Health and Human Services News and Research

RSS

Health care fraud: Massachusetts hospital to pay $2.79M for settling False Claims Act allegations

Mercy Hospital Inc. (d/b/a Mercy Medical Center) of Springfield, Mass., has agreed to pay the United States $2,799,462 to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act between 2005 and 2006 by failing to provide, or failing to document that it provided, the minimum number of hours of rehabilitation therapy required under Medicare guidelines, the Justice Department announced today.

20 Feb 2010

Obama plans to offer own health bill before summit as parties stake claims

President Obama will offer "comprehensive" health reform legislation in advance of next week's planned summit with Republicans, The New York Times reports. "Democratic officials said the president's proposal was being written so that it could be attached to a budget bill as a way of averting a Republican filibuster in the Senate. The procedure, known as budget reconciliation, would let Democrats advance the bill with a simple majority rather than a 60-vote supermajority."

20 Feb 2010

Obama Administration releases details of over $400M Healthy Food Financing Initiative

The Obama Administration today released details of an over $400 million Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which will bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to underserved urban and rural communities across America. The initiative was announced today in Philadelphia by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

20 Feb 2010

ALEC congratulates Idaho State Representatives for sponsoring Idaho Health Freedom Act

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)—the nation's largest nonpartisan individual membership association of state legislators—congratulates Idaho State Representatives Jim Clark, Lynn Luker, and Raul Labrador for their successful sponsorship of HB 391, the Idaho Health Freedom Act, which was passed by the Idaho House of Representatives by a vote of 52 to 18 last week.

19 Feb 2010

HMS reports financial results for fourth-quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2009

HMS today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2009.

19 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 19, 2010

Today's headlines highlight a White House plan to "get specific" on health reform, an analysis showing a nationwide jump in Medicaid enrollment and more on the firestorm surrounding health insurance premium increases.

19 Feb 2010

Landmark collaboration to launch largest study of breast cancer in Latin American women

The largest study ever of breast cancer in Latin American women is being launched this year in a unique multi-country, public/private partnership with $1 million in additional funding from the world’s largest breast cancer organization, Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.

19 Feb 2010

HHS releases report highlighting health insurance premium increases

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today unveiled a new report, Insurance Companies Prosper, Families Suffer: Our Broken Health Insurance System. The report highlights health insurance premium increases in states across the country and comes shortly after Anthem Blue Cross announced plans to raise rates on its California customers by as much as 39 percent, even after its parent company took in a profit of $2.7 billion in the previous quarter. The complete report is available at www.HealthReform.gov.

19 Feb 2010

Six states to study sickle cell disease and thalassemias in national pilot project

Medical researchers are developing a new surveillance system to determine the number of patients diagnosed with a family of inherited blood disorders known as hemoglobinopathies, including sickle cell disease, thalassemias, and hemoglobin E disease.

19 Feb 2010

HHS report scolds insurers for rate hikes, points to increases as reason for reform

According to an Obama Administration report released Thursday, double-digit insurance premium increases such as the proposed 39 percent one by Anthem Blue Cross in California are a "worrisome sign of the times," The Associated Press reports.

19 Feb 2010

Obama admin. to redouble campaign against insurers' rate hikes

After criticizing California insurer Anthem for raising premiums 10 days ago, Obama administration officials are preparing for more, The Washington Post reports. "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has scheduled a late-morning news conference, at which she is to cite half a dozen examples," where insurers have sought big rate hikes for individual coverage.

18 Feb 2010

HHS Secretary to address on health disparities at NABJ conference

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius will deliver the keynote address at the National Association of Black Journalists annual conference on Health Disparities, March 4-6, 2010 at the Barbara Jordan Conference Center, Kaiser Family Foundation, 1330 G. Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

18 Feb 2010

Deaf and hard-of-hearing patients seeking treatment at OIP to receive interpreters for effective communication

Patients who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, who seek treatment at the Orthopedic Institute of Pennsylvania, will receive qualified interpreters when needed for effective communication as required by federal law under a Settlement Agreement reached with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

18 Feb 2010

Detroit home health agency owner pleads guilty over Medicare fraud

Detroit-area resident Muhammad Shahab pleaded guilty today for his role in organizing a Detroit-area home health care fraud scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade; Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena of the FBI's Detroit Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General's (HHS-OIG), Chicago Regional Office.

18 Feb 2010

AMGA commends Senator for ensuring EMR incentive payments for medical groups

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) applauds Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) for her efforts to assure fairness in payment of electronic medical record (EMR) incentive payments under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

18 Feb 2010

White House hints at new health bill as GOP sees possible upside in summit

White House officials "hinted on Tuesday that President Obama might post his own [health care] bill on the Internet before the bipartisan health care summit he is planning" next week, The New York Times reports. "In the nearly a year since Congress began debating a health care overhaul, Mr. Obama has yet to make his own priorities explicit. He said at the outset that he would set broad parameters for the measure and leave the details to lawmakers." Obama said last week that hoped to post to the Internet a merged bill that would address costs and expand coverage.

17 Feb 2010

AHF to protest Merck’s Isentress pricing and policies at CROI

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a protest Wednesday morning, February 17 at 8:00am targeting Merck and Co. Pharmaceuticals over the pricing and policies for its key HIV/AIDS drug, Isentress, the most expensive first-line AIDS treatment in the US, during the 17th Conference of Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in San Francisco.

17 Feb 2010

Postmenopausal women undergoing combination hormone therapy at increased risk of heart disease: WHI confirms

New analyses from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) confirm that combination hormone therapy increases the risk of heart disease in healthy postmenopausal women. Researchers report a trend toward an increased risk of heart disease during the first two years of hormone therapy among women who began therapy within 10 years of menopause, and a more marked elevation of risk among women who began hormone therapy more than 10 years after menopause. Analyses indicate that overall a woman's risk of heart disease more than doubles within the first two years of taking combination HT.

17 Feb 2010

Budget cuts hit health care services in Minnesota, Oklahoma and California

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposal to cut a net of $347 million from programs for sick, aged, disabled and jobless people is akin to the advice an ailing George Washington got from his doctors 210 years ago, one critic said Monday: Bleed him, in hope of a cure. Pawlenty would eliminate the General Assistance program in which about 20,000 disabled and very-low-income people receive an average of $175 a month.

16 Feb 2010

Adding rosemary extracts in ground beef can reduce cancer-causing agents

The addition of rosemary extract to ground beef actually reduces cancer-causing agents that can form upon cooking, according to a recent study in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists.

16 Feb 2010

Health and Human Services News and Research

Health care fraud: Massachusetts hospital to pay $2.79M for settling False Claims Act allegations

Obama plans to offer own health bill before summit as parties stake claims

Obama Administration releases details of over $400M Healthy Food Financing Initiative

ALEC congratulates Idaho State Representatives for sponsoring Idaho Health Freedom Act

HMS reports financial results for fourth-quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2009

First Edition: February 19, 2010

Landmark collaboration to launch largest study of breast cancer in Latin American women

HHS releases report highlighting health insurance premium increases

Six states to study sickle cell disease and thalassemias in national pilot project

HHS report scolds insurers for rate hikes, points to increases as reason for reform

Obama admin. to redouble campaign against insurers' rate hikes

HHS Secretary to address on health disparities at NABJ conference

Deaf and hard-of-hearing patients seeking treatment at OIP to receive interpreters for effective communication

Detroit home health agency owner pleads guilty over Medicare fraud

AMGA commends Senator for ensuring EMR incentive payments for medical groups

White House hints at new health bill as GOP sees possible upside in summit

AHF to protest Merck’s Isentress pricing and policies at CROI

Postmenopausal women undergoing combination hormone therapy at increased risk of heart disease: WHI confirms

Budget cuts hit health care services in Minnesota, Oklahoma and California

Adding rosemary extracts in ground beef can reduce cancer-causing agents

Event guide: 6th Operationalize Expanded Access Programs Summit East eBook

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

Latest News