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GAO: Medicaid anti-fraud audit program falls short on cost-benefit analysis

Private contractors received $102 million to review Medicaid fraud data, yet had only found about $20 million in overpayments since 2008, according to a new report by the federal government.

16 Jun 2012

Senate Appropriations boosts HHS funding on party-line vote as GOP attacks health reform provisions

Partisan wrangling over the health law, as well as funding of HHS, is continuing on Capitol Hill.

16 Jun 2012

Georgia's estimate Medicaid shortfall is $300 million; Texas' independent pharmacists upset by Medicaid transition

The state's Medicaid agency has a projected $300 million hole to fill in next year's budget. If the shortfall remains at that level, the financial request to the General Assembly in January will be "very high" from a historical perspective, said Vince Harris, chief financial officer of the Department of Community Health, after the agency's board meeting Thursday. The projected $308 million shortfall for fiscal 2013 stems mostly from growth in the program's spending.

16 Jun 2012

First Edition: June 15, 2012

Today's headlines include the latest on how the White House and congressional lawmakers are bracing for the Supreme Court's health law decision.

15 Jun 2012

New MAXIMUS podcast series focuses on government health and human services programs

MAXIMUS, a leading provider of government services worldwide, announced the launch of a new podcast series that focuses on government health and human services programs.

15 Jun 2012

Axial Exchange announces acquisition of mRemedy

Axial Exchange Inc. today announced that Axial Exchange has acquired mRemedy, a company formed in 2009 by DoApp, Inc. and Mayo Clinic to offer a mobile healthcare platform to healthcare providers.

15 Jun 2012

Roundup: Calpers rate hike approved; Painkiller databases slow abuse in Mass., Minn.; Health workers authorize strike in Philly

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the third-largest purchaser of health benefits in the country, approved a 9.6 percent increase in health premiums next year for its nearly 1.3 million members.

15 Jun 2012

FDA approves Menhibrix for vaccination against meningococcal and Hib diseases

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Menhibrix, a combination vaccine for infants and children ages 6 weeks through 18 months, for prevention of invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups C and Yand Haemophilus influenzae type b.

15 Jun 2012

Gladstone investigators play key part in Human Microbiome Project

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes today are announcing their role in an unprecedented collaboration organized by the National Institutes of Health, which used groundbreaking methods to vastly improve our understanding of bacteria that reside in and on the human body.

14 Jun 2012

ABL to perform process development and cGMP manufacturing of recombinant scuPA

Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Inc. (ABL) will perform process development and cGMP manufacturing of recombinant scuPA, an enzyme therapy candidate for patients with pleural loculation or scarring surrounding the lung.

14 Jun 2012

'Child Survival Call to Action' event to take place in Washington this week

"The governments of the United States, India, and Ethiopia will in collaboration with UNICEF convene the Child Survival Call to Action in Washington, D.C.," a two-day event beginning Thursday, which "brings together 700 leaders and global experts to launch a sustained effort to save children's lives," a UNICEF press release reports.

14 Jun 2012

Senate panel includes funding for implementing health law in spending bill

A Senate Appropriations panel on Tuesday approved a fiscal 2013 spending bill for labor, health and education programs that includes funding to implement provisions of the 2010 health care overhaul, despite Republican objections. The Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee approved the draft measure along party lines, 10-7.

14 Jun 2012

State roundup: Mass. bill seeking Alzheimer's care standards moves forward

A proposal to create minimum standards for Alzheimer's and dementia care in Massachusetts nursing homes is one step closer to becoming law. The state Senate Tuesday unanimously passed legislation that would require the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which regulates nursing homes, to establish minimum standards for facilities with dementia care units. The House approved the proposal last month.

14 Jun 2012

Health law's birth control mandate, Medicare's doughnut hole draw headlines

Drug manufacturers may abandon the health law's provisions to close Medicare's so-called "doughnut hole" if the high court overturns the measure. Also, religious leaders press the Department of Health and Human Services to widen the religious exemption to the health law's birth control mandate.

14 Jun 2012

NCATS' Therapeutics Discovery program gains more industry collaborators

Five additional pharmaceutical companies have joined a National Institutes of Health-led effort to help scientists research promising new treatments for patients. Funding and molecular compound information is available now for the initial phase of the recently unveiled Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules program.

13 Jun 2012

Sebelius touts health law for 'bolstering' Medicare

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' comments were made during a White House-sponsored town hall meeting for senior citizens. Meanwhile, new figures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services indicate that some Medicare beneficiaries are not taking advantage of some of the new benefits.

13 Jun 2012

Lawmakers push to protect health care programs in Calif. budget plan

Lawmakers set to move a budget through the California legislature are pushing back against a plan by Gov. Jerry Brown to cut health care benefits -- notably for in-home care, kids, the elderly and the disabled.

13 Jun 2012

VaxInnate commences VAX161 Phase I trial in pandemic avian influenza

VaxInnate Corporation today announced that enrollment has commenced in a Phase I clinical trial to evaluate VAX161, its novel H5 vaccine candidate in development for the prevention of pandemic avian influenza or bird flu. VaxInnate is a biotechnology firm pioneering breakthrough technology for developing novel vaccines.

13 Jun 2012

Health exchange progress pending in some states ... along with court decision

Meanwhile, implementation issues related to health exchanges, such as the importance of a state's insurance market, are emerging. Also, a model for exchange development has been unveiled.

12 Jun 2012