Medicare News and Research

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First Edition: June 21, 2011

In today's headlines, the latest on the debt-reduction talks, the next chapter in the saga surrounding a McKinsey insurance survey and the details of the Obama administration's effort to tout the health law's prreventive care benefits.

22 Jun 2011

Black patients with heart attack wait longer at hospitals to get life-saving procedures

Black patients having a heart attack wait longer at hospitals than white patients to get advanced procedures that will restore blood flow to their hearts, according to a University of Michigan Health System study.

21 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Compromises on fixing Medicare?; 'progress' on AIDS; working families falling behind

Fixing Medicare should not compromise patient care. The president's health care bill created the controversial Independent Payment Advisory Board. This panel of unelected bureaucrats, whose sole purpose is to decide whether to offer Medicare benefits based on a budget, could lead to government rationing of care.

21 Jun 2011

Medicare targets 5 Fla. hospitals for patient readmissions; Task force suggests changes for Jackson Memorial in Miami

Five of Florida's major public and non-profit hospitals scored so poorly on return rates for Medicare patients that they will get preference this summer in a grant program to fix the problem, government documents show.

20 Jun 2011

The complexities of Medicare's doctor pay dynamics

The Medicare physician payment formula is often attacked as a budget gimmick that holds down federal spending on paper, even though everyone knows the cuts it imposes will never come into effect.

20 Jun 2011

Medicare, Medicaid increasingly become hot topics in debt-ceiling talks

The future of these entitlement programs will be in play this week as negotiations continue, with both parties beginning to make concessions and hint that a deal could emerge.

20 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 20, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about new trends in the health care marketplace, including efforts to help seniors live at home longer and why some consumers may face bigger bills for out-of-network care.

20 Jun 2011

Premier healthcare honors Toshiba with Supplier Performance Award

Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. today announced that it is a winner of the sixth annual Performance Award, presented by the Premier healthcare alliance.

20 Jun 2011

Two thirds of women with breast cancer more likely to die from cardiovascular disease

Breast cancer accounts for almost a third of all cancer cases reported in women. However advances in the treatment for breast cancer, and early detection, have improved the chances of survival from the disease.

20 Jun 2011

Watson Pharmaceuticals confirms SEASONIQUE patent challenge

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading integrated global pharmaceutical company, today confirmed that the United States District Court for the District of Nevada denied Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s request for a preliminary injunction and request for a temporary restraining order preventing Watson's launch of generic SEASONIQUE and ethinyl estradiol.

18 Jun 2011

Health insurance does not protect Arizonans from experiencing medical debt

Health insurance is not protecting Arizonans from having problems paying medical bills, and having bill problems is keeping families from getting needed medical care and prescription medicines, a new study has found.

18 Jun 2011

Dems introduce bills to push for Medicare negotiated drug pricing

Congressional Democrats have introduced legislation to let Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices - a move that could result in significant savings, the bill supporters say. They are urging that their measure be included in the effort to raise the debt ceiling.

18 Jun 2011

Budget talks focus on 'the hard stuff' with tough decisions in play on health care, new revenues

Partisan differences on core issues such as taxes and Medicare spending continue to be a part of the deficit-reduction negotiations being led by Vice President Joe Biden, who says the talks will go on "around the clock" next week as lawmakers work to resolve the stand-off over raising the nation's debt limit.

18 Jun 2011

House appropriators ok measure that prohibits feds from enforcing individual mandate

By defunding this health law provision next year, even though it doesn't actually kick in until 2014, the measure could prevent the administration from hiring and training the necessary Internal Revenue Service personnel.

18 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: 'Two great dangers' of Obamacare; Sen. Klobuchar and Rep. Paulsen on wellness; 'McKinseyGate'

Obamacare poses two great dangers to our nation: lower quality of care and runaway costs. It will stifle innovation and lead to rationing. But the overwhelming cost and the damage it will do to our nation's finances at a pivotal moment in our history deserve greater scrutiny.

18 Jun 2011

Longer looks: Turning doctors' views of alternative therapies; a male birth control pill; teenagers and tanning beds

Medicine has long decried acupuncture, homeopathy, and the like as dangerous nonsense that preys on the gullible. Again and again, carefully controlled studies have shown alternative medicine to work no better than a placebo. But now many doctors admit that alternative medicine often seems to do a better job of making patients well, and at a much lower cost, than mainstream care — and they're trying to learn from it.

18 Jun 2011

Lawmakers draw lines, offer views on Medicare

Senate Democrats argue that the best way to find savings in Medicare is to build on the program changes that were included in the health law. Meanwhile, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., says he is open to Medicare changes that would leave the traditional program intact as an option for seniors in the future.

17 Jun 2011

Premier healthcare alliance today announces new group buy for wind turbines

The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that a new group buy for wind turbines is available with Southwest Windpower of Flagstaff, Ariz. The group buy supports wind energy, the nation's fastest growing source of energy.

17 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 17, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about how health entitlement programs are faring in the ongoing deficit-reduction negotiations.

17 Jun 2011

Physician payment, home health out-of-pocket costs grab headlines

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's latest report casts the challenges surrounding Medicare physician payment as an "opportunity" to hasten needed reform. Additionally, an analysis by Avalere Health measures the impact of a proposal for home health co-payments.

17 Jun 2011

Medicare News and Research

First Edition: June 21, 2011

Black patients with heart attack wait longer at hospitals to get life-saving procedures

Viewpoints: Compromises on fixing Medicare?; 'progress' on AIDS; working families falling behind

Medicare targets 5 Fla. hospitals for patient readmissions; Task force suggests changes for Jackson Memorial in Miami

The complexities of Medicare's doctor pay dynamics

Medicare, Medicaid increasingly become hot topics in debt-ceiling talks

First Edition: June 20, 2011

Premier healthcare honors Toshiba with Supplier Performance Award

Two thirds of women with breast cancer more likely to die from cardiovascular disease

Watson Pharmaceuticals confirms SEASONIQUE patent challenge

Health insurance does not protect Arizonans from experiencing medical debt

Dems introduce bills to push for Medicare negotiated drug pricing

Budget talks focus on 'the hard stuff' with tough decisions in play on health care, new revenues

House appropriators ok measure that prohibits feds from enforcing individual mandate

Viewpoints: 'Two great dangers' of Obamacare; Sen. Klobuchar and Rep. Paulsen on wellness; 'McKinseyGate'

Longer looks: Turning doctors' views of alternative therapies; a male birth control pill; teenagers and tanning beds

Lawmakers draw lines, offer views on Medicare

Premier healthcare alliance today announces new group buy for wind turbines

First Edition: June 17, 2011

Physician payment, home health out-of-pocket costs grab headlines

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

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