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AJC: Hospital execs pay raises eyebrows

In other news, The Boston Globe reports that Quincy Hospital has declared bankruptcy just days after its trustees approved a deal for the facility to be acquired by Steward Health Care System.

6 Jul 2011

Budget negotiations: Administration gives momentum to health care cuts

Obama administration officials have advanced a significant amount of cuts from Medicare and Medicaid in the debt ceiling talks — saying the money could come from hospitals and other facilities without directly imposing new costs on beneficiaries or making radical changes to the Medicare program.

6 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 5, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about how Medicare, Medicaid and the health care industry might fare in the ongoing budget negotiations.

5 Jul 2011

Senate to keep working next week on debt talks

The Senate abandoned plans for a July 4 break as time dwindled for lawmakers to strike a compromise on avoiding a government default and reducing mammoth federal deficits. In a challenge to President Barack Obama, the chamber's top Republican invited him to the Capitol to discuss the impasse with GOP lawmakers.

2 Jul 2011

Self-referral physicians may contribute to diagnostic imaging growth

A recent study in the Journal of the American College of Radiology suggests that self-referral in medical imaging may be a significant contributing factor in diagnostic imaging growth.

2 Jul 2011

Poll finds some support for minor Medicare cuts

Americans approve of minor cuts to help trim the federal deficit, but are much less likely to favor major cuts, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation tracking survey.

2 Jul 2011

Medical debt, lack of insurance coverage lead to reduced health care access

In 2010, about 40 percent of Americans—or 73 million people—had trouble paying medical bills, up from 34 percent in 2005. Now, a new study confirms that having health insurance coverage is no guarantee against accumulating medical debt for working-age adults. Not surprisingly, the study likewise finds that both medical debt and lack of insurance coverage lead to reduced access to health care.

2 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Medical docs begin residency, best practices, Kansas abortions

Today, after four arduous years of examinations, graduating medical doctors will report to their residency programs. Armed with stethoscopes and scalpels, they're preparing to lead the charge against disease in its ravaging, chimerical forms. They carry with them the classic tomes: Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine and Gray's Anatomy. But I have an unlikely addition for their mental rucksacks: "Grimm's Fairy Tales".

2 Jul 2011

Medicare to cover 2 expensive cancer drugs

Medicare confirmed on Thursday that it would continue to pay for two expensive cancer drugs that had been at the center of debate — Avastin from Genentech for breast cancer and Provenge from Dendreon for prostate cancer.

2 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 1, 2011

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about sleep deprived medical residents, decisions by Medicare officials on covering two expensive drugs and states struggling with budget cuts.

1 Jul 2011

Press conference: Obama links Medicare, Medicaid cuts to new revenue

And on Capitol Hill, some Senate Democrats - mulling whether to take President Obama's challenge to stay in Washington and work on the debt ceiling negotiations - could offer a fiscal blueprint of their own.

1 Jul 2011

IOM report highlights need for changes in pain management

Defining pain as "a major public health problem," the Institute of Medicine offered recommendations to make systemic and cultural changes in how pain could either be prevented or managed better.

1 Jul 2011

Longer looks: A Medicare compromise; improving mental health policies

Sen. Joe Lieberman has found an ally for the middle-of-the-road Medicare reform proposal he laid out a few weeks ago. On Tuesday, the independent Senator from Connecticut and conservative Republican Tom Coburn unveiled a tweaked version of Lieberman's plan.

1 Jul 2011

Bloomberg: Ryan Medicare vouchers save little

In the background, political ads are heating up related to the debate over Medicare cost savings and plans to revamp the health insurance program for seniors.

1 Jul 2011

Avastin for breast cancer still covered by Medicare despite FDA indecision

The Medicare will continue to cover Avastin for breast cancer treatment even if U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Peggy Hamburg decides to withdraw Avastin for such use, according to Don McLeod, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. McLeod said, in his statement, “The FDA decision, when it comes, does not affect CMS.”

1 Jul 2011

Viewpoints: Abortion law debates; Medicare cost examinations; state reform building blocks

The Susan B. Anthony List's Pro-Life Leadership Pledge has garnered praise from a number of Republican presidential candidates, including Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Tim Pawlenty, each of whom has signed the pledge. It has also faced some misinformed criticism, however, not only from the media but from other presidential candidates who refuse to sign on to the pledge's four basic principles.

30 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 30, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about yesterday's decision from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the health law.

30 Jun 2011

100 million Americans suffer pain - many in silence

According to a report released by the Institute of Medicine Wednesday, nearly a third of Americans experience long-lasting pain and too often feel stigma rather than relief from a health care system poorly prepared to treat them. Chronic pain is costing the nation at least $558 billion a year in medical bills, sick days and lost productivity, the report found. That's more than the cost of heart disease, the top killer.

30 Jun 2011

White House backs away from 'secret shopper' survey of doctors

The Obama administration said Tuesday that it had shelved plans for a survey in which "mystery shoppers" posing as patients would call doctors' offices to see how difficult it was to get appointments.

30 Jun 2011

Golden Meditech total turnover increases 15% to HK$328,066,000 for year ended 31 March, 2011

Golden Meditech Holdings Limited, a leading integrated healthcare enterprise in China, is pleased to announce the Group's annual results for the year ended 31 March, 2011.

30 Jun 2011