Medicare News and Research

RSS

Drug makers seek to block deficit-talk demands for discounts

Also, The Wall Street Journal reports that the pharmaceutical industry's pipeline is showing a reinvigorated level of energy.

11 Jul 2011

Deal in debt talks still elusive as Aug. 2 deadline looms

Issues related to trimming entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, as well as revamping the tax code, continue to be difficult to tackle.

11 Jul 2011

Governors oppose Medicaid cuts in debt-ceiling efforts

One approach being discussed would lower federal payments to states for Medicaid and the CHIP program — which as analysis says would lead to even more budget burdens for already cash-strapped states.

11 Jul 2011

Pain Practice journal publishes Vertos mild procedure clinical study data on LSS

Medical device company Vertos Medical Inc. has announced that one-year post-study follow-up data on its mild procedure for lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) have been published in the peer-reviewed journal Pain Practice.

11 Jul 2011

HyGreen's hand hygiene system to be showcased at AHA summit

HyGreen, Inc. announces that it will showcase its hand hygiene system, HyGreen, at the 19th Annual American Hospital Association Leadership Summit held July 17-19, 2011 in San Diego, CA.

11 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 11, 2011

In today's health policy headlines, more reports on the challenges President Barack Obama and congressional leaders are facing in the ongoing debt reduction negotiations.

11 Jul 2011

CMS finds states that lack authority to review health insurance rate hikes

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a report identifying ten states that currently lack sufficient authority to review health insurance rate hikes as required under the Affordable Care Act.

11 Jul 2011

Patients with high-grade noninvasive bladder cancer do not receive recommended care

A new study has found that almost all patients with high-grade noninvasive bladder cancer do not receive complete care as recommended by current guidelines.

11 Jul 2011

As officials prepare for debt talks Sunday, Obama says they can meet the challenge

President Barack Obama said Saturday that despite broad differences, he and Republicans agree on "some of the big things," including that the end goal of the deficit talks is to solve the country's fiscal woes. "We agree that after a decade of racking up deficits and debt, we finally need to get our fiscal house in order. We agree that to do that, both sides are going to have to step outside their comfort zones and make some political sacrifices," Mr. Obama said in his weekly radio address to the nation.

11 Jul 2011

New initiatives to improve quality of care and lower costs for Medicaid

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced three new initiatives to help states improve the quality and lower the cost of care for the approximately nine million Americans who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.

11 Jul 2011

As Boehner rejects major debt deal, Dems raise Medicare questions

News outlets covered the fallout of House Speaker John Boehner's Saturday announcement. On Sunday talk shows, Democrats insisted the President is "still committed" to solving the deficit problem.

11 Jul 2011

Co-pay on home health care would limit patient access to clinically beneficial and cost-effective care

America's home health care community is calling attention to a newly released analysis by Avalere Health, LLC that underscores the significant impact cost sharing for Medicare home health services could have on low-income and clinically-disadvantaged seniors.

8 Jul 2011

Generics as a way to lower health care costs

As the nation seeks to expand health care coverage to more citizens without adding burdensome costs, researchers from Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital and CVS Caremark reported that preventative health care may be significantly less costly than previously thought, due to expanded use of cost-effective generic medications for the treatment and prevention of chronic disease.

8 Jul 2011

Research roundup: Rural hospitals have poorer quality; Cost-effective migraine relief; Doctors still take Medicare

Quality Of Care And Patient Outcomes In Critical Access Rural Hospitals -- This study looks at the quality of care provided by patterns of care at "critical access hospitals," a federal designation for hospitals that serve rural populations and thus have been granted special incentives under Medicare.

8 Jul 2011

Critical principles to preserve patient access and reduce health care spending

"A debt ceiling agreement must be reached in time to avert an unprecedented suspension of funding for the millions of patients who rely on Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs," Virginia Hood, MBBS, MPH, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP) told the president, vice president and Congressional leaders today.

8 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Debt ceiling & entitlements; Pharmaceutical dilemmas; Bishops 'misunderstand' death with dignity

Democrats have already proposed a 3-1 formula that would allow for $3 in spending cuts for every $1 in new revenue. So we have met our Republican colleagues more than half-way in this painful process. We are even willing to discuss significant savings in Medicare and Medicaid — as long as essential benefits for seniors and the most vulnerable are preserved (Rep. William Lacy Clay, 7/7).

8 Jul 2011

Is GOP rhetoric putting IPAB repeal effort at risk?

As Republicans prepare to turn up the heat next week on health care reform's controversial independent Medicare advisory board, some provider groups are worried that the GOP's harsh rhetoric could ruin the chances that Democrats will help the repeal effort.

8 Jul 2011

Roundup: Ineffective malpractice suits; Medicare hospital funding error; D.C. abortion report

A study published today in the journal Health Affairs looked at the outcomes of 3,695 malpractice claims filed in Massachusetts courts against hospitals, doctors, and other medical providers between 2006 and 2010.

8 Jul 2011

Negotiators set sights on 'grand debt deal'

At stake are trillions of dollars in government spending and taxes. One of the proposals in play is an increase in payments by upper-income seniors for Medicare. Sweeping reductions in domestic spending are also on the table. After a Thursday meeting, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders agreed to reconvene Sunday.

8 Jul 2011

Democrats fear political pain from entitlement cuts

Though some Democrats view the Obama's strategy to reach a budget deal as a positive development, others are making pleas to take Medicare and Social Security cuts off of the bargaining table — fearing that changes to these programs would make them vulnerable in the upcoming election cycle.

8 Jul 2011

Medicare News and Research

Drug makers seek to block deficit-talk demands for discounts

Deal in debt talks still elusive as Aug. 2 deadline looms

Governors oppose Medicaid cuts in debt-ceiling efforts

Pain Practice journal publishes Vertos mild procedure clinical study data on LSS

HyGreen's hand hygiene system to be showcased at AHA summit

First Edition: July 11, 2011

CMS finds states that lack authority to review health insurance rate hikes

Patients with high-grade noninvasive bladder cancer do not receive recommended care

As officials prepare for debt talks Sunday, Obama says they can meet the challenge

New initiatives to improve quality of care and lower costs for Medicaid

As Boehner rejects major debt deal, Dems raise Medicare questions

Co-pay on home health care would limit patient access to clinically beneficial and cost-effective care

Generics as a way to lower health care costs

Research roundup: Rural hospitals have poorer quality; Cost-effective migraine relief; Doctors still take Medicare

Critical principles to preserve patient access and reduce health care spending

Viewpoints: Debt ceiling & entitlements; Pharmaceutical dilemmas; Bishops 'misunderstand' death with dignity

Is GOP rhetoric putting IPAB repeal effort at risk?

Roundup: Ineffective malpractice suits; Medicare hospital funding error; D.C. abortion report

Negotiators set sights on 'grand debt deal'

Democrats fear political pain from entitlement cuts

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

Latest News