives to focus on preventative treatment to keep patients healthy and reduce health care costs (Schorsch, 6/17).

19 Jun 2014

African American women with invasive breast cancer less likely to receive invasive technique

African American women with early stage, invasive breast cancer were 12 percent less likely than Caucasian women with the same diagnosis to receive a minimally invasive technique, axillary sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy, even as the procedure had become the standard of surgical practice, according to research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

19 Jun 2014

Medicare faces cost tension with lawmakers, advocates

More than 130 lawmakers are urging the Obama administration to expand coverage for a lung-cancer test under Medicare that could cost the program billons, calling the screening important for vulnerable seniors. In a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the lawmakers called for a timely decision on coverage for low-dose CT scans for older patients at higher risk of developing lung cancer. ... A CMS spokesman said the agency's decision will be based on whether the test is "reasonable and necessary," without regard to its cost to Medicare (Yen, 6/17).

19 Jun 2014

Feds join whistleblower suit against doctors' company

The Justice Department says in a lawsuit that IPC The Hospitalist Co., which assigns doctors to hospitals in 28 states, bilked Medicare and Medicaid by billing for more expensive care than was provided.

19 Jun 2014

UC Irvine Health to use $3.4 million NIH grant to examine "Transition of Care in CKD"

UC Irvine Health will use a $3.4 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health to examine the "Transition of Care in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)."

19 Jun 2014

Counseling, medication management by pharmacist can lower hospital readmissions

Getting discharged from the hospital and then having to go right back in again can be emotionally draining for a patient and their family. It can also cause financial strain for all involved - the patient, the hospital system and the insurers-including Medicaid and Medicare, which are taxpayer funded.

19 Jun 2014

Five Points Healthcare announces acquisition of BestCare Home Care

Five Points Healthcare announced that it acquired BestCare Home Care on April 30, 2014. BestCare is a home health provider of Medicare-certified, Medicaid-waiver and personal care services throughout Northern and Western Virginia.

18 Jun 2014

Centene's Kansas subsidiary receives NCQA Health Plan Accreditation

Centene Corporation has announced that its wholly owned Kansas subsidiary, Sunflower Health Plan, has received Accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

18 Jun 2014

Walgreens, Heritage Provider Network sign clinical care collaboration agreement

Walgreens, the nation's largest drugstore chain, and global health care leader Heritage Provider Network, along with its Arizona operating affiliate Arizona Priority Care, today announced a clinical care collaboration agreement.

18 Jun 2014

First Edition: June 18, 2014

Today's headlines include a report that the cost of health law subsidies may push the measure's overall price tag beyond projections.

18 Jun 2014

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics applauds AMA's support for multidisciplinary obesity treatment

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics applauds the American Medical Association's recent decision to support increased patient access to evidence-based, multidisciplinary obesity treatment.

18 Jun 2014

Frontrunner for no. 2 GOP House post seen as health policy 'blank slate'

A CQ Healthbeat look at Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California finds a light footprint when it comes to health care matters. Meanwhile, physician and health care groups seek an extension of a health law provision that boosts Medicaid payments to primary care doctors.

18 Jun 2014

Medicare News and Research

Administration opened marketplaces despite technology concerns, GOP senators say

First Edition: June 19, 2014

Viewpoints: Working for benefits; fears for a pill to prevent HIV; possible Medicaid strategy for Virginia

State highlights: Illinois Medicaid digital shift delayed; N.C. hospitals fight cuts; heroin in New England

African American women with invasive breast cancer less likely to receive invasive technique

Medicare faces cost tension with lawmakers, advocates

Feds join whistleblower suit against doctors' company

UC Irvine Health to use $3.4 million NIH grant to examine "Transition of Care in CKD"

Counseling, medication management by pharmacist can lower hospital readmissions

Five Points Healthcare announces acquisition of BestCare Home Care

Centene's Kansas subsidiary receives NCQA Health Plan Accreditation

Walgreens, Heritage Provider Network sign clinical care collaboration agreement

First Edition: June 18, 2014

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics applauds AMA's support for multidisciplinary obesity treatment

Frontrunner for no. 2 GOP House post seen as health policy 'blank slate'

State highlights: State retiree benefit shortfalls; health data claims and cost

Report: Subsidies motivate people to sign up for coverage

Doctors weigh how to use new heart-valve procedure

First Edition: June 17, 2014

State highlights: New Fla. abortion restrictions; docs move to affluent areas; farmworkers' mental health in Calif.

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How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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