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First Edition: December 4, 2013

Today's headlines spotlight the White House's push to defend the health law and advance positive messages about its benefits.

4 Dec 2013

Update on reimbursement coverage for Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation procedures

Uroplasty, Inc. a medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets innovative proprietary products for the treatment of voiding dysfunctions, today provided an update on reimbursement coverage for Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation (PTNS) procedures delivered via the Company's Urgent® PC Neuromodulation System for treatment of overactive bladder (OAB) and associated symptoms of urinary urgency, urinary frequency and urge incontinence.

4 Dec 2013

Electronic informational technologies provide better means of transparency in health care costs

-The "shroud of secrecy" once draped across private health care service costs could be lifted with innovative information technologies, Princeton University professor Uwe Reinhardt wrote in a review published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

4 Dec 2013

State highlights: Okla. gov. looks for cuts to cover $60M more in health care costs; Miss. gov. wants to offer hospitals money to offset health law

A selection of health policy stories from Oklahoma, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Delaware, Texas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Georgia and California.

4 Dec 2013

Takeda and Teva announce agreement related to commercialization of glatiramer acetate in Japan

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) today announced the signing earlier this year of an agreement in which Teva licensed to Takeda the right to commercialize Teva's innovative glatiramer acetate ( active ingredient) formulation for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, in Japan.

4 Dec 2013

Reviews mixed for 'fixed' health care website

Some said the Monday's healthcare.gov relaunch -- marked by heavy traffic -- was "rocky" and "bumpy," but administration officials maintained the user experience was much smoother as a result of fixes.

4 Dec 2013

Reimbursement cuts for image-guided breast biopsies may reduce women's access to mammography

Drastic reimbursement cuts for image-guided breast biopsies, and other medical imaging techniques in the 2014 Medicare Fee Schedule Final Rule, may further reduce women's access to mammography and other breast cancer services. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services directly cut imaging reimbursement every year since 2007. This, along with 12 Medicare imaging cuts in the last six years due to legislation, increasingly threatens patient care.

3 Dec 2013

Viewpoints: Where's Obama's 'Mission Accomplished' banner?; health law critics overlooking those denied affordable care in the past

Great news: The White House says that Healthcare.gov and the 36 federally run insurance exchanges are finally good to go. The only thing missing from Sunday's relentlessly upbeat progress report was President Obama in front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner. Sunday's eight-page report was intended to meet Mr. Obama's deadline for fixing the site after its October 1 debut was a calamity. But the more important goal was political -- namely, claiming enough progress to prevent Democrats on Capitol Hill from joining the GOP demand for delaying the individual mandate to buy insurance or even the entire program (12/1).

3 Dec 2013

Medicare looks to narrow discrepancy on what it spends in different parts of U.S.

Medicare wants to narrow the discrepancy on what it spends on some health services in different parts of the country. In the meantime, UnitedHealthcare is dropping hundreds of doctors from its Medicare Advantage plans and the Government Accountability Office says Medicare doesn't know how well its contractors' anti-fraud efforts are working.

3 Dec 2013

Study identifies high burden of pain in older adults

More than half of older adults in the United States - an estimated 18.7 million people - have experienced bothersome pain in the previous month, impairing their physical function and underscoring the need for public health action on pain. Many of those interviewed by investigators for a study published in the current issue of PAIN- reported pain in multiple areas.

3 Dec 2013

Insurers worry about back end repairs to HealthCare.gov

The system that is supposed to deliver consumers' information to insurers still needs to be repaired -- with only 30 days to go before coverage is supposed to begin for many people. Meanwhile, Bloomberg News reports that insurers will initially estimate what they are owed by the government rather than have the government calculate the bill due to another software problem.

3 Dec 2013

Administration officials give thumbs up to HealthCare.gov's technical fixes and capacity upgrades

The health law website reportedly now is operating 90 percent of the time, but more work still must be done, according to the Obama administration's Sunday progress report on their efforts to correct healthcare.gov's problems.

3 Dec 2013

First Edition: December 2, 2013

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about healthcare.gov's status, the challenges that lie ahead and the concerns being expressed by consumers and insurers.

2 Dec 2013

Science Translational Medicine editorial urges researchers to support the Affordable Care Act

An editorial by Harry P. Selker, MD, MSPH, William H. Frist, MD, and Stuart Altman, PhD, published in the November 27 issue of Science Translational Medicine says the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is an example of the role of experimentation in improving health at the public policy level.

2 Dec 2013

Special issue of JACR focuses on the role of imaging-based screening in preventive medicine

To be published online Monday, Dec. 2, a special issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology addresses imaging-based screening and radiology's increasing role in preventive medicine. Topics covered include breast density legislation, digital breast tomosynthesis (or 3-D mammography), lung cancer screening and computed tomography colonography reimbursement.

2 Dec 2013

Osiris: CMS releases proposed ruling for reimbursement of skin substitutes in hospital outpatient setting

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., the leading stem cell company focused on developing and marketing products in orthopedics, sports medicine and wound care, announced today that, on November 27, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released their proposed ruling for the reimbursement of skin substitutes in the hospital outpatient setting. CMS decided to package the reimbursement for products used in advanced wound care with the related surgical procedure into a two-tier system.

30 Nov 2013

State highlights: S.C. clinic a model for free care; Mont. doctor's push to treat mine workers sickened by asbestos; fast food consumption in Calif. kids

What began two decades ago on Hilton Head Island as a free clinic using retired physicians and volunteers to care for the working poor has become a model for dozens of similar clinics nationwide. At a time when the nation debates how to pay for care, there are now 96 Volunteers in Medicine Clinics in 29 states (Smith, 11/27).

28 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: SCOTUS should support contraception mandate; our brains 'not wired' for Obamacare; President's personality impairs law's success

More than a year after it upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court has set the stage for a showdown over the law's requirement that employer health plans cover birth control.

28 Nov 2013

Anthem Blue Cross exposes 24,500 doctors' social security, tax numbers

In a departure from most medical privacy cases, Anthem Blue Cross said it accidentally posted online Social Security or tax identification numbers for about 24,500 California doctors. .

27 Nov 2013

AARP releases list of tips & questions on caring for aging parents

The turkey is defrosting and family is starting to gather at the house for Thanksgiving. For many families across New York, this is the once-a-year time that they travel from across the nation and, often times, globe to be with loved ones. In addition to enjoying time with family and friends, AARP says it's also prime time to check on older family members and relatives.

27 Nov 2013

Medicare News and Research

First Edition: December 4, 2013

Update on reimbursement coverage for Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation procedures

Electronic informational technologies provide better means of transparency in health care costs

State highlights: Okla. gov. looks for cuts to cover $60M more in health care costs; Miss. gov. wants to offer hospitals money to offset health law

Takeda and Teva announce agreement related to commercialization of glatiramer acetate in Japan

Reviews mixed for 'fixed' health care website

Reimbursement cuts for image-guided breast biopsies may reduce women's access to mammography

Viewpoints: Where's Obama's 'Mission Accomplished' banner?; health law critics overlooking those denied affordable care in the past

Medicare looks to narrow discrepancy on what it spends in different parts of U.S.

Study identifies high burden of pain in older adults

Insurers worry about back end repairs to HealthCare.gov

Administration officials give thumbs up to HealthCare.gov's technical fixes and capacity upgrades

First Edition: December 2, 2013

Science Translational Medicine editorial urges researchers to support the Affordable Care Act

Special issue of JACR focuses on the role of imaging-based screening in preventive medicine

Osiris: CMS releases proposed ruling for reimbursement of skin substitutes in hospital outpatient setting

State highlights: S.C. clinic a model for free care; Mont. doctor's push to treat mine workers sickened by asbestos; fast food consumption in Calif. kids

Viewpoints: SCOTUS should support contraception mandate; our brains 'not wired' for Obamacare; President's personality impairs law's success

Anthem Blue Cross exposes 24,500 doctors' social security, tax numbers

AARP releases list of tips & questions on caring for aging parents

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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