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Longer looks: States creating health compacts; IPAB under fire; is GOP redefining rape?

In late April, Colorado and Oklahoma became the latest states to vote on whether to join an interstate agreement with like-minded legislatures to put health care decisions more firmly into the hands of state governments.

6 May 2011

UPMC signs affiliation agreement with Aetna to expand health plan access in Pittsburgh

Aetna and UPMC announced today that they have reached agreement on a contract that expands access to include all of UPMC's hospitals and affiliated physicians in Aetna's Western Pennsylvania network for the first time since 2001.

6 May 2011

Quinnipiac poll finds voters dislike GOP plans to revamp Medicare, Medicaid

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire reports that, based on these results, Republicans have some selling to do, and The Washington Post gets back to basics with a primer on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

6 May 2011

CAMH presents new Microvolt T-wave Alternans testing data at Heart Rhythm Society meeting

Cambridge Heart, Inc. a developer of non-invasive diagnostic tests for cardiac disease, today announced that new data presented at the Heart Rhythm Society's 32nd Annual Scientific Sessions in San Francisco confirm the diagnostic value of Microvolt T-wave Alternans testing in identifying patients at risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

6 May 2011

Despite expanded Medicare coverage racial disparities continue in colorectal cancer screening

Despite expanded Medicare coverage for colorectal cancer screening tests, lower rates still exist among blacks and Hispanics compared to other ethnic groups, according to research published in Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

6 May 2011

Opponents offer dire warnings about Medicaid block grant proposal

The plan advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to transform this program has been the subject of much of the concern. However, another alternative, this one offered by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and based on "global cap" for federal spending, is also getting negative reviews from Medicaid advocates.

6 May 2011

House hearing will include effort to revive 'balance billing'

Testimony will come from the nation's largest physician organizations, which will tell a House subcommittee about the need to replace Medicare's current payment system. Meanwhile, on the personnel front, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has a new chief medical officer and Berwick is talking about his "service."

6 May 2011

U.S. Physical Therapy first quarter net revenue increases 12.6% to $56,741,000

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc., a national operator of outpatient physical therapy clinics, today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

6 May 2011

Viewpoints: Gov. Daniels's reversal?; IPAB's Medicare fix; Texas Medicaid cuts

Centrist Republicans loved it when began urging the party to keep its eye on the deficit-reduction prize and stop obsessing about social issues. ... He then went home and announced that he would sign a bill to strip Planned Parenthood of Medicaid financing. ... Daniels's moderate fans thought abortion was precisely the issue he was calling on Republicans to set aside. Right now, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives can barely talk about anything else.

6 May 2011

Researchers find increasing the number of family physicians reduces hospital re-admissions

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center have found that by adding one family physician per 1,000, or 100 per 100,000, could reduce hospital readmission costs by $579 million per year, or 83 percent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) target. These findings currently appear on the website of the "Robert Graham Center," a primary care think tank.

5 May 2011

A new round of deficit talks begins amidst roadblocks, debt-ceiling concerns

How to handle entitlement spending issues including Medicare will be central to the discourse. Meanwhile, AARP launches a campaign to protect Medicare in the midst of it all.

5 May 2011

Boston Business Journal honors Tufts Health Plan for Worksite Wellness program

Tufts Health Plan recently received the prestigious honor of being recognized for its Worksite Wellness initiatives by the Boston Business Journal. As a finalist in the Boston Business Journal's listing of "HEALTHIEST EMPLOYERS," the non profit company was recognized as an organization that is deeply committed to improving the health of its employees and its workplace.

5 May 2011

First Edition: May 5, 2011

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jessica Marcy recently spoke with Dan Hawkins, the association's senior vice president, about the future and finances of community health centers and their evolving budgets.

5 May 2011

Conrad views $4T budget savings blueprint as counterpoint to House-passed GOP plan

The plan is said to contain "modest" Medicare savings. Meanwhile, Politico reports that the "window" of opportunity for the so-called "gang of six," which is working on a separate track to craft budget solutions and also includes Conrad, is getting smaller.

5 May 2011

Theragenics reports consolidated revenue of $20.3 million for first quarter 2011

Theragenics Corporation, a medical device company serving the surgical products and prostate cancer treatment markets, today announced consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

5 May 2011

Rural Doc becomes federally certified to use electronic health records

Kansas Health Institute News: Rural Kansas Doc Becomes Perhaps Nation's First Certified EHR User.

5 May 2011

AARP launches campaign to preserve health and retirement security of older Americans

With the national debate heating up on raising the debt ceiling, AARP announced a new campaign today to fight against proposals with arbitrary limits, caps or triggers that would result in harmful cuts to critical Social Security and Medicare benefits that millions of Americans have earned through a lifetime of hard work.

5 May 2011

Lead investigator to discuss growing impact of AFib on US health care costs and resources

Two studies to be presented this week address the often-overlooked costs associated with atrial fibrillation, the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia.

5 May 2011

House GOP votes to defund state exchanges in health law

The legislation, which was approved Tuesday, passed mostly along party lines, though five Democrats voted with the Republicans in favor of cutting funds for state health exchanges. The measure is not likely to fare well in the Senate.

5 May 2011

Viewpoints: Basic benefits package budget buster?; Colorado CHIP cuts; pharma's public image

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act aims for a delicate balance that even its champions acknowledge as highly challenging: Making medical services affordable for tens of millions of uninsured Americans, and yet restraining the expenditures needed to vastly expand coverage. To grasp why the reform bill risks missing both goals -- and why the measure's margin for error is so perilously narrow -- it's crucial to follow the debate over its central provision, what it calls the "Essential Health Benefits" package.

5 May 2011

Medicare News and Research

Longer looks: States creating health compacts; IPAB under fire; is GOP redefining rape?

UPMC signs affiliation agreement with Aetna to expand health plan access in Pittsburgh

Quinnipiac poll finds voters dislike GOP plans to revamp Medicare, Medicaid

CAMH presents new Microvolt T-wave Alternans testing data at Heart Rhythm Society meeting

Despite expanded Medicare coverage racial disparities continue in colorectal cancer screening

Opponents offer dire warnings about Medicaid block grant proposal

House hearing will include effort to revive 'balance billing'

U.S. Physical Therapy first quarter net revenue increases 12.6% to $56,741,000

Viewpoints: Gov. Daniels's reversal?; IPAB's Medicare fix; Texas Medicaid cuts

Researchers find increasing the number of family physicians reduces hospital re-admissions

A new round of deficit talks begins amidst roadblocks, debt-ceiling concerns

Boston Business Journal honors Tufts Health Plan for Worksite Wellness program

First Edition: May 5, 2011

Conrad views $4T budget savings blueprint as counterpoint to House-passed GOP plan

Theragenics reports consolidated revenue of $20.3 million for first quarter 2011

Rural Doc becomes federally certified to use electronic health records

AARP launches campaign to preserve health and retirement security of older Americans

Lead investigator to discuss growing impact of AFib on US health care costs and resources

House GOP votes to defund state exchanges in health law

Viewpoints: Basic benefits package budget buster?; Colorado CHIP cuts; pharma's public image

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