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Insurers, White House bound by need to make overhaul a success

Although the Obama administration and insurance industry had opposing views on aspects of the health bill that Congress eventually passed, they have now found their fortunes bound together as both work to make the overhaul successful, The New York Times reports. "The political fortunes of President Obama and Congressional Democrats depend on their ability to translate its promise into reality for voters, by reining in health costs and making insurance available to everyone at an affordable price.

5 Jun 2010

Obama sets town hall meeting with seniors to tout Medicare rebate checks

President Barack Obama has scheduled a televised town hall meeting Tuesday in Wheaton, Md., "to trumpet one of the most popular provisions of his landmark health care bill: a $250 rebate to help Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drugs. ... An estimated 80,000 checks are scheduled to be sent in June, with others to follow on a rolling basis, to Medicare beneficiaries who enter the so-called 'doughnut hole' - a gap in prescription drug coverage that requires them to pay out of pocket" (Stolberg, 6/3).

5 Jun 2010

States to curb retiree benefits in search of savings

States are seeking savings in public employee retiree benefits to close sprawling budget gaps, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. "New Jersey and 20 other states are urging early retirements, cutting benefits and demanding employees contribute more in the face of what the Pew Center on the States says is a $1 trillion gap between available assets and what's owed workers."

5 Jun 2010

Health care quality issues: The disconnect between patients and experts

Improving "health literacy" could help improve patient outcomes and quality. This literacy is "the limited ability to understand the technical jargon, the orders, the prescriptions and the forms coming from doctors, nurses, pharmacists and insurance companies. This failure to communicate leads to missed doctor appointments, medications taken incorrectly, instructions ignored — all contributing to worsening health."

5 Jun 2010

N.J. court case examines end-of-life decisions

The Wall Street Journal: A New Jersey court is weighing if the life of Ruben Betancourt "should have been prolonged and who should have made that decision: the hospital or his family." In a lawsuit, "his daughter, Jacqueline Betancourt, contends that her father was aware of his family's presence and that the hospital had no right to terminate life support without the family's agreement."

5 Jun 2010

AMA launches ads pushing Senators on 'doc fix' while warning on cuts

The American Medical Association has launched a multi-million-dollar series of ads pressuring senators to intervene to prevent a scheduled payment cut for doctors who treat Medicare patients and warning that a separate permanent fix of the system is the only way to completely ensure continuity of care for seniors.

5 Jun 2010

Boston hospitals increasingly scrutinized for costs while Buffalo hospitals will receive more Medicare funding

Officials in Gov. Deval Patrick's administration, "seeking to pressure hospitals as well as insurers to rein in costs, say they will more closely scrutinize plans for new medical buildings and technologies to determine how they might affect the cost of health care in Massachusetts.

5 Jun 2010

Freescale Semiconductor develops portable medical kiosk to run routine health screenings at home

As the population continues to age and medical monitoring becomes more integrated into everyday living, healthcare professionals are constantly striving to find new ways to monitor patients with improved accuracy, speed and end-user convenience. Taking an active part in this initiative, Freescale Semiconductor, partnering with Pounce Consulting, developed a portable, easy-to-use telemonitoring reference design, which allows patients and physicians to run routine health screenings at home or remotely.

4 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 4, 2010

Today's health policy headlines highlight HHS Secretary Sebelius' defense of the Obama administration's Medicare nominee as well as the AMA's push to fix scheduled reductions in Medicare physician payments.

4 Jun 2010

Study links shelter, transportation, insurance and health care cost difficulties with heavier ED usage

Difficulties with shelter, transportation, insurance, and health care costs are linked with heavier emergency department usage by so-called "super-user" patients in urban areas, according to research at Henry Ford Hospital.

4 Jun 2010

Lumeris releases innovative technology platform to improve quality of care delivered to consumers

Lumeris, a leader in provider performance management technology and services for the health care industry, today announced the general market release of its innovative technology platform that helps health plans and other health care delivery organizations reduce the cost and improve the quality of care delivered to consumers.

4 Jun 2010

SAMHSA establishes Regional Office in Region VI in Dallas, Texas

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, like others in the health care arena, has learned that integrating services, providing joint training and technical assistance, and collaborating across service sectors hold the most promise for effectively meeting health care needs for all Americans. These linkages are best achieved through relationship building activities - something that is difficult to accomplish from afar.

4 Jun 2010

IBM Fellow receives Kavli Prize for seminal work on nanoscience

From the World Science Festival in New York, IBM Fellow Dr. Donald M. Eigler was awarded the most prestigious honor in nanoscience, The Kavli Prize, sharing the honor with Nadrian Seeman, a professor at New York University.

4 Jun 2010

AMA launches new multi-million dollar ad campaign to get Senators to fix Medicare physician payment cuts

The U.S. Senate's failure to act before this week's 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut has put seniors' health care at grave risk. A new American Medical Association (AMA) physician survey shows that many physicians are already limiting the number of Medicare patients they treat. The AMA today launched a multi-million dollar national advertising campaign, with ads on TV and radio and in newspapers, including The New York Times, USAToday and The Wall Street Journal.

4 Jun 2010

AMGA releases Accountable Care Organization Principles for healthcare delivery systems

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today released "Accountable Care Organization Principles" which it hopes will help guide regulatory activity regarding the development of these high-performing care systems mandated by recent health reform, as well as inspire significant improvements in the healthcare delivery system nationwide.

4 Jun 2010

SOGC urges strategy for preventing deaths during delivery, childbirth

As the G8 approaches, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) is urging the Canadian government to recognize that a strategy on maternal and child health must focus on preventing deaths during delivery and childbirth as 80% of maternal deaths in low-resource countries take place at that time.

4 Jun 2010

Health professionals can learn from smoking cessation campaigns on how to tackle maternal obesity

Health professionals worried about the increasing number of obese pregnant women could learn lessons from successful smoking cessation campaigns, according to a study into how maternity services could be developed to effectively tackle maternal obesity.

4 Jun 2010

Health Care News and Research

Insurers, White House bound by need to make overhaul a success

Obama sets town hall meeting with seniors to tout Medicare rebate checks

States to curb retiree benefits in search of savings

Health care quality issues: The disconnect between patients and experts

N.J. court case examines end-of-life decisions

AMA launches ads pushing Senators on 'doc fix' while warning on cuts

Boston hospitals increasingly scrutinized for costs while Buffalo hospitals will receive more Medicare funding

Freescale Semiconductor develops portable medical kiosk to run routine health screenings at home

First Edition: June 4, 2010

Study links shelter, transportation, insurance and health care cost difficulties with heavier ED usage

Lumeris releases innovative technology platform to improve quality of care delivered to consumers

SAMHSA establishes Regional Office in Region VI in Dallas, Texas

IBM Fellow receives Kavli Prize for seminal work on nanoscience

AMA launches new multi-million dollar ad campaign to get Senators to fix Medicare physician payment cuts

AMGA releases Accountable Care Organization Principles for healthcare delivery systems

SOGC urges strategy for preventing deaths during delivery, childbirth

Health professionals can learn from smoking cessation campaigns on how to tackle maternal obesity

ChemoFx-assisted chemotherapy reduces treatment costs for recurrent ovarian cancer

MAXIMUS President to present on challenges that impact efficiency of Medicaid and CHIP

Some say calculated risk of 'no' vote failed for Alabama Democrat in Gov. race

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

Applications Engineer

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