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April job growth numbers reflect increased need for skilled home healthcare services

A Department of Labor (DOL) report released last week signaled that 19,000 American jobs were added in April, primarily resulting from 15,000 new jobs in the ambulatory care field, which includes the home healthcare sector. This news comes at a critical time as the economy and American job creation remain a top priority for all lawmakers.

14 May 2012

Kidney transplants more frequent among NxStage home hemodialysis patients

NxStage Medical, Inc., a leading manufacturer of innovative dialysis products, today commented on findings of the Chronic Disease Research Group (CDRG) study showing that patients receiving daily, or more frequent, home hemodialysis with the NxStage System One are more likely to receive a kidney transplant when compared with conventional thrice-weekly dialysis, particularly in patients not on the transplant waitlist at initiation of daily home hemodialysis.

14 May 2012

Differences in regional readmission rates for heart failure tied to socioeconomics, availability of care

Differences in regional hospital readmission rates for heart failure are more closely tied to the availability of care and socioeconomics than to hospital performance or patients' degree of illness, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care & Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2012.

14 May 2012

Towers Watson signs agreement to acquire Extend Health

Towers Watson, a global professional services company, announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire Extend Health, Inc., which operates the largest private Medicare exchange in the United States.

14 May 2012

Viewpoints: Two views on how to fight obesity; Tough choices for big business on health costs

Forgive us if we don't cheer at the prospect of adding 32 million to the total number of Americans who are dozens of pounds too heavy, a count that stood in 2010 at 78 million.

11 May 2012

Cigna to increase supplemental health insurance offerings with acquisition

Cigna plans to acquire a supplemental health insurance unit from American Financial Group for $295 million to increase its Medicare and other supplemental insurance offerings.

11 May 2012

IASIS Healthcare second quarter net revenue up 3.8% to $647.6M

IASIS Healthcare LLC today announced financial and operating results for the fiscal second quarter and six months ended March 31, 2012. In the first quarter of 2012, IASIS adopted accounting guidance that results in the classification of the provision for bad debts as a revenue deduction rather than an operating expense, and such guidance has been applied to the financial statements of both the current and prior year periods.

11 May 2012

Research roundup: Health providers' growing clout; The surprising bargain in Part D costs

The Growing Power Of Some Providers To Win Steep Payment Increases From Insurers Suggests Policy Remedies May Be Needed -- Concerns have grown that the consolidation of hospitals and physician groups has increased their ability to raise prices, which increases costs for insurers and patients.

11 May 2012

GOP lawmakers doubt co-op loan program's ability to promote competition, lower health costs

They outlined their concerns in a letter sent this week to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Meanwhile, Marilyn Tavenner, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services acting administrator, provided details about the innovation center's staffing and funding to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

11 May 2012

With Medicare, other health issues in flux, lawmakers and lobbyists struggle to decide next steps

Six health care lobbyists told Politico Pro that much of their strategic planning depends on the Supreme Court's upcoming health law decision and the November elections. But some lawmakers are signalling hope that this is the year to address Medicare's "doc fix" problem.

11 May 2012

Steps toward a permanent Medicare 'doc fix'?

Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., and Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., introduced the latest bill Wednesday aimed at reforming how Medicare pays healthcare providers and to prevent a scheduled, Jan. 1, 2013 cut to physician reimbursement rates. The bipartisan measure would replace Medicare's current pay formula.

11 May 2012

HHS announces big pay boost for some Medicaid docs

HHS says the increase, required by the health law, would raise primary care doctors' payments for treating Medicare patients, on average, 34 percent.

11 May 2012

Viewpoints: Can Medicare taxes really fund student loans?; Daschle on diabetes and kids

In the case of the student loans, the Democrats' bill would require certain Americans -- high-income partners in small businesses that provide professional services, such as engineering or lobbying -- to pay payroll taxes on their share of the firm's profits. That's a long way of saying the bill would eliminate a tax-avoidance strategy that some small firms use to reduce their contributions to Social Security and Medicare.

11 May 2012

Government investigators pinpoint $5.6 billion in 'suspect' Medicare billings from pharmacies

This report from the Health and Human Services inspector general concluded that corner drugstores are vulnerable to fraud.

11 May 2012

Patients with mitral regurgitation live longer after surgery

Patients with mitral regurgitation, a type of valvular heart disease common in the elderly, are living longer after surgery, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

11 May 2012

ICD therapy significantly reduces mortality in patients with moderate heart failure

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced results of the SCD-HeFT (Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial) 10-Year Follow-up Study at Heart Rhythm 2012, the Heart Rhythm Society's 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions in Boston. The study demonstrated implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy significantly reduces mortality for at least 11 years in patients with moderate heart failure (HF).

11 May 2012

Longer looks: More 20-30 somethings are taking care of elderly, dissecting solutions to obesity problem

At 30, Suzette Armijo cares for her widowed 86-year-old grandmother, a retired National Park Service ranger in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease, while holding down a fulltime job, a part-time job and raising a 4-year-old son. "This was nothing that I had planned for," says Armijo, who moved her grandmother Elizabeth Armijo into a nearby six-bed assisted living home because veterans' benefits "wouldn't pay for her to live with me."

11 May 2012

$Onconova advances rigosertib into new Phase II study for refractory MDS$

Onconova advances rigosertib into new Phase II study for refractory MDS

Onconova Therapeutics, Inc., announced today the advancement of the oral formulation of rigosertib, an anti-cancer agent with demonstrated activity in solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, into a new Phase II study. The intravenous (IV) formulation of rigosertib is currently in a pivotal Phase III trial for refractory myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) in the U.S. and EU.

11 May 2012

Senate embroiled in partisan struggle over student loan rates

At issue is how to pay for an extension of the current interest rate. Democrats propose increasing the Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes on high-earning stockholders of some privately owned corporations. Republicans would like to take funds from the health law's prevention fund.

10 May 2012

How much will a retired couple spend on health care? $240,000

This estimate, released by Fidelity Investments, reflects a 4 percent increase over medical bill projections for a couple that retired a year earlier. The amount doesn't include long-term care costs or over-the-counter drug expenses, among other things.

10 May 2012

Medicare News and Research

April job growth numbers reflect increased need for skilled home healthcare services

Kidney transplants more frequent among NxStage home hemodialysis patients

Differences in regional readmission rates for heart failure tied to socioeconomics, availability of care

Towers Watson signs agreement to acquire Extend Health

Viewpoints: Two views on how to fight obesity; Tough choices for big business on health costs

Cigna to increase supplemental health insurance offerings with acquisition

IASIS Healthcare second quarter net revenue up 3.8% to $647.6M

Research roundup: Health providers' growing clout; The surprising bargain in Part D costs

GOP lawmakers doubt co-op loan program's ability to promote competition, lower health costs

With Medicare, other health issues in flux, lawmakers and lobbyists struggle to decide next steps

Steps toward a permanent Medicare 'doc fix'?

HHS announces big pay boost for some Medicaid docs

Viewpoints: Can Medicare taxes really fund student loans?; Daschle on diabetes and kids

Government investigators pinpoint $5.6 billion in 'suspect' Medicare billings from pharmacies

Patients with mitral regurgitation live longer after surgery

ICD therapy significantly reduces mortality in patients with moderate heart failure

Longer looks: More 20-30 somethings are taking care of elderly, dissecting solutions to obesity problem

Onconova advances rigosertib into new Phase II study for refractory MDS

Senate embroiled in partisan struggle over student loan rates

How much will a retired couple spend on health care? $240,000

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