Medicare News and Research

RSS

Medco enters definitive merger agreement with Express Scripts

Express Scripts, Inc. and Medco Health Solutions, Inc. today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement.

21 Jul 2011

New public opinion polls highlight debt-ceiling concerns, attitude shifts

The Wall Street Journal reports on a "dramatic shift in attitudes" as the majority of those polled support President Barack Obama's 10-year plan, which includes federal spending reductions that would touch Medicare and other entitlement programs.

21 Jul 2011

Randox win Premier Healthcare Alliance contract for Quality Control

Randox Laboratories Ltd is proud to announce that in April 2011 we signed a multi-year agreement with the Premier Healthcare Alliance for the supply of Acusera Quality Control (QC) materials. The agreement will provide the 90,000 plus Premier members with access to our extensive range of quality control products and the benefits they offer clinical laboratories. When asked about the new agreement Laura Coyle Randox Business Manager for the USA revealed that ‘We look forward to strengthening our relationship with Premier and providing added value to their members’.

From Randox Laboratories Ltd. 21 Jul 2011

Medco second-quarter total net revenues increase 4.1% to record $17.1 billion

Medco Health Solutions, Inc. today reported second-quarter 2011 GAAP diluted EPS of $0.85, up 10.4 percent compared to $0.77 for the second quarter of 2010. Adjusting for all amortization of intangible assets, second-quarter 2011 diluted earnings per share increased 10.3 percent to $0.96, up from $0.87 in the second quarter of 2010.

21 Jul 2011

Study finds 37% of Michigan's seniors struggling to meet basic living expenses

Michigan's older adults are more likely to be poor and at greater risk of not being able to afford their basic living expenses than U.S. Census data indicate. According to a recent analysis by the Wayne State University Institute of Gerontology's Seniors Count! project, 37 percent of Michigan's seniors are living at or below a level of basic economic security.

21 Jul 2011

Obama backs 'Gang of Six' plan that includes Medicare cuts

The Senate's "Gang of Six" unveiled its 10-year, $3.7 trillion deficit reduction plan Tuesday and received a warm, bipartisan reception in the upper chamber. Meanwhile, in the House, GOP lawmakers, in a largely symbolic vote, passed their "cut, cap and balance" measure, which the White House has called "unacceptable."

21 Jul 2011

Summer heat prompts SCAN to issue dehydration warning for seniors

Seniors are six times more likely to be admitted to the hospital due to dehydration than adults ages 45-64. Prompted by the summer heat, SCAN Health Plan Arizona is issuing a warning to seniors to stay hydrated and know the signs of dehydration.

21 Jul 2011

Though slim on specifics, 'Gang of Six' plan seeks savings from health plans

The plan's key health components include an overhaul of the Medicare physician payment system and a repeal of the health law's long-term care insurance program. Kaiser Health News provides the executive summary of the plan.

21 Jul 2011

Texas Tribune reviews new anti-abortion law; health debate

An amendment that conservative state lawmakers hoped would wipe out the only taxpayer-funded elective abortions in Texas ultimately might not do much at all. One of many tacked onto an omnibus health care bill during the Legislature's special session in June, the amendment by Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, aims to remove state funding from any hospital district — a health care system financed by city or county tax dollars - that provides elective abortions.

21 Jul 2011

State roundup: Fla. Medicaid waiver fight

Gov. Mark Dayton and lawmakers reached agreement on a new set of budget bills ... State spending for health and human services will be up from about $10.2 billion this biennium but well below the $12.3 billion projected under current law.

21 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Opinions abound on effect of 'Gang of Six' proposal on health spending

Without immediate action to raise the debt ceiling, the government will be forced to delay payments on federal obligations we owe. This means failing to pay our troops, delaying Social Security checks and issuing IOU's instead of Medicare payments to hospitals and doctors. ... Medicare has serious problems and it's essential to "bend the curve" of spending.

21 Jul 2011

Feds tussle with Illinois over state Medicaid fraud bill

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has blocked a state law designed to eliminate potential fraud in Illinois' Medicaid system by requiring recipients to prove they live in the state and have low incomes.

20 Jul 2011

CMS releases proposed rule for health insurance co-ops

Even though considerable doubts surround the survival prospects of these co-ops, they are envisioned as a means to give consumers better value than existing insurance companies. Start-up loans will be available to co-ops that have good odds of becoming financially viable.

20 Jul 2011

Debt-ceiling activity moves on multiple tracks

The House GOP's "cut, cap and balance" plan, which will likely come up for a vote this week, could lead to deep cuts in Medicare and other federal safety net programs.

20 Jul 2011

Gang of Six plan to cut deficit by $3.7T includes doc fix, gets boost from Obama

President Barack Obama praised the bipartisan plan, which includes $500 billion in immediate deficit cuts as well as larger, longer-term entitlement reforms.

20 Jul 2011

Medicare bundled-payments rules expected before 2013 deadline

Regulators will accelerate release of rules implementing bundled payments under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a senior official at the CMS.

20 Jul 2011

Outliving one's resources, falling into poverty more common among senior citizens

Outliving one's resources and falling into poverty is an increasingly common experience among today's senior citizens, according to a new report produced jointly by the Heller School's Institute on Assets and Social Policy and the public policy research and advocacy organization Demos.

20 Jul 2011

PCPCC coalition to trace progress of medical home at Oct. 21, 2011 Summit

Five short years ago, the patient centered medical home was a little-known model with the promise to improve patient outcomes and transform health care delivery. In October, the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative will trace the progress of the medical home in the context if its own five-year history of stakeholder collaboration focused on continued advancement of what is now the rapidly expanding medical home concept.

20 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Suggestions for reducing Medicare spending; Medicaid cuts hurt; personal health responsibility

Over the past months, Republicans enjoyed enormous advantages. Opinion polls showed that voters are eager to reduce the federal debt, and they want to do it mostly but not entirely through spending cuts. There was a Democratic president eager to move to the center. He floated certain ideas that would be normally unheard of from a Democrat.

20 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 19, 2011

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver reports: "New consumer-controlled health insurance plans could get seed money from the government to increase competition - and maybe cut prices -- under new rules announced Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services".

19 Jul 2011