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Insuring your health: 2 important pocketbook questions

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes about two of the biggest health overhaul pocketbook questions for seniors (7/27).

28 Jul 2010

PhRMA asks FDA to be more straightforward on safeguards it wants to fight drug risks

The pharmaceutical industry trade group PhRMA said Monday that the Food and Drug Administration should do a better job of explaining additional safeguards it mandates against certain drugs when it issues warnings, Reuters reports.

28 Jul 2010

U.S. sues Satilla Regional Medical Center over fraudulent claims to health care programs

The United States has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act against Dr. Najam Azmat and the Satilla Regional Medical Center in Waycross, Ga., the Justice Department announced today. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, alleges that the defendants submitted false or fraudulent claims to federal health care programs, such as Medicare.

28 Jul 2010

Researchers introduce Web-based program to help women experiencing abuse develop safety plans

Intimate partner violence results in 2 million injuries among women in the U.S. each year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. University of Missouri researchers are reducing these numbers with a new Web-based program that helps women experiencing abuse develop individualized safety plans and better assess the severity of their situations.

28 Jul 2010

What steps should be taken when medicine can't save a life?

Writing for The New Yorker, Atul Gawande explores the central medical issues involved in treating patients with terminal conditions. He asks the question: "[I]f you were the one who had metastatic cancer—or, for that matter, a similarly advanced case of emphysema or congestive heart failure—what would you want your doctors to do? The issue has become pressing, in recent years, for reasons of expense.

28 Jul 2010

Rite Aid agrees to pay $1 million to settle potential violations of HIPAA Privacy Rule

Rite Aid Corporation and its 40 affiliated entities (RAC) have agreed to pay $1 million to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today. In a coordinated action, RAC also signed a consent order with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to settle potential violations of the FTC Act.

28 Jul 2010

Obese seniors more likely to suffer from disabilities: UTMB study

Thanks to rising obesity rates in Latin America and the Caribbean, elderly people there are becoming more likely to suffer from disabilities, according to a paper recently published by University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

28 Jul 2010

New York Times examines questions left unanswered by microbicide trial

The New York Times examines a set of questions raised by news out of the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010 last week that a microbicide gel containing the antiretroviral tenofovir used by women before and after sex helped reduce their risk of HIV infection by 39 percent.

28 Jul 2010

Medicare to bundle payments for end-stage renal care, reward quality

Medicare payment for end-stage renal disease care may soon be tied to performance and quality measures if a new proposed rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is finalized. "If the rule is finalized, ESRD providers that do not meet set standards" - two measures for anemia management and one for hemodialysis quality - "could have their Medicare payments lowered by up to 2 percent starting January 2012, the CMS said" (McKinney, 7/26).

28 Jul 2010

Insurers test at-home technology, monitoring devices to help cut heart failure hospitalizations

Technology that aims to keep congestive heart failure patients out of the hospital is gaining traction. The idea is for heart patients to take readings like their weight, blood pressure and other key metrics using wireless and other technologies; the data are then transmitted to a case manager or medical care giver.

28 Jul 2010

At summit, AU leaders discuss funding challenges for maternal, child health

African leaders focused on the theme of the 15th African Union (AU) Summit on Sunday: maternal and infant mortality on the continent, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports (7/26).

28 Jul 2010

BMJ News reports on Russia's $15.1B health care overhaul

Russia will undergo a $15.1 billion overhaul of its health care sector, including changes to its medical insurance system as well as health care delivery across the country, according to BMJ News. It is "the biggest reform of its troubled healthcare sector - described by Vladimir Putin, the prime minster, as 'deplorable.'" Russian MPs approved the legislation calling for the change in a preliminary vote in in July.

28 Jul 2010

State governments expect tax collections to grow but still face budget gaps

The Wall Street Journal: "State governments expect tax collections to grow for the first time in two years as tax increases and a recovering economy lead to higher collections. But states are still likely to face at least two more years of financial troubles and about half will see gaps in this year's budgets if Congress doesn't extend special Medicaid payments that were part of the 2009 stimulus act, according to a report expected to be released Tuesday by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

28 Jul 2010

Abortion, other issues continue to stoke the politics surrounding health reform

Politico reports that "the issues of health care and abortion" are making the campaign tough for some Democrats. Among the vulnerable Democrats are Reps. Kathleen Dahlkemper, D-Pa.; Steve Driehaus, D-Ohio; and Indiana Reps. Joe Donnelly and Brad Ellsworth, who is running for Senate. "'We are going to do everything we can to point out that Democrats who said they were pro-life caved on the big one,' said Marilyn Musgrave, a former Colorado congresswoman.

28 Jul 2010

Seniors understand very little about health overhaul law, poll finds

The Hill: "The majority of the nation's seniors have little understanding of what the Democrats' newly enacted healthcare law actually does, according to poll results released Monday. The survey, sponsored by the National Council on Aging (NCOA), an advocate for seniors, found that only 17 percent of respondents could answer even half of the 12 questions about key provisions in the law selected by the NCOA.

28 Jul 2010

Maryland sees savings in federal health law, for a while at least

Maryland could spend $829 million less than expected on health care between next year and 2020 because of the federal health overhaul law, according to an analysis by a state-convened committee, The Associated Press/Washington Post reports. "The savings, however, last only until the end of the decade, when the federal law shifts a greater share of financial responsibility for Medicaid expansion to the states." The analysis was produced by the state's Health Care Reform Coordinating Council, a panel created by Gov. Martin O'Malley in March (Witte, 7/26).

28 Jul 2010

Industry still making sense of federal e-health regs

Health care industry players are still sorting out the latest regulations on an up-to-$36 billion federal program to encourage doctors and hospitals to use electronic medical records.

28 Jul 2010

Advocacy group critiques patient debt load in Indiana

A new survey has sparked an Indiana patient advocacy group to say hospitals in the state should earn their nonprofit status by providing more low-cost charity care, The Indianapolis Star reports. "Armed with a survey that showed close to half of hospital patients going into debt to pay their bills, the Consumer Action Coalition Education Fund and Indiana Legal Services said hospitals are doing too little to inform people about alternative payment plans." Medical debt is a large problem in the city, said the study's author and the education fund director.

28 Jul 2010

Report: Generic drugs offer savings for Medicaid

A new report suggests that expanding use of generic drugs could offer significant savings for Medicaid.

28 Jul 2010

Research on method to open blood-brain barrier for safe cancer drug delivery

One of the human body's most powerful defensive tools, the blood-brain barrier is a chemical labyrinth that prevents toxins and viruses in the bloodstream from reaching the brain. This foolproof security system, however, limits the ability of physicians to deliver drugs directly to the brain, making it difficult to treat brain tumors. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are endeavoring to solve this problem by investigating new methods for bypassing the blood-brain barrier and combating the spread of brain cancer.

28 Jul 2010