Health Care News and Research

RSS

Employers not dropping coverage as Mental Health Parity law is enacted

American Medical News: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act hasn't made employers drop coverage as some feared it might. The full effects won't be felt until early 2011 as health plans begin their new enrollment years, but "[e]arly indications ... are that relatively few employers are dropping mental health coverage in response to the law's mandate, a concern of some of the bill's opponents."

21 Oct 2010

Idaho halts Medicaid cuts for dental care; Georgia and justice department reach accord on mental health services

Gov. C.L. 'Butch' Otter removed a political abscess Tuesday, restoring all previously contracted dental care providers to the state's Medicaid-funded Idaho Smiles program.

21 Oct 2010

Cost of health plans rise, but health law only one reason

Most Ohioans will face higher health insurance premiums starting in January with hikes ranging from 8 percent to 18 percent giving rise to fresh complaints about the White House-backed health care law.

21 Oct 2010

HHS did not violate federal law for Medicare ads, GAO says

The Hill Healthwatch: "The Department of Health and Human Services did not violate federal prohibitions on publicity and propaganda with its health reform advertising and technical assistance contracts, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday. Two HHS television ads, however, 'overstate one of (the law's) benefits,' GAO writes in a letter to Reps. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). The lawmakers requested the office's legal opinion about the ads and HHS's contracts with MIT economist Jonathan Gruber.

21 Oct 2010

Unitedhealth says it will test lump sum payments for some cancer care, reports earnings

Health insurer UnitedHealth said Tuesday that it will test a new way payment method for cancer doctors. The program pays doctors a lump sum payment for providing care during an entire course of care for the disease instead of how it's done now with a fee for each service a doctor provides.

21 Oct 2010

C PORT Solutions releases new mobile computing platform for healthcare facilities

With the launch of MEDI PORT, C PORT Solutions is the world's first company to converge all forms of communication and collaboration with patient data, medical applications, and existing healthcare technologies so all healthcare professionals can diagnose or treat a patient with the highest level of care regardless of the healthcare professional's location.

21 Oct 2010

CMS head Berwick praises new center for Medicare and Medicaid innovation

The planned Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has the potential to be the 'jewel in the crown' of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Donald M. Berwick, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

21 Oct 2010

VA checklists save lives, study says

The Associated Press: Going through a "surgery checklist" to confirm the basic procedures of a planned operation can help save lives, according to a study of 74 Veterans Affairs hospitals. In the hospitals being studied, "Surgery team members all created checklists and discussed them in briefings before, during and after surgery," reviewing basic information such as the reason for the surgery and the identity of the patient.

21 Oct 2010

Health reform law news: HHS awards $30 million in consumer assistance grants

The Department of Health and Human Services says it will award $30 million in consumer assistance grants to help states and territories either establish or strengthen programs that provide direct services to patients related to their health insurance, Modern Healthcare reports.

21 Oct 2010

Candidates discuss Medicare, Medicaid spending

News outlets report on the role of Medicare and Medicaid spending in this year's elections.

21 Oct 2010

Business groups seek health care payment reforms

Businesses are continuing to seek health payment reform. Businesses are looking for ways to control costs, improve quality and reward successful treatments instead of paying more for readmissions and longer hospital stays.

21 Oct 2010

A new way to pay for chemotherapy

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby reports: "One of the nation's largest health insurers said today it is testing a new way to pay for some cancer treatments, aiming to identify the best medicines - and limit profits doctors make by dispensing in-office chemotherapy drugs" (Appleby, 10/20).

21 Oct 2010

Also in Global Health News: Foreign aid in Ethiopia; Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation; Health in Myanmar; Poverty in Zambia; Rwanda's progress on MDGs; Men involved in PMTCT of HIV

Ethiopia's government has been restricting access to food and other types of foreign aid among opposition supporters, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Tuesday, Reuters reports (Malone, 10/19). The report is based on more than 200 interviews, conducted over a six-month period in 2009, of people in 53 villages across three regions of the country, according to an HRW press release (10/19).

21 Oct 2010

Today's Opinions: The health law and Medicare, issues of implementation; the call for repeal

The reality is that the bill doesn't cut Medicare benefits a dime and doesn't "jeopardize access" for anybody, although it may very well force plenty of seniors to change the plans they're on. It also puts Medicare on sounder financial footing, postponing insolvency for about 12 years.

21 Oct 2010

Study: Flu vaccine is money loser for doctors paid by Medicaid

More poor children would get the flu vaccine if Medicaid increased the reimbursement to doctors for giving the shot, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.

21 Oct 2010

Health Impact Project announces $400,000 in grants to 4 organizations to conduct health impact assessments

The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, today announced nearly $400,000 in grants to four organizations to conduct health impact assessments (HIAs). The assessments will identify and address potential and often overlooked health implications of policy proposals including farm-to-school food legislation, energy development, smart-metering technology for electric utilities and urban transportation plans.

20 Oct 2010

CIGNA plans help reduce annual health care costs without compromising care

When Americans engage in health-smart habits such as participating in health coaching and disease management programs, substituting generic medications for brand name drugs and avoiding unnecessary trips to the emergency room, their total medical costs went down 15 percent -- an average $358 per person in the first year -- according to a new multi-year study comparing the health care claims experience of 897,000 CIGNA customers in consumer driven health (CDH) plans, PPOs and HMOs.

20 Oct 2010

NMT releases new device for treatment of post-operative nausea

Neurowave Medical Technologies™ today announced the release of an innovative new device for the treatment of post-operative nausea, medically referred to as emesis. Reletex™ is a novel transdermal neuromodulation device that is non-invasive and drug-free, and has been demonstrated to alleviate nausea when used as an adjunct to anti-emetics.

20 Oct 2010

First Edition: October 20, 2010

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby reports One of the nation's largest health insurers said today it is testing a new way to pay for some cancer treatments, aiming to identify the best medicines and limit profits doctors make by dispensing in-office chemotherapy drugs.

20 Oct 2010

New model for rural clinics in underserved areas

The University of Maryland Dental School Clinic, Perryville is a new model for rural clinics in underserved areas across the country, says Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent, dean of the Dental School in Baltimore.

20 Oct 2010