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Benefits: OMB recoups $687 million across agencies, including Medicare; Department of Labor sues businesses for withholding employee money

The Office of Management and Budget, which has been working to track and recoup the money paid by agencies in the wrong amount or to the wrong vendors and contractors reported "$687 million was recovered across all agencies in Fiscal Year 2010.

18 Nov 2010

Scorecard: How health industry PACs placed their election bets

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with Politico, Bara Vaida and Christopher Weaver write: "Health-sector PACs - ranging from doctors to hospitals to drug companies - generally favored Democrats.

18 Nov 2010

PTSD doubles veteran's risk of death

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) more than doubles a veteran's risk of death from any cause and is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2010.

18 Nov 2010

New deficit report recommends seniors pay more for Medicare

Kaiser Health News staff writers Phil Galewitz and Jordan Rau report: "Offering the latest tough-love strategy to reduce the nation's debt, a panel of high-profile Republicans and Democrats is scheduled on Wednesday to recommend that Medicare beneficiaries pick up far more of their health care costs and the government substantially curb the amount both Medicare and Medicaid programs can grow in future years" (Galewitz and Rau, 11/16).

18 Nov 2010

Berwick's big day: Senators will grill CMS administrator

Donald Berwick, administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is testifying today before the Senate Finance Committee, presenting an opportunity for Republicans on that panel to revisit their objections to the health law, CQ HealthBeat reports.

18 Nov 2010

Study shows end-of-life care varies widely

A new study released by the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care finds that "America's hospitals treat patients with life-ending cancers very differently in their final months, with some deploying chemotherapy and other life-prolonging efforts until the end and others directing most of their patients into hospice," reports Kaiser Health News. The aggressive care may not be best for patients, and hospice may be a "more humane way to die," the report argues. A point the report doesn't address: that aggressive treatment "also adds to the drain on Medicare's pocketbook."

18 Nov 2010

Administration unexpectedly expands bonus payments for Medicare advantage plans

In a surprising move, the Obama administration will extend special bonus payments meant to reward top-performing Medicare Advantage insurers to those that score only average ratings.

18 Nov 2010

States consider options for funding Medicaid

The Billings Gazette: Montana lawmakers questioned the state's top health official "about plans to hire a private company to manage part of Medicaid, asking why the administration hasn't had a more public discussion on the proposal." The Legislative Finance Committee also listened to "health care providers and former officials who experienced the state's 1995 foray into private management of Medicaid for the mentally ill — and how it became a disaster for its low-income patients and their providers."

18 Nov 2010

Hospice or hospital? Where you die depends on where you live

America's hospitals treat patients with life-ending cancers very differently in their final months, with some deploying chemotherapy and other life-prolonging efforts until the end and others directing most of their patients into hospice, a new study finds.

18 Nov 2010

Deficit panel recommends ways to curb Medicare, Medicaid costs

Kaiser Health News / McClatchy: "Offering the latest tough-love strategy to reduce the nation's debt, a panel of high-profile Republicans and Democrats is scheduled on Wednesday to recommend that Medicare beneficiaries pick up far more of their health care costs and the government substantially curb the amount both Medicare and Medicaid programs can grow in future years." The panel will present the findings of the debt reduction task force that was created by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

18 Nov 2010

New Medicare/Medicaid projects aimed at cheaper, better care

Promising fast action, the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation is launching a series of initiatives aimed at improving medical care while reducing its cost.

18 Nov 2010

Health care CEOs highest paid, Wall Street Journal survey finds

The Wall Street Journal: The median CEO pay in the health care industry "was $10 million" in the past fiscal year, which is "the highest median pay of any industry," including consumer goods, telecom and oil and gas, according to the new Wall Street Journal CEO Compensation Study. "The study looked at total direct compensation, which includes salary, bonuses and the value of long-term incentives, including stock and stock options at the time of the grant.

18 Nov 2010

Lawmakers elbow for influence as they return to Capitol Hill

Lawmakers are elbowing around Capitol Hill to cement their places in the coming fight over health reform, and industry groups are attempting the same.

17 Nov 2010

U.N. report highlights gaps in global social security programs, including health care

Though basic social security is critical for mitigating the dire consequences of economic crises, it remains out of reach for most people across the world, above all in poorer countries," according to a report.

17 Nov 2010

Low back pain care initiated with chiropractic doctor saves 40% on health care costs

A new study finds that low back pain care initiated with a doctor of chiropractic (DC) saves 40% on health care costs when compared with care initiated through a medical doctor (MD), the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) announced today. The study, featuring data from 85,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield beneficiaries, concludes that insurance companies that restrict access to chiropractors for low back pain treatment may inadvertently pay more for care than they would if they removed such restrictions.

17 Nov 2010

Mayo Clinic to establish pencil beam proton scanning facilities in Minnesota, Arizona and Florida

Mayo Clinic today announced plans to establish the Mayo Clinic Proton Beam Therapy Program as part of Mayo's national three-site cancer center in Minnesota, Arizona and Florida. The new program will employ intensity modulated proton therapy — based on pencil beam scanning — which is a more precise form of proton therapy treatment that allows greater control over radiation doses, shorter treatment times and fewer side effects. It is also believed to be more cost effective in selected patients.

17 Nov 2010

School vending machines influence dietary intake of students

Vending machines in public schools influence the diets of school children and can affect overall dietary intake and health, depending on what foods they contain.

17 Nov 2010

AMIA's Annual Symposium provides informatics program for work force

The 34th Annual Symposium on Biomedical and Health Informatics opened this week with keynote speaker Susan Dentzer, editor in chief of Health Affairs, addressing a crowd of more than two thousand professionals who are central to modernizing the nation's health sector by applying the science of informatics to a variety of specialized health domains, including public health, clinical practice, clinical research, and translational bioinformatics.

17 Nov 2010

8 states get better grade on 2010 March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card

Eight states earned a better grade on the 2010 March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card and 32 others and the District of Columbia saw their preterm birth rates improve.

17 Nov 2010

New method to improve coordinating care in children with chronic conditions

Children with chronic health conditions such as cystic fibrosis, type 1 diabetes, sickle cell diseases and cerebral palsy represent less than two percent of the population but can consume more than 50 percent of resources at children's hospitals throughout the country. Coordinating care for these children has historically been difficult because hospitals have varying methods to identify them in their systems.

17 Nov 2010