Medicare News and Research

RSS

First Edition: September 12, 2011

Today's health policy headlines include reports about the pressures faced by the 'super committee' as well as the latest on how states are doing with the implementation of the health law.

12 Sep 2011

North Clinic to implement eClinicalWorks EHR solution

eClinicalWorks, a market leader in ambulatory clinical systems, today announced that Minnesota's North Clinic has chosen the eClinicalWorks comprehensive electronic health records (EHR) solution for its 84 employed providers. The multi-specialty group will integrate eClinicalWorks with a neighboring Hospital System's Epic in-patient system for labs, radiology and Continuity of Care Document (CCD) to further enhance care coordination.

12 Sep 2011

Tenet Healthcare refines 2011 Outlook for Adjusted EBITDA

In advance of scheduled investor meetings and the Company's participation at an industry conference, Tenet Healthcare Corporation today refined its 2011 Outlook for Adjusted EBITDA.

12 Sep 2011

GOP contentiousness on Medicare, health law to emerge in Monday debate

The tea party movement roars into the Republican presidential spotlight Monday night, as grassroots conservative-coalition members are scheduled to question GOP candidates at a Tampa, Florida debate. ... in his economic blueprint, released last week, Romney lauded the movement, saying, "The rise of the tea party is a classic instance of the self-correcting forces of American democracy in action." He still has a fight ahead.

12 Sep 2011

Research roundup: U.S. doctors' pay exceeds foreign counterparts; Medicare Advantage prevents some hospitalizations

Higher Fees Paid To US Physicians Drive Higher Spending For Physician Services Compared To Other Countries -- Researchers focused on primary care visits and hip replacements in the U.S., Britain, Australia, Canada, France and Germany and found that, "public and private payers paid somewhat higher fees to US primary care physicians.

9 Sep 2011

Roundup: Scott's plan stalls to outsource Fla. prison health care; Calif. Blue Shield begins issuing credits after profit cap

Florida's plan to outsource health care in the third-largest U.S. prison system to save $30 million has stalled, hindering efforts by Governor Rick Scott and lawmakers to hire private operators for state services. Requests for proposals on the prison work were withdrawn last month less than a week after they were issued.

9 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: 4th Circuit decision; Advice for the FDA; Docs and the AMA

Minutes after President Obama signed his health-care program into law on March 23, 2010, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II raced to become the first state official to challenge it in court. But as a federal appeals court panel concluded Thursday, being first isn't the same as being right. ... Even if timing were not an issue, the notion that a state could nullify a federal program in this way is absurd (9/8).

9 Sep 2011

Preventive benefits, exchanges and coverage options: A catch-all of health law implementation news

Media outlets report on a range of health law issues, including the latest estimates from the Department of Health and Human Services regarding the number of Medicare beneficiaries getting free preventive care, what difficulties may be ahead for health exchanges and the adminstration's new "Enroll America" campaign.

9 Sep 2011

Obama would pay jobs plan tab with Medicare, Medicaid cuts and tax hikes

The jobs packaged unveiled Thursday by President Barack Obama includes a "pay for" plan that relies in part on trims to Medicare and Medicaid - a provision that Republicans may use to undermine his political messages during the upcoming campaign season.

9 Sep 2011

In deficit reduction debate, some stakeholders point to Medicare

The American Hospital Association is lobbying to raise the program's eligibility age from 65 to 67 as a means of heading off additional cuts to Medicare hospital payments. Meanwhile, some conservatives view the program's fiscal challenges as the problem that stands above all others.

9 Sep 2011

Deficit reduction, entitlement programs become key buzz words as debt panel sets to work

The 'super committee' held its first meeting this week, kicking off its mission with a note of bipartisanship. Many observers worry, though, that this might be the end of this spirit of cooperation. Meanwhile, a groups of Senators from both parties also met this week - privately - to revive the hope for a "grand debt-cutting bargain."

9 Sep 2011

'Super committee' faces big challenges, lots of input from stakeholders

In order to lay out some specific options from which the panel might extract savings, House Ways and Means Democrats have provided a list of Medicare trims.

9 Sep 2011

Docs' group pushes for changes to Medicare payment setting panel

Meanwhile, other news outlets report on the challenges private practice physicians face in serving their patients and their own bottom lines, and ProPublica explores drug company payments to doctors.

9 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 9, 2011

Appeals courts have ruled on five challenges to the health law, and two more currently await appeals courts rulings. On Sept. 8, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on two challenges to the health law, brought by the Commonwealth of Virginia and Liberty University, and in both cases they vacated the district court ruling and instructed the lower court to dismiss the challenges.

9 Sep 2011

Health law subject to attack during GOP presidential debate

As candidates threw accusations at Democratic policies and each other, they didn't always get the specifics right. Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney especially clashed on health policy issues. Meanwhile, Romney expressed his support for Medicaid block grants and Perry blamed the federal government for Texas' high number of people without health insurance.

9 Sep 2011

Seniors, Medicare drug coverage and the doughnut hole

A Kaiser Family Foundation study finds that fewer Medicare drug plan enrollees are hitting the coverage gap. Those who are in it, however, bought fewer drugs.

9 Sep 2011

Longer looks: Unknowns in sports medicine; shackling pregnant prisoners

Medical experts say that multiple futile treatments is all too familiar and points to growing problems in sports medicine, a medical subspecialty that has been experiencing explosive growth. now researchers are questioning many of the procedures, including new ones that often have no rigorous studies to back them up. "Patients come in and say, 'I want the same thing that Tiger Woods had,' " said Dr. McDevitt, the sports medicine orthopedist in Maryland.

9 Sep 2011

UC research: Physicians report similar degrees of work intensity

Although society's perception might be that surgeons endure greater mental challenges and stress in their work duties than a primary care doctor, new research from experts at the University of Cincinnati (UC) shows that this isn't necessarily the case.

9 Sep 2011

Medicare fraud dragnet snares 91 nationwide

In its continued health care fraud crackdown, the Obama administration announced Wednesday that charges were filed against 91 people in eight cities. These people are accused of bilking Medicare out of an estimated $300 million.

9 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Lessons from Massachusetts?; FTC and ACOs; Arizona partner benefits

The Massachusetts experience provides lessons for national health care reform. First, reform may accelerate the trend toward health care's being the dominant employment sector in the economy. ... our analysis supports physicians' concerns about the administrative burden of health care reforms ... Finally, rather than requiring greater numbers of physicians and nurses, reform may require larger numbers of people supporting the work of such health care professionals.

9 Sep 2011