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Health reform implementation: Risk pool nears enrollment date; Seniors anxious about Medicare changes; Benefits reportable

As high-risk insurance pools are preparing to enroll the chronically ill July 1, officials should heed the Florida experience. "Plagued by exorbitant medical costs and skimpy revenue, the Florida Comprehensive Health Association, by order of the Legislature, stopped accepting new enrollees in 1991, eight years after it was created." The pool once covered about 7,000 Florida residents; now only a few hundred remain as premiums are double the standard rate.

22 Jun 2010

Congressional hearing examines administration's crack down on health care fraud

The feds have promised to turn up the heat on providers, real and phony, who steal from and game the system. ... Lawmakers and President Barack Obama are demanding that the CMS and their partners in law enforcement do more to stem the wasted healthcare dollars gushing out of the Treasury like oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

22 Jun 2010

Reform law gives major boost to community health centers, medical homes

The Washington Post: "The health-care legislation signed into law in March provides a major boost to community health centers: $11 billion over five years. The first of these federally supported primary-care clinics opened in 1965." The law also provides funding designed to increase the supply of primary-care providers. And, "[o]n Wednesday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced that the federal government will spend $250 million in programs to increase the number of doctors, nurses and other care providers.

21 Jun 2010

Hospitals and researchers test programs to stop readmissions

The Boston Globe reports on hospital readmissions: "In Massachusetts, more than 10 percent of patients are back in the hospital for the same or unrelated complaints within a month, according to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, a Cambridge-based nonprofit think tank. Over two years, more than a quarter of all patients end up paying a repeat visit to the hospital, a new 12-state study by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found.

21 Jun 2010

Malpractice reformers get grants, but fear of lawsuits remains ER scourge

A New York judge's unusual technique — listening to the families of injured people, knowing something about medicine — for dealing with difficult medical malpractice cases will be among 20 explored with $3 million grants as part of the health overhaul, The Associated Press reports. The judge, Douglas McKeon, said, "I don't discuss settlement offers with families right away. … I just say, 'Tell me a little bit about your loved one.'"

21 Jun 2010

Doctors, Pelosi pan Senate-passed 'doc fix' plan

USA Today: Doctors are limiting the number of new Medicare patients they are seeing, concerned about reimbursements pay from the federal program. "Recent surveys by national and state medical societies have found more doctors limiting Medicare patients, partly because Congress has failed to stop an automatic 21% cut in payments that doctors already regard as too low.

21 Jun 2010

Also in Global Health News: WHO scraps drug development group; Access to medication in Philippines; Yellow fever vaccine shortage; HIV-positive employee protection

Lancet World Report examines how "[d]isappointment over a long-awaited report on improving drug research and development for neglected diseases" led the WHO to form a new Consultative Expert Working Group (CEWG) to strategize around drug research and development. The formation of the new group comes after the report from the previous working group (EWG) was questioned due to "what some perceived to be a missed opportunity, unclear methods, a lack of transparency and signs of industry interference" and after "suspicions of impropriety" surfaced.

21 Jun 2010

Today's OpEds: Medicare reimbursements threaten health care; Battling health care fraud; A national standard on nurse-patient ratios

The Senate on Friday passed the annual "doc fix" -- but this short-term stay on the reimbursement rates for physicians who treat Medicare patients does not resolve the underlying problem: Those reimbursements are woefully below market. And if Congress does not address this, the much-heralded health-care reform is at risk (Dr. Michael Newman, 6/19).

21 Jun 2010

KHN column: Even with the 'grandfather clause' protection, change is coming to most health plans

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, done in collaboration with The New Republic, Jonathan Cohn writes: "Now that Karl Rove doesn't have a Republican president to advise anymore, he's been picking up some new hobbies. One of them is health care policy. In a recent column for the Wall Street Journal editorial page, Rove made the latest in a series of attacks on the new reform law.

21 Jun 2010

Antibacterial lab coats to help prevent spread of disease in hospitals

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 99,000 people die every year from infections acquired while in hospitals. "The goal in our profession is to help cure you not introduce you to another deadly infection," said Dr. Charles Kinder, Heart Rhythm expert and Director of Heart Rhythm Program at Heart Care Centers of Illinois.

21 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 21, 2010

Today's news includes an exploration of the impact of Medicare payment rates on physicians, an analysis of the fate of the COBRA subsidy and how an innovation may offer a medical malpractice fix.

21 Jun 2010

Thomson Reuters identifies top 10 U.S. health systems from second annual study

Thomson Reuters today released its second annual study identifying the top 10 U.S. health systems based on their clinical performance.

21 Jun 2010

PHS offers special discounted program for clients utilizing Milliman Care Guidelines

Proven Healthcare Solutions an industry innovator in fortifying hospital compliance with emergency department admission screening, is pleased to introduce the offering of a special discounted program for clients utilizing Milliman Care Guidelines.

21 Jun 2010

EIN News expands health news-monitoring coverage

With impending lawsuits from states, an uprising from the Tea Party sect and an outpouring of rhetoric from both major parties, the healthcare debate is far from over.

21 Jun 2010

New tobacco regulations and FDA rules authorized by Family Smoking and Prevention Act to be released

Starting tomorrow (June 22), new regulations and FDA rules authorized by the Family Smoking and Prevention Act will further limit the tobacco industry's ability to deceive consumers with misleading marketing and labeling that imply "light," "mild" or "low-tar" cigarettes are safer, as well as other practices that make products more appealing to youth.

21 Jun 2010

Medco Health Solutions, Celesio join to help relieve financial burden on healthcare payors across Europe

Medco Health Solutions, Inc. and Celesio AG, two of the world's leading pharmacy-driven healthcare companies, today announced a joint venture with a long-term goal of improving patient health and helping to relieve the crushing financial burden on healthcare payors across Europe.

21 Jun 2010

Incidental findings in brain imaging can be managed ethically and cost-effectively: UBC researchers

The increasing number of incidental findings in brain imaging can be managed ethically and cost-effectively by screening study participants based on gender, age and family history, according to University of British Columbia researchers.

21 Jun 2010

State leaders to increase New York cigarette tax by $1.60 per pack

It is great news for New York's health that state leaders are planning to increase the state cigarette tax by $1.60 per pack, while also increasing the tax on other tobacco products and ensuring that taxes are properly paid on cigarettes sold by Native American tribes to non-tribal members. Increasing the tobacco tax is one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking and other tobacco use, especially among children.

21 Jun 2010

Magic Power Coffee can dangerously lower blood pressure, warns FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers that Magic Power Coffee, an instant coffee product marketed as a dietary supplement for sexual enhancement, contains an active drug ingredient that can dangerously lower blood pressure.

21 Jun 2010

Greater focus on mental health is needed says expert

According to mental health expert and Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry the resignation of the head of the National Advisory Council on Mental Health (NACMH), John Mendoza, is an indication of the disappointment of the mental health care sector with the government.

20 Jun 2010

Health Care News and Research

Health reform implementation: Risk pool nears enrollment date; Seniors anxious about Medicare changes; Benefits reportable

Congressional hearing examines administration's crack down on health care fraud

Reform law gives major boost to community health centers, medical homes

Hospitals and researchers test programs to stop readmissions

Malpractice reformers get grants, but fear of lawsuits remains ER scourge

Doctors, Pelosi pan Senate-passed 'doc fix' plan

Also in Global Health News: WHO scraps drug development group; Access to medication in Philippines; Yellow fever vaccine shortage; HIV-positive employee protection

Today's OpEds: Medicare reimbursements threaten health care; Battling health care fraud; A national standard on nurse-patient ratios

KHN column: Even with the 'grandfather clause' protection, change is coming to most health plans

Antibacterial lab coats to help prevent spread of disease in hospitals

First Edition: June 21, 2010

Thomson Reuters identifies top 10 U.S. health systems from second annual study

PHS offers special discounted program for clients utilizing Milliman Care Guidelines

EIN News expands health news-monitoring coverage

New tobacco regulations and FDA rules authorized by Family Smoking and Prevention Act to be released

Medco Health Solutions, Celesio join to help relieve financial burden on healthcare payors across Europe

Incidental findings in brain imaging can be managed ethically and cost-effectively: UBC researchers

State leaders to increase New York cigarette tax by $1.60 per pack

Magic Power Coffee can dangerously lower blood pressure, warns FDA

Greater focus on mental health is needed says expert

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