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Tips to fall-proof living environments for older adults

In observance of Falls Prevention Awareness Day Sept. 23, UnitedHealthcare is urging people to know the risks associated with falling and is encouraging older Americans to take simple yet essential steps to reduce fall injuries.

22 Sep 2011

President, party leaders offer 'super committee' conflicting advice

The GOP leaders say new taxes should be unacceptable. The president says any cuts to Medicare without also increasing revenue would trigger a veto. And the House Majority Leader advises the panel to "think small."

22 Sep 2011

Four insurers may help provide answers to health cost puzzle

Four major health insurers announced plans yesterday to pool their health care claims data into a single database to enable researchers to mine for information about trends in costs, utilization and intensity of care.

22 Sep 2011

Rockefeller: 'Blended rate' proposal could be end of CHIP

The $320 billion package of Medicare and Medicaid cuts President Obama announced yesterday as part of his plan to reduce deficit spending would effectively end the Children's Health Insurance Program, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV said Tuesday. Rockefeller, D-W.Va., a leading advocate of the program on Capitol Hill, was referring specifically to a part of the plan, known as the "blended rate" proposal that would start in 2017.

22 Sep 2011

USA Today: Seniors key to fighting Medicare fraud

Officials believe that if older Americans - including the growing crop of eligible Baby Boomers - know how to spot errors and fraud, "more criminals will be put in jail where they belong," Barbara Dieker told a group of volunteers recently. Dieker directs the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Elder Rights, which oversees the Senior Medicare Patrols.

22 Sep 2011

Insurance commissioners plan to challenge efforts to extract more money from Medigap plans

Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners are developing a letter to members of Congress in which they will oppose attempts to extract more money from Medicare enrollees who buy Medigap insurance - an option the president has now backed for new enrollees.

22 Sep 2011

Obama's deficit plan focuses on cutting health programs but not benefits; experts wonder how patients will fare

President Obama and some members of Congress assert that, in cutting Medicare and Medicaid, they can whack health care providers while protecting beneficiaries. But experts say it is not so simple.

22 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Progressives relish fight for 'shared sacrifice;' Desmond Tutu seeks to renew battle against HIV

To get our books in order, Obama would raise taxes on the rich while gaining savings by ending the wars abroad and reducing Medicare and Medicaid's unnecessarily high payments to drug companies. Republicans rise in defense of tax cuts for the wealthy and insist that deficit reduction come solely from cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and other "entitlements." The president stands for shared sacrifice; the Republicans for sheltering the privileged few. Progressives will have no problem standing with the president in this fight.

22 Sep 2011

Big monthly premium hikes likely next year for Medicare Rx plans

Although monthly premiums will go down next year for Medicare prescription drug coverage on average, seniors in the most popular plans will see sizable jumps - notably a 14 percent hike for the 4.7 million in United Healthcare's plans, a new study says.

21 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 21, 2011

For Kaiser Health News, Jackie Judd talks with PBS NewsHour's David Chalian about the GOP presidential candidates' health law repeal rhetoric, the varying level of nuance among their viewpoints and how each is attacking the President's – and each other's – stances.

21 Sep 2011

MedPAC offers possible offsets for Medicare physician pay fix

Still, Obama's deficit-reduction plan, released yesterday, includes no funding for the doc fix. Some are eyeing a Medicaid adjustment that will garner $13 billion in savings as a possible cash cow - but competition is stiff for these funds.

21 Sep 2011

Obama budget plan includes $320 billion in Medicare, Medicaid cuts over 10 years

The squeeze will be felt by future Medicare recipients, in reduced payments to drug companies and hospitals, and with higher costs to states. And, though many parts of the health sector are grumbling about the proposal, some advocates say the president's vision is less painful than some of the ideas that have recently been on the table.

21 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Mixing politics and deficit cutting; transparency in health care; doctors' salaries

On the spending side, the president's plan takes a sensible approach toward saving money in Medicare and Medicaid. More than 90 percent of the $248 billion in Medicare cuts over 10 years would come from reducing payments to drug companies and health care providers that are unnecessarily high.

21 Sep 2011

Politics, posturing swirl around Obama plan

President Barack Obama made clear that any cuts to entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid had to be accompanied by increased taxes for wealthy people and corporations. Many news outlets are analyzing the impact of the line in the sand he drew on the issues.

21 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 20, 2011

In today's headlines, details and analysis of President Barack Obama's debt-reduction plan, which would trim health programs by $320 billion and links such entitlement trims to new taxes.

20 Sep 2011

IQL conference explores development of ACO model

The American Medical Group Association is convening nearly 600 participants, representing the leaders of the nation's preeminent healthcare provider organizations, at IQL 2011: Creating High-Performing Care Organizations, September 19 - 21 at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas.

20 Sep 2011

Obama's debt-reduction plan: $3 trillion in savings; changes to Medicare, Medicaid less aggressive than previously considered

The proposal, which is scheduled for release today, will include $320 billion in health care savings, but it will not raise Medicare's eligibility age. Half of its savings result from new tax revenue. President Barack Obama is also sending a warning to congressional Republicans: If they send him a bill that cuts programs for poor and elderly Americans but doesn't impose sacrifice on corporations or ask others to sacrifice, he will veto it.

20 Sep 2011

Study explores differences in referral decisions between primary care and specialist physicians

How do physicians decide which colleague to refer their patient to? It differs depending on whether you ask primary care or specialist physicians, according to research from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, USA, led by Michael Barnett.

20 Sep 2011

Roundup: Calif. woman's death at nursing home probed; Minn. orders counseling before patients get long-term care

Johnnie Esco died after a 13-day stay at the El Dorado Care Center in Placerville. Her death on March 7, 2008, led to a contentious civil lawsuit, investigations by California's Department of Justice and Department of Public Health – and the exhumation of her body from Arlington National Cemetery. Last week, amid inquiries from The Bee, the state Department of Justice reopened its criminal investigation into Johnnie Esco's treatment at the facility.

20 Sep 2011

FDA approves Amphastar's ANDA for Enoxaparin Sodium Injection

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Enoxaparin Sodium Injection in the 100mg/mL and 150mg/mL strengths.

20 Sep 2011

Medicare News and Research

Tips to fall-proof living environments for older adults

President, party leaders offer 'super committee' conflicting advice

Four insurers may help provide answers to health cost puzzle

Rockefeller: 'Blended rate' proposal could be end of CHIP

USA Today: Seniors key to fighting Medicare fraud

Insurance commissioners plan to challenge efforts to extract more money from Medigap plans

Obama's deficit plan focuses on cutting health programs but not benefits; experts wonder how patients will fare

Viewpoints: Progressives relish fight for 'shared sacrifice;' Desmond Tutu seeks to renew battle against HIV

Big monthly premium hikes likely next year for Medicare Rx plans

First Edition: September 21, 2011

MedPAC offers possible offsets for Medicare physician pay fix

Obama budget plan includes $320 billion in Medicare, Medicaid cuts over 10 years

Viewpoints: Mixing politics and deficit cutting; transparency in health care; doctors' salaries

Politics, posturing swirl around Obama plan

First Edition: September 20, 2011

IQL conference explores development of ACO model

Obama's debt-reduction plan: $3 trillion in savings; changes to Medicare, Medicaid less aggressive than previously considered

Study explores differences in referral decisions between primary care and specialist physicians

Roundup: Calif. woman's death at nursing home probed; Minn. orders counseling before patients get long-term care

FDA approves Amphastar's ANDA for Enoxaparin Sodium Injection

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