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Viewpoints: 'Implosion' of the ACA; Administration 'spin machine'; Republicans on 'search-and-destroy' mission

July 3 was the quiet afternoon that a deputy assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy announced in a blog post that the Affordable Care Act's employer mandate would be delayed one year. Something about the "complexity of the requirements." ... Even if you are a liberal and support the goals of the Affordable Care Act, there has to be an emerging sense that maybe the law's theorists missed a signal from life outside the castle walls. While they troweled brick after brick into a 2,000-page law, the rest of the world was reshaping itself into smaller, more nimble units whose defining metaphor is the 140-character Twitter message (Daniel Henninger, 7/10).

12 Jul 2013

CMS to settle payment fight over Gamma Knife

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed a new rule that would effectively put to rest a provision inserted into last year's fiscal cliff bill by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) to help a U.S. company.

12 Jul 2013

Weekend reading: Doctors who decide, death desires, and decisions

On the last week of April earlier this year, a small committee of doctors met quietly in a midsized ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel in Chicago. There was an anesthesiologist, an ophthalmologist, a radiologist, and so on - thirty-one in all, each representing their own medical specialty society, each a heavy hitter in his or her own field.

12 Jul 2013

The number and severity of lower limb amputations have decreased in US

There have been dramatic decreases in the number and severity of lower limb amputations over the past decade, according to a new study published in the July 2013 issue of Foot & Ankle International.

12 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 11, 2013

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations including reports from Capitol Hill about GOP efforts to repeal or delay the health law.

11 Jul 2013

Office nurses' role evolves in marketplace; Studies look at heart procedures

The Wall Street Journal examines how companies, facing higher insurance costs, are using office nurses to "nudge employees about long-term, expensive conditions." Meanwhile, heart studies probe where hospitals are building new angioplasty centers and how Medicare Advantage handles cardiac treatment.

11 Jul 2013

Medicare to propose new doctor payment for managing multiple chronic conditions

Medicare is proposing paying doctors for managing Medicare patients with multiple chronic conditions starting in 2015. In the meantime, a Medicare plan to deny an Eli Lily diagnostic test to patients unless they are enrolled in a clinical trial is decried by some Alzheimer's treatment advocates.

11 Jul 2013

State highlights: Disabled at risk at Calif. facilities, audit finds; Advocates push for single policy for kids' medical, dental coverage in exchange plans; Ga. maternal mortality

Californians with developmental disabilities who are cared for at state facilities are being put at risk by outdated policies and inadequate investigations of abuse, the state auditor's office said Tuesday. Allegations that residents have been raped, shot with stun guns and otherwise abused have not been acted on satisfactorily, auditors found. The California Department of Developmental Services cares for 1,480 severely disabled people in five facilities throughout the state (McGreevy, 7/9).

11 Jul 2013

Minn., Texas, Colo., other states adapting to health law in different ways

News outlets covered how various states are ramping up health exchanges, or not, and expanding Medicaid, or not.

11 Jul 2013

Restaurant owner welcomes delay on law’s insurance requirement

The New York Times profiles the challenges that one business owner faced with the health law. Other outlets offer news on the law, including the problems the administration faces in setting up the online marketplaces, concerns about scams targeting consumers and help for Medicare beneficiaries.

11 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 10, 2013

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including articles about House Republican plans to seek a delay in the health law's requirement that nearly all Americans get health insurance.

10 Jul 2013

OMB estimates deficit will shrink this year, but without entitlement changes it will start ticking up again

The White House budget office expects the deficit to go down to $496 billion in 2018 before heading to $593 billion in 2022.

10 Jul 2013

Study: Some current Medicaid enrollees may not qualify for benefits that newly enrolled will get

George Washington researchers find that key preventive services included in the health law and slated for millions who will get coverage in the law's Medicaid expansion may not be extended to people already covered by Medicaid.

10 Jul 2013

Rural hospitals, clinics at center of Obamacare success or failure for poor

A new hospital and network of rural health care clinics in Missouri could become emblematic of how successful Obamacare is in treating the nation's poor -- a key tenet of the health law.

10 Jul 2013

Study explores relationship between safety culture, adverse patient outcomes of care

When hospital senior management supports the creation and maintenance of a strong safety culture, patient outcomes improve, staff productivity increases, and there is less clinical employee turnover, according to research reported in the Journal for Healthcare Quality, the peer reviewed publication of the National Association for Healthcare Quality.

10 Jul 2013

Different financial incentives between Medicare Advantage and FFS influence use of CV procedures

In a study that included nearly 6 million Medicare Advantage and Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries from 12 states, rates of angiography and percutaneous coronary interventions were significantly lower among Medicare Advantage beneficiaries and geographic variation in procedure rates was substantial for both payment types, according to a study in the July 10 issue of JAMA.

10 Jul 2013

Diclegis delayed-release tablets for NVP treatment now eligible for Medicaid coverage

Duchesnay USA today announced that Diclegis (doxylamine succinate 10mg, pyridoxine hydrochloride 10mg) delayed-release tablets for the treatment of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, more commonly known as morning sickness, is now available for coverage under the state and federal Medicaid program effective July 1st, 2013.

9 Jul 2013

Viewpoints: Health care's hidden consensus; Examining the fee-for-service payment system; Alternative medicine's allure

The politicians' consensus is that health care reform shouldn't alter or disrupt the way the majority of Americans get their insurance today. ... The policy consensus, though, is that the status quo is actually the problem, and that it deserves to be threatened, undermined and replaced as expeditiously as possible. Wonks of the left and right disagree on what that replacement should look like. But they're united in regarding employer-provided coverage as an unsustainable relic (Ross Douthat, 7/6).

9 Jul 2013

Proposal to cut Medicare ESRD Program may have unintended consequences for people on dialysis

A proposal to cut the Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Program by nearly 10% may have unintended consequences for people on dialysis. "More than 20 million Americans have kidney disease, and the Medicare ESRD program provides lifesaving care to nearly 400,000 beneficiaries with kidney failure," said Bruce A. Molitoris, MD, FASN, President of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN).

9 Jul 2013

Alzheimer's Association upset with CMS draft decision on brain amyloid imaging

The Alzheimer's Association is disappointed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services draft coverage decision on brain amyloid imaging, particularly given the clear, scientific consensus recommendations provided to CMS by the Association and the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging regarding appropriate, limited coverage, only in specific populations.

6 Jul 2013

Medicare News and Research

Viewpoints: 'Implosion' of the ACA; Administration 'spin machine'; Republicans on 'search-and-destroy' mission

CMS to settle payment fight over Gamma Knife

Weekend reading: Doctors who decide, death desires, and decisions

The number and severity of lower limb amputations have decreased in US

First Edition: July 11, 2013

Office nurses' role evolves in marketplace; Studies look at heart procedures

Medicare to propose new doctor payment for managing multiple chronic conditions

State highlights: Disabled at risk at Calif. facilities, audit finds; Advocates push for single policy for kids' medical, dental coverage in exchange plans; Ga. maternal mortality

Minn., Texas, Colo., other states adapting to health law in different ways

Restaurant owner welcomes delay on law’s insurance requirement

First Edition: July 10, 2013

OMB estimates deficit will shrink this year, but without entitlement changes it will start ticking up again

Study: Some current Medicaid enrollees may not qualify for benefits that newly enrolled will get

Rural hospitals, clinics at center of Obamacare success or failure for poor

Study explores relationship between safety culture, adverse patient outcomes of care

Different financial incentives between Medicare Advantage and FFS influence use of CV procedures

Diclegis delayed-release tablets for NVP treatment now eligible for Medicaid coverage

Viewpoints: Health care's hidden consensus; Examining the fee-for-service payment system; Alternative medicine's allure

Proposal to cut Medicare ESRD Program may have unintended consequences for people on dialysis

Alzheimer's Association upset with CMS draft decision on brain amyloid imaging

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