Seniors News and Research

RSS

Many questions remain on Medicare expansion proposal

The proposal to expand Medicare to include people aged 55 and older as part of an alternative to creating the public option may have expanded support for the Senate version of the overhaul bill, the Los Angeles Times reports.

10 Dec 2009

$1 billion drug benefits contract to CVS Caremark: TRS urged to examine further before voting

Controversy has erupted around the Board of the Teacher Retirement System’s plan to vote on a $1 billion drug benefits contract on Thursday. CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefits manager that also owns the country’s largest drugstore chain, currently contracts with TRS to provide drug benefits for retirees.

10 Dec 2009

Gap between Medicaid and quality care spells trouble for America's elderly and disabled citizens

A new Eljay LLC analysis of the nation's Medicaid financing system projecting states will cumulatively underfund the actual cost of providing quality long term care by nearly $4.7 billion for 2009, and finds seniors in the states of New York, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, California and Wisconsin will bear the brunt of the underfunding burden at a time when these states and many others are already suffering from rising pressure on state Medicaid budgets.

10 Dec 2009

CMHA calls to extend Employment Insurance benefits and Pharmacare program for mentally-ill patients

Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), National supports several of the recommendations of "In From The Margins: A Call to Action on Poverty, Housing and Homelessness", Report of the Subcommittee on Cities of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology tabled yesterday in Ottawa.

10 Dec 2009

Texas ranks 4th in terms of aggregate Medicaid underfunding, according to Medicaid analysis

A new Eljay, LLC analysis of the nation's Medicaid program released by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) projects that Medicaid underfunds the actual cost of providing quality long term care in 2009 by $271.1 million in Texas, and that Texas seniors rank 4th in the nation in cumulative underfunding of this care.

10 Dec 2009

Rise in U.S. disability health care spending, but preventive care may reduce expenditure

Just over one-quarter of U.S. adult health care spending was associated with disability in 2006, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

10 Dec 2009

Drug makers attract scrutiny over cost and ads, but may benefit from overhaul

Drug makers came under scrutiny after the AARP published research recently showing their wholesale prices had increased by an average of 9.3 percent during the past year, offsetting the value of rebates the industry promised as part of a health care overhaul to help seniors pay for drugs.

9 Dec 2009

Discovery of new compounds may dispel cravings of methamphetamine and cocaine addiction

Sarah Steele and Langtian "Ren" Yuan were both self-admittedly inexperienced Duke freshmen in the spring of 2006. But then they followed helpful directions of an assistant chemistry professor, added their own patience and ingenuity, and ended up identifying compounds that might allay the powerful cravings of methamphetamine and cocaine addiction.

9 Dec 2009

National Institute on Aging awards grant to study age-related brain disorders

Dr. Rong Zhang, a researcher at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, has been awarded a four-year grant from the National Institute on Aging to research the connection between exercise and brain function as people age.

9 Dec 2009

Medicare seeks to cut hospital readmissions with 'Care Transitions' project

The Associated Press reports that a "major push is underway around the country to cut rehospitalizations, in part by arming patients with simple steps to keep their recovery on track," such as getting quicker follow-up doctor visits and lessening medication confusion.

8 Dec 2009

Consumer Watchdog: Opponents of health reform are fear-mongering relentlessly during Senate debate

Opponents of health reform are fear-mongering relentlessly during prolonged Senate debate, said Consumer Watchdog, spinning endlessly the lobbying messages of the insurance industry.

8 Dec 2009

Saint Therese implements InSites Enterprise Visibility Platform

Intelligent InSites, Inc., the leading provider of real-time locating and sensing solutions, announced today that Saint Therese at Oxbow Lake (Saint Therese), a senior living community located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, has implemented the InSites Enterprise Visibility Platform™ as the resident care and staff response solution.

8 Dec 2009

Deals on health reform in jeopardy as support from drugmakers, senior groups is tested

The pharmaceutical industry's support for a health care reform bill in the Senate is in jeopardy as Senate Democrats ponder squeezing more cost savings out of drug makers to help pay for the overhaul, The Associated Press reports.

7 Dec 2009

Deal time? Key Senate Dems meet on public option in health bill

Politico: "President Barack Obama will meet Sunday with Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill, as a group of moderate and liberal senators weighed a new public option compromise in hopes of striking a deal by early in the week.

6 Dec 2009

Combative health debate continues: Senate considers insurance executives' pay, cost controls

News coverage is focusing on Senate consideration of amendments to the massive health reform bill.

6 Dec 2009

Wake up call to the Americans regarding hunger issue

New data from the U.S. government shows more than 49 million Americans struggled to get enough to eat at some point in 2008, the highest total in 14 years. This means one in six Americans struggled with hunger.

5 Dec 2009

RetireSafe calls for the Senate to oppose the Dorgan Importation plan

Today, the senior advocacy group RetireSafe urged the Senate to defeat the Dorgan Importation plan encompassed in SA 2793. RetireSafe President Thair Phillips said, "Senator Dorgan's importation amendment is poised to open our borders, allowing our safe, closed drug system to be breached, and our health to be endangered. We could soon be getting drugs that were stored in tin containers and car trunks. This could literally be a 'killer' amendment, it puts all Americans and especially seniors at risk, and it should be soundly defeated."

5 Dec 2009

Humana introduces senior-friendly dance pad video game at Kissimmee Guidance Center

What: Humana (http://www.humana.com), Florida's largest Medicare health benefits provider, is introducing Dancetown (http://humanagames.com), a senior-friendly dance pad video game at its Kissimmee Guidance Center on Tues., Dec. 8 at 1 p.m.

5 Dec 2009

Senate rejects amendment to strip proposed Medicare cuts from Senate health bill

The Washington Post: "Senate Republicans lost their first major challenge to a Democratic plan to overhaul the health-care system, as the chamber voted Thursday to reject a GOP proposal to strip the package of nearly $500 billion in Medicare cuts, its most important source of financing."

4 Dec 2009

Democrats stress 'doughnut hole' provisions to woo senior support for reform

The Associated Press: "Lawmakers have wooed seniors skeptical of the health care overhaul by emphasizing the plan would close the 'doughnut hole' — a gap in Medicare drug coverage that can cost thousands of dollars a year. But getting support for the entire overhaul from this powerful voting bloc has been difficult, despite Democrats repeated town hall meetings, interviews and congressional hearings."

4 Dec 2009

Seniors News and Research

Many questions remain on Medicare expansion proposal

$1 billion drug benefits contract to CVS Caremark: TRS urged to examine further before voting

Gap between Medicaid and quality care spells trouble for America's elderly and disabled citizens

CMHA calls to extend Employment Insurance benefits and Pharmacare program for mentally-ill patients

Texas ranks 4th in terms of aggregate Medicaid underfunding, according to Medicaid analysis

Rise in U.S. disability health care spending, but preventive care may reduce expenditure

Drug makers attract scrutiny over cost and ads, but may benefit from overhaul

Discovery of new compounds may dispel cravings of methamphetamine and cocaine addiction

National Institute on Aging awards grant to study age-related brain disorders

Medicare seeks to cut hospital readmissions with 'Care Transitions' project

Consumer Watchdog: Opponents of health reform are fear-mongering relentlessly during Senate debate

Saint Therese implements InSites Enterprise Visibility Platform

Deals on health reform in jeopardy as support from drugmakers, senior groups is tested

Deal time? Key Senate Dems meet on public option in health bill

Combative health debate continues: Senate considers insurance executives' pay, cost controls

Wake up call to the Americans regarding hunger issue

RetireSafe calls for the Senate to oppose the Dorgan Importation plan

Humana introduces senior-friendly dance pad video game at Kissimmee Guidance Center

Senate rejects amendment to strip proposed Medicare cuts from Senate health bill

Democrats stress 'doughnut hole' provisions to woo senior support for reform

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