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HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announces $27 million to help older individuals with chronic conditions

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced the availability of $27 million to help older individuals with chronic conditions to improve their health and reduce their use of costly medical care.

17 Dec 2009

Reid assures Medicare Part D 'doughnut hole' will be closed

CBS News: "With the clock ticking on Senate Democrats' efforts to draw up a health care bill they all can agree on before the end of the year, Senate leaders on Monday said they would commit to providing seniors with better prescription drug coverage through Medicare." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pledged to close a gap -- known as the "doughnut hole" -- in Medicare's drug coverage.

16 Dec 2009

Poll: Public cooling to health reform as debate drags on

"As the Senate struggles to meet a self-imposed, year-end deadline to complete work on legislation to overhaul the nation's health-care system, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds the public generally fearful that a revamped system would bring higher costs while worsening the quality of their care," The Washington Post reports. "A bare majority of Americans still believe government action is needed to control runaway health-care costs and expand coverage to the roughly 46 million people without insurance."

16 Dec 2009

Amendment to allow drug importation fails in Senate

A bipartisan plan to allow Americans to buy cheaper prescription drugs from suppliers in other countries, such as Canada, failed Tuesday in the Senate. The Wall Street Journal reports the two top supporters of the plan, Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and John McCain, R-Ariz., said shopping overseas via the Internet and mail-order companies could save consumers up to $80 billion over a decade if their amendment were added to the health overhaul legislation.

16 Dec 2009

Thirty indicted over $61M Medicare fraud

Thirty people have been charged in three cities for their alleged roles in schemes to submit more than $61 million in false Medicare claims as part of the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced today.

16 Dec 2009

Pharmaceutical manufacturers controlling health reform debate, Senate disallows prescription drug import

The failure of the U.S. Senate to allow importation of prescription drugs to cut costs, much less the more effective direct bulk purchasing of prescription drugs, is just the latest example of how big industry controls the health reform debate, according to Consumer Watchdog.

16 Dec 2009

Participating in social service programs can delay cognitive decline in older adults

Volunteer service, such as tutoring children, can help older adults delay or reverse declining brain function, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

15 Dec 2009

Contentious party politics consume health care debate

The Wall Street Journal's Capital Journal details the tough choices facing Democrats. "At this stage in the sausage-making process that is writing legislation, nobody is under the illusion he or she is working on anything like the perfect health bill, or one that is growing in popularity. A series of recent polls shows the opposite -- that support is eroding the longer the bill hangs in the balance

15 Dec 2009

First Edition: December 15, 2009

A glance at today's health policy headlines offers a common theme: Senate Democrats are likely to abandon the Medicare buy-in plan, which just last week was heralded as part of a compromise plan in that chamber's health bill.

15 Dec 2009

Drug abuse continues to be a pervasive problem

The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future study (MTF) -- the largest survey on teen drug abuse tracking over 46,000 8th, 10th and 12th graders -- underscores that teens' intentional abuse of prescription (Rx) and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines continues to be a cause for concern, with an alarming number of young people abusing medicines they obtain from friends and relatives.

15 Dec 2009

Medicare power mobility remains a viable option for beneficiaries

Across America, seniors, together with their families and caregivers, are making difficult decisions about the future. Did that last emergency room visit after a fall mean it's time to consider nursing homes? How much longer can their loved one remain safely in their own home or apartment?

15 Dec 2009

Decline in reducing youth smoking and increase in smokeless tobacco use

The 2009 Monitoring the Future Survey released today by the National Institute of Drug Abuse shows that the nation continues to make gradual progress in reducing youth smoking, but declines have slowed significantly compared to the dramatic gains early in the decade. In especially troubling news, the survey also finds that smokeless tobacco use has increased among 10th and 12th graders in recent years, a period during which tobacco companies have introduced a slew of new smokeless tobacco products and significantly increased marketing for smokeless tobacco.

15 Dec 2009

SNFs in Ohio make major changes in operations and services to deal with Medicaid bed tax

Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in Ohio are making major changes in operations and services in order to deal with a 92 percent increase in the state-imposed Medicaid bed tax (franchise permit fee) from $6.25 to $12.01 per bed per day, scheduled for December 15.

15 Dec 2009

Some Democratic Senators raise red flag on Medicare expansion idea

The possibility of allowing some 55-64 year olds to buy-in to Medicare is in the news today.

14 Dec 2009

Some rural communities concerned reform provisions could hurt Medicare services

Newspapers in Alaska and Washington state explore how health reform provisions might affect Medicare services in rural areas, while a Colorado newspaper looks at one senator's efforts to increase the number of doctors in rural areas.

14 Dec 2009

SCAN Health Plan Arizona named to the 2009 "Best Places to Work" list

The Phoenix Business Journal and BestCompaniesAZ, co-founders of the "Best Places to Work" competition, announced today that SCAN Health Plan Arizona has been named to the 2009 list in the medium-sized category. Companies were nominated by their employees, who provided extensive insight into employee life.

11 Dec 2009

State's inability to pay overdue bills leaves Illinois' seniors to fend for themselves

Today, an alliance of advocate organizations sounded the alarm on the consequences that Illinois' social service agencies face due to the State of Illinois' failure to pay its bills.

11 Dec 2009

RetireSafe urges vote against Senator Dorgan's drug importation amendment

Today, the senior advocacy group RetireSafe notified the Senate in letter that they will key vote Senator Dorgan's Importation Amendment SA 2793.

11 Dec 2009

Drug information interface could address visual and motor impairments

A drug information interface system developed by two University of Alberta researchers has been shown to help in dealing with visual and motor impairments, which can make sorting, holding and indentifying pills a challenge as we age.

11 Dec 2009

MedPAC home care cuts can harm home health agencies and impact senior Americans, says NAHC

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) once again has used a flawed data analysis to recommend cuts that would severely damage the ability of thousands of home health care agencies to provide valuable services to the most vulnerable of Americans, the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) said today.

11 Dec 2009