Medicare News and Research

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Higher Medicare premiums will undermine social security's raise

Social Security reciepients are expected to get a 3.5 percent cost-of-living increase in January, but a boost in the cost of Medicare Part B premiums will likely offset some of the impact.

20 Oct 2011

HHS issues regs to reduce red tape for hospitals, providers

The Obama administration moved Tuesday to roll back numerous rules that apply to hospitals and other health care providers after concluding that the standards were obsolete or overly burdensome to the industry. Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said the proposed changes, which would apply to more than 6,000 hospitals, would save providers nearly $1.1 billion a year without creating any "consequential risks for patients."

20 Oct 2011

JAMA study: Heart failure hospitalization rates fall

The rate of hospital admissions for elderly patients in the U.S. fell by nearly 30 percent in the past decade, based on an analysis of Medicare data. This finding, being published today, is viewed as progress against cardiovascular disease and the costs associated with this illness.

20 Oct 2011

Commonwealth Fund: U.S. weak on health care quality, access, affordability

The report concluded that these weaknesses in the American health system are having a "profound effect" on the overall health of the nation's population.

20 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: Super committee's secrecy; alternatives to CLASS; solving the drug shortage

The Congressional "super committee" charged with finding $1.5 trillion in debt savings through 2021 is under growing attack from both the left and the right for carrying out most of its work in secret. … History reveals the importance of extensive private talks for members of a bipartisan group to get to know one another and pursue compromises.

20 Oct 2011

First Edition: October 19, 2011

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Capsules, Marilyn Werber Serafini reports: "Medicare might fare better than other health care programs if the congressional super committee fails to agree on a deficit-reduction package and automatic cuts kick in, but even 2 percent is a big problem when it comes on top of other recent hits, warn Rick Pollack, executive vice president of the American Hospital Association, and Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans."

19 Oct 2011

Oral laquinimod shows promise against multiple sclerosis

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Active Biotech today announced the presentation of Phase III clinical and pre-clinical data, which collectively demonstrate that once-daily oral laquinimod modulates the pathological processes of multiple sclerosis to impact disease activity, disability progression and brain volume loss.

19 Oct 2011

Snowe breaks from GOP pack on health care spending issues

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, is one of two Republicans who did not sign on to the Finance Committee GOP recommendations for the super committee. Snowe reportedly took issue with calls to tighten Medicare eligibility requirements and to block grant the Medicaid program.

19 Oct 2011

Republicans looking ahead with plans to dismantle health law

GOP activists, who increasingly consider both the Senate and White House to be within reach, are developing multi-pronged strategies to roll-back the health law beginning in 2013.

19 Oct 2011

HHS begins 'Innovation Advisors' program

The Health and Human Services Department on Monday launched a new component of its effort to make health care better and more efficient. HHS announced its "Innovation Advisors" program, through which it will select as many as 200 experts to work with doctors and other providers on ways to improve the health care delivery system.

19 Oct 2011

Study finds 30% decline in heart failure hospitalization rate

Being hospitalized for heart failure (HF) was about 30 percent less likely in 2008 than in 1998, according to a study by Yale physicians in the Oct. 19 issue of JAMA. The team also found that the rate of hospitalization for black men dropped at a lower rate, and that one-year mortality rates declined slightly during this period, but remained high.

19 Oct 2011

Roundup: Mass. contemplates 'global payments'; rural hospitals struggling; Oregon liability cost studied

Although important details remain to be negotiated, the legislative leaders and Gov. Deval Patrick, all Democrats, are working toward a plan that would encourage flat "global payments" to networks of providers for keeping patients well, replacing the fee-for-service system that creates incentives for excessive care by paying for each visit and procedure.

19 Oct 2011

Heart-failure related hospitalizations has declined substantially among Medicare patients

Between 1998 and 2008, heart-failure related hospitalizations declined substantially among Medicare patients, but at a lower rate for black men, according to a study in the October 19 issue of JAMA. Also, 1-year mortality rates declined slightly during this period, but remain high.

19 Oct 2011

Medicare reimbursements high for digital mammography — though test may be no more effective than less expensive ones

High-tech, digital mammography may not be any better at detecting breast cancer in women over 65 than older film-based systems, but Medicare is spending millions of taxpayer dollars reimbursing the procedure at a far higher rate. A new study comparing digital mammography with less expensive film mammography found that the two types of breast cancer screens are equally effective at detecting cancers in most women. ... The study was performed by the National Cancer Institute-funded Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium.

19 Oct 2011

With clock ticking, super committee weighs suggestions, battles doubts

Last week the deficit-reduction panel received a slew of recommendations from across Capitol Hill on how to tame the nation's deficit problems. The input evidenced partisan differences and intra-party fissures. All the while, questions persist about the committee's ability to actually reach a deal.

18 Oct 2011

UnitedHealth Group's consolidated third quarter revenues increase 7% to $25.3B

UnitedHealth Group today reported third quarter results, highlighted by strong enrollment growth in each of UnitedHealthcare's benefits businesses and strong revenue growth at all Optum business units. Third quarter 2011 net earnings were $1.17 per share, with strong performance on all key financial and operational measures.

18 Oct 2011

Speedy reinstatements undermine Medicare anti-fraud efforts

An AP review shows that regulators frequently suspend Medicare providers but then quickly reinstate them - which often leads to a missed chance to stop the flow of dollars to "bogus" companies.

18 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: Class Act's effect on health law; new prescriptions for Medicare; food marketing to kids

Now that one of ObamaCare's major new benefit programs has been scrapped, liberals are trying to make stone soup by claiming that the Obama Administration merely committed an act of "good government." They claim that when this long-term care insurance program proved to be unworkable, the Administration conceded as much, and now it's gone. So let's review the evidence, not least because it so perfectly illustrates the recklessness that produced the Affordable Care Act.

18 Oct 2011

Roundup: Many who swarmed LA free clinic last year are still without health care; Texas Planned Parenthood clinic struggles

They came with rotting teeth, shattered glasses and broken bodies. In the predawn darkness outside the Los Angeles Sports Arena, they lined up last year by the thousands, waiting as the sun burned their backs for healthcare they could not afford. Many needed more than the volunteer doctors and dentists at the Remote Area Medical clinic could give. When the glasses ran out, they settled for eye exams. Instead of root canals, they got teeth pulled. They pointed to the holes in their smiles with relief. At least the pain had stopped.

18 Oct 2011

State news: Texas pharmacies fear lower Medicaid fees

In Rio Grande City, Rene Martinez's Starr Pharmacy has one line for Medicaid patients and another for non-Medicaid patients. On some days, most of his clients can be found waiting on the Medicaid line, a testament to the importance of that federal-state health insurance program in this poor city along the Texas-Mexico border - and to Mr. Martinez's bottom line.

15 Oct 2011