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Last defendant in 6-year Calif. Medicare fraud case sentenced

The Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News: A $15 million Medicare fraud case in California has ended as the last of 17 defendants was sentenced this week to 30 months in prison.

28 May 2010

States examine costs of health law's Medicaid expansion detailed in new report

Reuters examines how Medicaid expansion might affect various states, with new findings from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured: "Under conservative estimates, Maine's Medicaid spending will decrease 1.5 percent and Colorado's will slip 0.5 percent, according to the study.

28 May 2010

Some young adults must wait for new law's insurance coverage option to kick in

The new health law's requirement that young adults be able to remain on their parents' health plans until they turn 26, is raising some questions from hopeful parents: "when exactly the new benefit begins, who exactly is eligible and who decides." But the answer to all those is: "It depends. ... the decision about when to start the new benefit is being made by lots of different players in the health system.

28 May 2010

Medicare brochure mailing draws GOP ire

Republicans are criticizing a taxpayer-funded brochure sent to 40.2 million Medicare beneficiaries explaining changes to the program under the new health law.

28 May 2010

Feds will pay the bulk of Medicaid expansion costs under overhaul, study finds

"As states complain about the burden of expanding health care to millions of poor Americans under the new federal health-care law, a study released Wednesday suggests their claims may be overstated. The issue is the cost of expanding Medicaid ... and the report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured says states are likely to reap huge benefits for relatively little cost, and may even end up in the black."

28 May 2010

Democrats scale back 'doc fix,' COBRA subsidy in jobs bill

Without congressional action this week on a tax "extenders" and jobs bill, a number of benefits, including a subsidy for COBRA health insurance benefits for newly laid-off workers, will expire.

28 May 2010

Hospitalists help coordinate care, reduce hospital costs

The New York Times reports on hospitalists, members of "America's fastest-growing medical specialty. Over a decade, this breed of physician-administrator has increasingly taken over the care of the hospitalized patient.

28 May 2010

UnitedHealth plan to boost dividends may draw criticism

The Associated Press: UnitedHealth Group has drastically raised dividends paid to shareholders - from $35 million to $560 million a year - in a move that may draw criticism for profits that rose alongside soaring health costs. "There is somewhat of a risk, especially in the current fragile reform environment, that says, 'Why is UnitedHealth declaring a dividend instead of lowering health care costs for its members?'" said analyst Tom Carroll.

28 May 2010

CompuMed's digital telemedicine technologies incorporated in Visio Mobile Diagnostics' healthcare services suite

CompuMed, Inc., a telemedicine and medical informatics company, reported its CardioGram® and OsteoGram® systems have been incorporated as core components of Visio Mobile Diagnostics' suite of telemedicine and digital x-ray-based healthcare services.

27 May 2010

Biomedical/Clinical Engineering practice improves healthcare: Health Association Nova Scotia

The week, May 23 to May 29, is National Biomedical/Clinical Engineering Appreciation Week and celebrations across the country are recognizing the importance of this field to improving healthcare and the contributions of its practitioners.

27 May 2010

First Edition: May 27, 2010

Today's health policy headlines focus on a new study about the federal government's funding level for the high-risk pools set up in the new health law as well as congressional Democrats' ongoing struggle to pass legislation to extend the COBRA benefit subsidy and to prevent a scheduled cut in Medicare payments to physicians.

27 May 2010

Health Management Associates to acquire 60% interest in three Shands HealthCare hospitals

Health Management Associates, Inc. today announced that it has executed definitive agreements to acquire a 60% interest in three Shands HealthCare hospitals: Shands Lake Shore located in Lake City, Florida, Shands Live Oak, located in Live Oak, Florida and Shands Starke, located in Starke, Florida.

27 May 2010

Mayo Clinic research reveals increase in incidence of rheumatoid arthritis in women

The incidence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in women has risen during the period of 1995 to 2007, according to a newly published study by researchers from the Mayo Clinic. This rise in RA follows a 4-decade period of decline and study authors speculate environmental factors such as cigarette smoking, vitamin D deficiency, and lower dose synthetic estrogens in oral contraceptives may be the source of the increase.

27 May 2010

Weill Cornell Medical College commences construction of 18-story, $650 million Medical Research Building

Weill Cornell Medical College today celebrated the start of construction on its new Medical Research Building, a state-of-the-art facility that will more than double the institution's existing research space. The 18-story, $650 million building is the centerpiece of Weill Cornell's $1.3 billion Discoveries that Make a Difference Campaign, the country's largest for a medical college. A total of $1 billion has been raised toward this goal in a record time of less than four years.

27 May 2010

Physician experts review current practices for pain management in cirrhotic patients

In the May issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, physician experts review current practices for pain management in cirrhotic patients. The physician experts reviewed all current literature available on PubMed and MEDLINE with no limits in the search to recommend a uniform and practical guide to approaching analgesia in the cirrhotic patients.

27 May 2010

Benefits of new health insurance reform law for Medicare recipients discussed in news conference

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Barbara Kennelly of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and Dr. Ben Williamowsky of Silver Spring, Md., a Medicare recipient, held a news conference today to discuss benefits of and misconceptions about the Affordable Care Act and Medicare.

27 May 2010

Head Start Dental Home Initiative launched to benefit low-income children in Illinois

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry today announces the launch of its Head Start Dental Home Initiative to benefit the one-in-three low-income children in the state of Illinois. The Initiative links children participating in Head Start programs to local dentists who will provide children with a "dental home" which will ensure that each child's oral health care is delivered in a comprehensive, ongoing, accessible, coordinated and family-centered way by a participating dentist.

27 May 2010

KPBS examines microbicide research as M2010 concludes

KPBS reports on researchers' efforts to develop novel methods to protect women from HIV infection that have been examined at the International Microbicides Conference (M2010) in Pittsburgh this week. In sub-Saharan Africa, one of the region's hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, "six out of ten adults living with the virus are women," KPBS writes.

27 May 2010

Montana and other states struggle to contain medical marijuana boom, related violence

The Wall Street Journal: "Fourteen states plus the District of Columbia have passed laws intended to give certain ill people legal access to medical marijuana. But, in many instances, municipalities are left to figure out how to implement state laws that are often vague when it comes to the day-to-day operations of the medical-pot business. Those laws have led to confusion in communities and pushed states including Colorado and Maine to clarify what is legal for the industry."

27 May 2010

FDA advises consumers, health care professionals about Xenical, Alli

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today advised consumers and health care professionals about potential rare occurrences of severe liver injury in patients taking the weight-loss medication orlistat, marketed as Xenical and Alli.

27 May 2010

Health Care News and Research

Last defendant in 6-year Calif. Medicare fraud case sentenced

States examine costs of health law's Medicaid expansion detailed in new report

Some young adults must wait for new law's insurance coverage option to kick in

Medicare brochure mailing draws GOP ire

Feds will pay the bulk of Medicaid expansion costs under overhaul, study finds

Democrats scale back 'doc fix,' COBRA subsidy in jobs bill

Hospitalists help coordinate care, reduce hospital costs

UnitedHealth plan to boost dividends may draw criticism

CompuMed's digital telemedicine technologies incorporated in Visio Mobile Diagnostics' healthcare services suite

Biomedical/Clinical Engineering practice improves healthcare: Health Association Nova Scotia

First Edition: May 27, 2010

Health Management Associates to acquire 60% interest in three Shands HealthCare hospitals

Mayo Clinic research reveals increase in incidence of rheumatoid arthritis in women

Weill Cornell Medical College commences construction of 18-story, $650 million Medical Research Building

Physician experts review current practices for pain management in cirrhotic patients

Benefits of new health insurance reform law for Medicare recipients discussed in news conference

Head Start Dental Home Initiative launched to benefit low-income children in Illinois

KPBS examines microbicide research as M2010 concludes

Montana and other states struggle to contain medical marijuana boom, related violence

FDA advises consumers, health care professionals about Xenical, Alli

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